Recipe: St Germain Panna Cotta with Lime Pisco Granita

Do the wobble baby!

St Germaine Panna Cotta With Lime Pisco Granita

Ever since we first tasted St Germain with its delicate, sweet and floral flavour, we have taken pleasure in discovereing new cocktails and conconctions containing the Elderflower Liqeur.  There are a number of cocktail suggestions on the St Germain web site, one of them being “Cuzco Fizz” which combines the liqueur with lime and pisco.   Keith’s parents spend our winter months on their farm in Peru, just south of Lima.  They have been cultivating grapes which have been pressed, fermented and distilled to create their own pisco. A bottle of their finest was flown back and hand delivered on their last visit to Wennie towers in March. Keith had a brainwave that the flavours could be applied and work well as a summer dessert.  This creation turned out to be a recent hit when served at lunch with friends.  The cool, refreshing granita cleanses the palate and lightens the creamy panna cotta. Plus there is the sexy, famed wobble to impress your guest.

Published: August 15, 2011

Prep time: 30 min

Total time: 2 hour 30 min

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

Panna Cotta

• Single cream: 250ml
• Milk: 180ml
• Vanilla pod: 1
• St Germain Liqueur: 150ml
• Golden caster sugar: 40g
• Gelatine granules: 1 sachet
• Cold water: 2 tablespoons
• Summer berries, we served red currants

Lime Granita

• Lime juice: 50ml
• Lime zest: 2 tbsp
• Granualted white sugar: 40g
• Water: 75ml
• Pisco: 30ml 
• Mint leaves to garnish (optional)

Method:

To make the panna cotta

1. Mix the cream and milk together into a saucepan.
2. Split the vanilla pod lengthways with a sharp knife and scrape all the seeds into the cream and milk mixture. Add the empty pod for extra flavour.
3. Add the sugar into the milk and cream and heat gently unitl it has all dissolved. Do NOT boil!
4. Empty the sachet of gelatine granules into a large bowl, pour over the cold water and leave for 2 minutes.
5. Pour the hot cream mixture and the elderflower liqueur over the swollen gelatine granules stirring thoroughly until evenly mixed.
6. Take 8 small pudding dishes and use a paper towel to rub a little vegetable oil (or any other flavourless oil) around the inside. This will help when coming to turning out and serving.
7. Pour the panna cotta mixture into the small pudding dishes and leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

To make the pisco lime granita

1. Dissolve the sugar and water together in a pan over a medium heat.
2. Add the lime juice and zest and leave to cool.
3. Add the pisco and pour onto a shallow-rimmed baking tray and leave in the freezer.
4. Every thirty minutes use a fork to break the mixture into a slush.
5. The granita will take about 2 hours to get to the correct consistency which should be an icy slush similar to a simple sorbet.

To serve, immerse the pudding dish into hot water for no more than thirty seconds and turn onto a plate. You may run a sharp knife around the edge to help persuade it out. Serve the granita in a shot glass garnished with a mint leaf.  Scoop Summer berries onto the plate.

Our recipe will make enough granita for more than just the one serving.  Transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer.

There are still hopefully two whole weeks of summer left, so if you can muster an excuse to have a go at making this dessert, you will not be disappointed.  Did we mention that you can also serve the granita on its own?  Alternately, serve as a cocktail with a prosecco top.

By Keith and Lolli

Recipe: Homemade Portuguese Style Pizza

To eat the crust on pizza

For the first time in weeks we had a free weekend at home.  For us that could only mean three things; Wine, pizza and movies.  I visited my mother in Portugal a couple of weeks ago and brought back queijo curado (a hard, salty cheese, creamy in colour and texture) and black pig chouriço (a lesser known spicy sausage equal in taste to the Spanish varieties).  Along with the cheese and chouriço, we decided on toppings of piri piri chicken, olives, onions, peppers and obligatory egg. We also made the tomato sauce slightly piquant.

We have recently got into the “habit” of making pizzas at home, which are by far superior to take-aways or store bought.  Incidentally, making a pizza after a hard day in the office or with the kids is a great stress reliever / fun.

Portuguese style pizza from scratch

• Prep time: 1 hour
• Cook time: 10 min
• Total time: 1 hour 30 min
• Makes: 2 x 12" thin crust pizzas

Ingredients for the pizza dough for two pizzas

• 250g strong white flour plus more for dusting
• 1/2 sachet of dried fast action yeast
• 150ml tepid water
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon olive oil

 Topping ingredients for two pizzas

• 2 chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons piri-piri marinade
• 50g Portuguese chourico
• 60g Portuguese mature cheese shaved or grated
• 1/2 medium red pepper, sliced
• 1/2 medium green pepper, sliced
• 200g tinned tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 piri-piri chilies
• A handful of chopped parsley
• Pinch of salt
• Black pepper
• 2 eggs

Method

1. Score each of the chicken thighs three times on the fleshier side. Mix together with the piri-piri marinade, cover and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours
2. To make the dough, empty the sachet of yeast into a cup with the sugar and half of the water and leave for 10 minutes.
3. Whilst the yeast begins to activate, add the flour to a mixing bowl with the salt and form a well in the middle.
4. Empty the activated yeast into the well and use a wooden spoon to start mixing together with the flour. Continue to do this, adding the remainder of the water a bit at a time.
5. Empty the dough onto a floured surface, dust your hands with flour and knead the dough well for 10 minutes. Add more flour to the surface you are kneading on if it becomes too sticky.
6. Add a little bit of olive oil to the bottom of a suitably sized bow and put in the kneaded dough. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for an hour until it doubles in size.
7. After the chicken has been marinading for at least 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 200C or gas mark 5. Cook the chicken for 25 minutes on a rack in the oven so excess fat can easily drip off whilst cooking.
8. To make the sauce, empty the tinned tomatoes with the juice into a suitable pan on a gentle heat. Add the garlic, chilies, a pinch of salt and ground black pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. Use a hand blender to whiz the sauce so that it becomes a nice even consistency.
9. Take the dough out after it has doubled in size (depending on how warm the place where you left it was) and cut into two equally sized pieces. Use a rolling pin to each piece to as uniform a shape as you can and it must be about on average 4 to 5 mm thick. It doesn't need to be circular, this is a rustic pizza so taste is the key this time.
10. Roll the dough up around your rolling pin and use it to lay it back over a floured baking sheet you'll be cooking the pizza on.
11. Construct the pizza by first adding a layer of the sauce but try not to put on too much. Cut the chicken thigh meat into chunks discarding the left over bones and skin.
12. Add the peppers, sliced chourico, onion and cheese evenly over the pizza leaving a space in the middle to crack an egg before transferring to the oven
13. Cook for 10 minutes or until the edge of the crust becomes golden the remove from the oven and sprinkle over with chopped parley and serve immediately.

With massive Portuguese pizza, glass of vinho tinto and “Shutter Island” we had the perfect, chilled out Saturday evening. 

Wine Paring

Quinta do Carmo Dom Martinho, 2000 (Not widely available in the UK - sorry!) Ripe fruits with notes of black cherry. Peppery feel in the mouth with sweet tannins and a smooth but lingering finish.

WenniesAffairs.com

Recipe: Hare Pie - in Honour of British Pie Week 2011

Hare today, gone tomorrow

It is British Pie Week 2011 folks (7th to 13th March) and we decided to commemorate this event by baking a succulent hare pie cooked with garlic, bouquet garni, bacon lardons, onion and a glass of brandy.

Hare, like most game, can be a tricky to cook well, as wild animals are less sedentary than farm livestock and therefore carry more muscle. For this reason, the tenderising process is of the utmost importance to prevent the meat from becoming tough and chewy.

Of course, you can obviously buy pre-made pastry in the shops if you are short on time.

We served the hare pie with roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

Ingredients

For the filling

• 900g Hare meat, diced
• 150g Bacon lardons
• 2 medium onions
• 1 glass brandy
• 3 cloves garlic
• A bouquet garni of 2 bay leaves, 3 sprigs of thyme and a sprig of rosemary
• 400ml boiling water
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt and black pepper

For the pastry

• 200g butter, cut into 1cm cubes and stored in the freezer for a couple of hours before using
• 200g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp ice cold water
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Add some seasoning to the flour and coat the hare meat with the flour in a bowl.
2. Heat a pot to a medium to high heat, add the oil and then the meat and cook for two minutes until it has browned.
3. Add the lardons and cook for a further minute then remove from the heat.
4. Add the onions, garlic, bouquet garni, brandy and water.
5. Return the pot to the heat and bring to a gentle boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce to a gentle simmer and place a lid on the pot and leave for an hour.
6. Whilst it is simmering, tip the flour for the pastry onto a clean dry work surface and add the butter to it.
7. Using a fork, “cut in” the butter into the flour until it is mixed together and there are no pieces larger than a pea. Be careful not to touch dough with your hands as the key is keeping the butter cold.
8. Collect the flour and butter mixture together and form a well in the middle. Add the water 1 tbsp at a time and mix to form a dough.
9. Carefully bring it together with your hands into a ball and try not to knead it or hold it more than you need to. Wrap in cling film and place into the fridge for 30 minutes.
10. Remove the pie filling from the heat and use a colander to drain the excess liquid into a saucepan. Heat the liquid on a gentle simmer until it has reduced by half.
11. Take the pastry from the fridge and roll it to about 3/4cm thick. Line the bottom of an oven proof dish with the rolled pastry.
12. Cut the excess from the edge, collect together and leave to one side as this will form the top of the pie.
13. Add the meat mixture to the dish and pour over half of the reduced cooking liquid.
14. Roll the remainder of the pastry and place on top of the meat. Use a knife to cut a couple of slits for the steam to vent as it cooks in the oven. Crimp the edges to form a seal and brush over with the egg wash.
15. Place into a preheated oven at 200C/350F for 20 minutes until the crust is golden.

Wine Paring

St Hallett Gamekeeper's Reserve 2009 Barossa Valley, South Australia (£8.54 from Waitrose) The spicy nature of the Shiraz combined with the ripe fruitiness of the Grenache and Touriga grapes provide a perfect blend for the rich flavour of the hare.

I'll stop rabbiting on now and allow you to enjoy the pie!

Recipe: Fish balls in tomato sauce

And she's a ball of wighting

In the angst filled days of my arch nemesis "Dorito Girl", Keith was very supportive of my weight loss and get fit campaign. In fact we had both returned from our first all-inclusive holiday in Barbados as chubsters. I cringe when I think back to nachos for elevenses and pizza slice as a light snack before a three course dinner. As a student free food was too irresistible. I cringe.

On New Year's Day 1999, I made a promise to myself that on my graduation day I would have no regrets. I wanted to look at photos taken on that day and see pride and hope for my future. Keith was very understanding and it was at that point that he picked up his first wooden spoon! Gone were the student meals of Findus crispy pancakes, microwave lasagne and pepperoni pizzas. In were fresh ingredients, salads, low fat cooking and exercise. I cut back on alcohol (I was a student, I was not about to give up my only pleasure). I have fond memories of writing my dissertations or revising for an exam and then going around to Keith's for dinner.

One of the dishes my then boyfriend cooked was Italian Fish Balls. Keith's recipe below has undergone a re-vamp, namely because a student budget meant the ingredients used were of lower quality.

Ingredients

• 150g Whiting, skin removed and chopped into pieces
• 100g prawns cleaned, peeled and deveined.
• Zest of half a lemon
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 400g tin chopped tomatoes including the juice
• 1 heaped teaspoon of tomato purée
• 1 heaped tsp of oregano
• 5 basil leaves, chopped
• Cornflour for dusting
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt, black and white pepper to taste
• 2 tsp clear honey (optional)

Method

1. Add the fish and the prawns to a bowl and use a hand blender to create a thick and even paste.
2. Add 1/4 tsp salt, a good pinch of white pepper and the lemon zest to the paste. Use a spoon to mix thoroughly
3. Use use a tablespoon to remove some of the paste from the bowl and use your hands to mould it into a spherical shape about the size of a golf ball. Repeat until all the paste is used.
4. Add the cornflour to a plate and roll each of the balls until they have a light even coating
5. Heat a frying pan to medium with 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Add the fish balls and move them around so to avoid them from sticking and cook until they start to go a light golden colour.
6. To make the sauce, first heat the remainder of the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook on a medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes until it becomes soft and translucent.
7. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
8. Add the chopped tomatoes to the onion and garlic. Stir in the, lemon juice, tomato purée, oregano and basil.
9. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and taste. You may add the honey if the flavour is to tart
10. When the sauce starts bubbling on a gentle simmer, carefully add the fish balls to the sauce.
11. Cover and leave on a low gentle simmer for about 10 minutes to allow the fish balls to cook through

There's been controversy around cod in the UK in the last fortnight, so being topical we used whiting as there is plenty of it in our waters. Cod and haddock will also work though. We should not stop buying cod, but it is beneficial to ensure your fish has been caught ethically from sustainable sources.

We hope you enjoy. As you can see, we served with a simple side salad. However, you can go crazy and accompany with tagliatelle or potatoes (or if you are a student spaghetti). Buon appetito!

Recipe: Sopa de Feijão, a warming, thick Portuguese soup

I've bean there before

In the dead of winter we can not visit my mother without leaving her home with a jar of homemade soup. In Portuguese households sopa (or soup) is always readily available. Even in summer it will be on the menus in every restaurant. The recipe below is a typical Portuguese soup, Sopa de Feijão (pronounced fay-jow) or Bean Soup. “Bean Soup” does not sound great in English so let's stick to Portuguese. It is so easy to whizz up it's not even funny.

Once a week in the evening we have what we call a "soup night", which is Wennie slang for “can't be bothered to cook”. This soup is perfect for a lazy wintry evening.

Ingredients

• 400g tin of kidney beans
• 3 litres water
• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 500g potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes
• 1/2 cabbage finely shredded
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 90g Portuguese choriço, chopped (Iberico will do)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Boil the potatoes, carrots and onion for 30 minutes.
2. Add the kidney beans, half the cabbage, stock cubes, olive oil and salt, then cook for a further 30 minutes.
3. Blend in the pot using a hand blender.
4. Add the other half of the shredded cabbage and bring to the boil.
5. Add the choriço and cook until the cabbage has softened.

Tuck in with a massive chunk of bread. 

Peruvian inspired Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Toasted Pine Nuts

Where the road runs down but the butternut grove...

Quinoa And Butternut Squash

It is very rare that either Keith or I totally give up and stop eating a food because we can not stomach the taste.  However, the first time we attempted to prepare quinoa ourselves, we threw in the towel after two or three mouthfuls.  It was that bad!  Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a seed, indigenous to South America.  You can find it amongst the barley, wheat, nuts and other cereals in your supermarket readily nowadays. There are two reasons why we persevered with cooking quinoa.  Firstly, when Keith's culinary mother from Peru prepares quinoa, it tastes delicious with its fluffy texture, nutty flavour and soft crunch.  Therefore, we concluded we must be buffoons and doing something wrong.  It turned out, you need to thoroughly wash the quinoa to remove the resin-like coating, which will otherwise make your beautiful dish taste bitter.  Secondly, quinoa is uber-healthy and has been recognised by the United Nations as a supercrop.  It is gluten free, rich in protein and high in minerals.  If it was good enough for the Incas when they built Machu Picchu, then it is good enough for us.

The below recipe was inspired by Keith's Peruvian mother.  We used butternut squash as it is in season at the moment.  Although, you could use other sweet meaty gourds like pumpkin if you desired.  He allowed the quinoa and vegetable to be fully drowned in stock and have all the wonderful flavours absorbed. 

Ingredients

• 100g quinoa
• 1/2 of a small butternut squash cut into 1.5cm cubes (about 280g)
• 1 echalion shallot, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 400ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6 (about 200C of 400F).
2. Toss butternut squash with 1 tbsp of the lemon juice, in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
3. Rinse quinoa well in a sieve and allow to drain.
4. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan and fry shallots and garlic and cook until shallots soften slightly.
5. Add the quinoa and cook on a low heat until it has dried out and you start to smell a light toasty aroma.
6. Add the squash along with the thyme and vegetable stock. Reduce to a low heat and cover.
7. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until all the liquid has been is absorbed.
8. Stir in the coriander, lemon zest and juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if needed.
9. Serve with toasted pine nuts sprinkled on top.

Keith served his butternut squash quinoa with grilled marinated chicken (as prepared for the Kebachelor). 

In the coming weeks, we are intending on preparing healthy, low fat dishes packed with flavour, seasonal herbs and vegetables.  We have a break with friends shortly and there will be a hot tub there folks.  Can you imagine our fear?  If you are having similar night terrors and sweats due to an impending break, watch our blog and join the journey to a svelte figure (or possibly what will end up being a week of sucking in one's roundy belly).

Related posts:

• Recipe: Aji de Gallina, a traditional Peruvian chicken dish
• The Kebachelor – The Ultimate Chicken and Falafel Kebab

Recipe: Pizza Pinwheels, Hors d'oeuvres perfect for New Year's Eve

Big wheels keep on turning

Friends of ours invited us to their beautiful barn conversion in the Essex countryside. I had enthusiastically promised I would bring an appetiser having spied a blogging opportunity and of course because we love cooking. We were due to leave at 2pm and at 12:30pm we were still glumly starring at a packet of puff pastry. Then inspiration struck.  Pizza pin wheels.  We used ingredients you will find in your pantry and fridge. Bearing in mind that you can buy similar snacks to these in Waitrose for around £4, you can make these for a fraction of the cost!  As always, at Wennie's Affairs, we encourage you to have fun and be inventive. You can experiment with a whole variety of fillings as you would on a pizza; spinach and ricotta, chicken tikka, mexican ground chilli.  Plus you can even make dessert varieties with left over sweet mince meat (which never made it into those mince pies) and drizzled with icing. They are perfect for a New Year's Eve gathering. 

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of puff pastry
• 3 tbsp pesto 
• 1/3 Yellow Pepper
• 3 small tomatoes
• 100g prosciutto ham
• 60g Parmesan cheese
• Milk for brushing
• 2 tsp Dried oregano
• Black pepper

Method:

1. Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface.
2. Brush the pesto evenly over the rolled out pastry.
3. Remove the seeds from the tomato (very important to avoid excess moisture) and finely chop with the pepper and spread on top of the pesto layer.
4. Chop up the ham and evenly distribute over the the peppers and tomatoes.
5. Sprinkle three quarters of the grated parmesan cheese over the ham and grind over some black pepper as the final layer.
6. Starting from one of the short edges roll the pastry up as tightly as you can until it becomes a long roll.
7. Use a sharp knife to cut about 16 discs about 1cm thick and lay out evenly onto a non-stick baking sheet allowing enough room for them to puff up.
8. Preheat the oven to 190C or gas Mark 5. 
9. Leave in the fridge for 20 minutes.
10. Brush the top-side of the wheels with the milk mixed with oregano and the remainder of the Parmesan cheese.  Cook for 20 minutes until golden.

The mixture can be prepared in advance the night before baking and then the rest of method will take less than 10 minutes.

They are a lovely herby and peppery amuse bouche.  Our friend Claire, popped them in the oven for 5 minutes to heat.  We then washed these little treats down with Champagne- our friends know how to look after us.    

Related posts:

• Recipe: Parmesan Shortbread Canapes With a Selection of Cheese Toppings
• Recipe: 3 Way Pork Eastern Dim Sum Hors d’Oeuvres
• Recipe: Jamaican Inspired Spicy Lamb and Sweet Potato Patties (Empanadas)