Smoked Rum and Ginger Cheesecake for the Domestic Sluttery Pudding Club

September 10, 2012September 11, 2012Leave a comment

This month’s Domestic Sluttery Pudding Club is all about cheesecake (last month was chocolate and I made Sex Pots), my favourite pudding of all! This cheesecake takes a bit of prep in as much as you will need to get things infusing for few days before you make them but that takes pretty much zero effort and once done you can knock this together in minutes, PLUS you get the most incredible smoked rum to use in cocktails 🙂

This recipe uses a fresh unpasturised sheep’s curd made by Homewood Cheese, it’s wonderfully fresh and creamy and therefore perfect for this recipe. If you can’t get hold of ewe’s curd however you could use ricotta instead.

To make the smoked tea rum: (5 days before dessert required)

250ml golden rum
12 strands good quality Lapsang Souchong tea

Simply pop the strands into the rum and leave to infuse for a minimum of 2 days. I’ve said use 250ml rum as it keeps forever and just gets better with time so it’s there for the next time, it’s also amazing in cocktails!

Ingredients:

100ml Smoked Tea Rum
50g sultanas (go for the jumbo ones)
100g stem ginger biscuits
30g unsalted butter (melted)
150ml whipping cream
150g fresh sheep’s curd
1 jar stem ginger in syrup
1 big sprig fresh rosemary

Crystallised rosemary (optional)

3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 egg white
fine white caster sugar

3 days before you need you dessert:

Place your sultanas in a cup and pour over the smoked tea rum making sure all the sultanas are covered. Cover the cup with cling film and leave to infuse for 3 days. This may seem a long time but after 3 days the sultanas will be so plump that they pop when you bite into them releasing a burst of flavour.
Take a clean sprig of rosemary and push it into the centre of your jar of stem ginger and syrup in order to infuse.

The day before:

Dip the remaining sprigs of rosemary into the egg white, then using a small sieve (a tea strainer is perfect) gently dust the rosemary with the caster sugar, coating evenly but lightly. Lay the sprigs gently on a baking sheet and leave overnight in an airing cupboard in order for it to crystallise.

On the day:

Crush the stem ginger biscuits and add the melted butter. Stir to combine then divide the mixture between 4 glasses and push down gently to even off using the back of a spoon. Pop into the fridge to set whilst you make the next layer.
Whip your cream until it will happily stay stuck to a spoon when held upside down. Stir in in the sheep’s curd and make sure it is evenly mixed then stir in the sultanas and rum. Take your glasses out of the fridge and divide the mixture between them carefully pushing the cream down onto the biscuit base to avoid air gaps and leaving room at the top for a layer of rosemary ginger syrup.
Pour over the syrup then top each dessert with a small sprig of rosemary. The beauty of making these in glasses is that as your spoon travels through the layers you pick up all the flavours, and its a lot less faff than using dessert rings!

Fragrant Rose & Spiced Apricots with Sheep’s Curd & Pomegranate Molasses

August 3, 20123 Comments

Pretty and dead easy to make

I headed over to the Farmer’s Market this morning to check out the new arts and crafts section and picked up 6 plump, ripe apricots for £1. I’m much more of a savoury kinda gal and will always choose cheese over pudding so I put together this savoury apricot concoction. It’s beautiful in its simplicity and combines sweet roasted apricots with floral rose, warming spices, creamy sheep’s curd and fresh zingy herbs. I’d run out of my Super Dukkah so cobbled together a new blend from whatever I had in the pantry, and you know what, its bloody good too! The Meadowsweet pollen is currently drying in my kitchen, I had a few bunches leftover from making my Rose and Meadowsweet syrup last week and the pollen is absolutely wonderful sprinkled over soft cheese so figured it would make a welcome addition.

fresh, sliced and doused in rose water then part way through roasting

For my Cobbled Dukkah:

coriander seeds
cumin seeds
cardamon seeds
almonds
sunflower seeds
sesame seeds
poppy seeds (blue and white)
Halen Môn spiced salt
chili flakes
sumac

I just ground everything together and just kept adding ingredients until I was happy with the taste then popped them in a jar.

For the rest:

6 ripe apricots
few tablespoons rose water
saffron
wild flower honey
pomegranate molasses
dill fronds (vital)
baby salad leaves from the garden: sorrel, rocket, beetroot, chard
mint leaves (I used ginger mint)
violas
meadowsweet pollen (picked from a field and dried in the kitchen)

Ready to roast

Just slice the apricots in half, remove stone and lay in a roasting tin. Sprinkle over your rosewater, dukkah, a few saffron strands and a drizzle of honey then cover with tin foil and roast in a hot oven for about 25 minutes or until they are lovely and soft. Once soft and lovely remove the foil and roast for another 10 minutes to caramelise the top and reduce the syrup in the tray.

To serve just drizzle pomegranate molasses (it’s lovely and sour) on a plate, crumble over some soft creamy sheep’s curd, sit your sweet roasted apricots on top, drizzle with the syrup from the roasting tray, sprinkle with more dukkah and the meadowsweet pollen then just scatter your mint and herbs over the top. The dill is amazing and you really do need it. I would have really liked some flatbreads with this but alas I was feeling far too lazy to make any. After I took the photo I sprinkled some coconut powder over the entire dish, this totally rocked.

Fragrant Roast Pork with Herb Couscous, Rose Infused Sheep’s Curd and Rhubarb and Apple Sauce

July 8, 2012July 8, 20122 Comments

I was all set for a roast pork dinner: the oven was pre heating, the pork shoulder joint was coming to room temperature, the wine was open and The West Wing was playing on my laptop in the kitchen. Yes I was all ready to get cracking except for one small thing – I’d forgotten to buy potatoes from Bridget at this morning’s car boot, bugger. Be they mashed or roasted, the humble spud is an integral part of our Sunday Roast.

Veg wise I had just 1 carrot, some celery tops with leaves and a couple of onions, I also had a packet of couscous in the larder, that’s a good start I figured and after a bit of garden foraging this dish was born. This method of roasting pork ensures really crispy crackling and meat that oozes juice and is so tender it can be cut with a spoon, well except for the crackling which is perfectly crispy.

Ingredients:

For the pork:

pork shoulder joint
Halen Môn spiced salt
fennel seeds
sumac
cumin seeds
1 packet Spicentice Moroccan Lamb Tagine mix (found at back of cupboard, went out of date 3 months ago!)
1 large white onion finely sliced
3 handfuls chopped rhubarb from the garden
1 apple
1 tsp cinnamon
600ml cloudy apple juice
5 apricots (once dried but have been steeping in brandy in my cupboard for 8 months or so)
1 tablespoon wildflower honey

For the couscous:

1 packet couscous
1 carrot, grated
1 red onion finely chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
tops and leaves of one head celery
chopped garden herbs: lots of various mints, fennel, parsley, chives (plus a few flowers from everything to garnish)
skin from 1 preserved lemon, washed and finely chopped
2 tsp Essential Cuisine chicken stock powder
2 tsp poppy seeds
handful dried sliced garlic

For the rose infused sheep’s curd:

1 pot Homewood Cheese Sheeps curd
1 tablespoon rose water

Just before it goes in the oven, after 30 minutes and after the full 90 minutes

Method:

Preheat oven to hottest setting. Make sure pork is at room temp, rub the spiced salt and fennel seeds into the scored and scorched skin then sprinkle with sumac.
Put your sliced onion, rhubarb, apple, cumin seeds, tagine mix and cinnamon into a roasting tray, pour over the apple juice, mix then put your pork on top. Roast at the highest setting until the crackling is lovely and crispy then cover with foil and cook for about an hour or until the centre of the pork is cooked. Remove meat and leave it to rest covered in foil.
Finely chop all your couscous ingredients. Put your stock powder, dried garlic slivers and couscous in a big bowl, stir then add boiling water (as much as the packet says – I usually aim for the water to be 1 inch higher than the couscous). Stir, cover with foil and leave to sit for 10 minutes. Then remove foil, fluff with fork then stir in all the remaining veg and herbs.
Mix your rose water into the sheeps curd.
That’s it really, to assemble just put your herb couscous on a plate, place a slice of juicy pork on top, a bit of crackling, a couple of spoonfuls of the wonderful gravy, dot with the rose infused sheep’s curd and scatter a few of your herb flowers over.

Lamb Sweetbreads and Early Summer Veg with Sheep’s Curd

June 27, 2012Leave a comment

Despite telling her many times, Glen’s mum still insists that sweetbreads are lamb’s bollocks, they’re not. Sweetbreads are the thymus or pancreatic glands from lambs and calves. This recipe uses the thymus glands from the neck of Spring lambs, their season is short so as soon as they start to arrive in my butchers I stock up the freezer.

They take a little bit of preparation but they really are worth it. Sweetbreads have a wonderfully creamy texture and delicate lamb flavour. Being quite fatty I tend to serve them with a squeeze of lemon if cooking them on the BBQ or like this dish, I make a zesty green sauce. The sheep’s curd is from Homewood Cheeses and it’s light creamy saltiness really makes the dish.

Ingredients:

lamb sweetbreads
unsalted butter
2 shallots
good stock, I use veg or a very light chicken stock (Essential Cuisine is perfect as its powdered so you can control exactly how concentrated it is)
young veg such as baby new potatoes, chanternay carrots, asparagus, peas, lettuce, broad beans
dried sliced garlic (or fresh)
salt and pepper
fresh sheep’s curd, fennel fronds and pea shoots to serve

For the green sauce:

parsley
mint
juice and zest of 1 lemon
olive oil
1/4 finely chopped red chilli
1 tablespoon finely chopped capers
salt and pepper

Method:

To prepare the sweetbreads soak them for a few hours in cold water, changing it a couple of times to remove any blood. Then peel away the membrane surrounding the sweetbread and discard.
Finely chop your shallots and gently sweat off on the butter. Add your stock, garlic slivers and the sturdier veg such as the new potatoes followed by the carrots etc. You want all your veg to be just cooked and still with a bit of bite to your carrots and pop to your peas. Depending on the size of your sweetbreads they should take about 7 minutes to poach so pop them in too. Check for seasoning.
Whilst your sweetbreads are poaching prepare your sauce. Finely chop everything and combine.
Serve the poached sweetbreads and veg in their own broth, scatter with fennel fronds, pea shoots and dollops of green sauce.

I also made a liquorice foam to place on the sweetbreads which you can just about make out in the photo but I preferred it with the mint foam that I made for the second time I made this, not essential but just added another layer of delicate flavour.

Bath Farmer’s Market visit

January 19, 2012January 19, 2012Leave a comment

Thoughtful Bread at Bath farmer’s Market sell the most delicious breads and cakes! Unfortunately I arrived quite late to the market but I was still able to grab a Beetroot loaf (I will definitely be making these in future), a Cider Loaf (amazing!) and a Walnut and Raisin loaf (fantastic, my absolute favourite) and not forgetting the most beautifully indulgent Chocolate Raspberry tart (it didn’t even make it as far as the car!).

I adore cheese and last year was the year I discovered Homewood Cheese who make stunning cheeses using sheep’s milk. What was even more lovely was that despite having never met them before I was greeted with a very friendly: “Hello Hazel”! It was really lovely to finally meet Tim and Angela at the market as I’m quite often to be heard singing the praises of their cheese on Twitter! Tim is the cheese man and he met his partner Angela at a Farmer’s Market where she sells her fantastic preserves. Their fresh cheese tart only made it as far as the car also!