Yuzu cake

It's time to start trialing wedding cakes and I had originally wanted a lavender cake only to find out that they do not like lavender. I decided to try a Yuzu flavoured cake instead. I had first blogged about yuzu here, which is a firm favourite in our household especially with salads. It is still a relatively new flavour in the west but it's catching on fast as it tastes so yummy - think citrus with umaminess if that is even possible.

I also wanted an indulgent cake and am hoping that yuzu combined with sour cream would strike that decadent and yet fresh balance. However, when making a wedding type style cake especially for the first time ever, it is best to read up on how to roll out fondant, and to make fondant flowers.... I am personally not a big fan of fondant icing so I rolled it out really thin, and when I tried to cover the cake with it, *tear*.... A whole host of other issues also showed-case my rookie-ness.

But the true test is in the pudding - tomorrow night will be the taste test.. wish me well!

Recipe to follow after taste test! 

Aztec style chocolate, allergy free!

The current rage with cacao nibs and all things cacao (including good old chocolate) is driving the price of cacao beans through the roof. Apparently, in the near future, we would no longer be able to afford chocolate due to intense cacao tree shortage. To battle this horror of horrors, some techy dudes are finding ways to print chocolate as a method which uses less chocolate whilst boosting it's taste permeation. I am sure printed chocolate could very well be yummy and all, but I am not taking any chances for now. Before real chocolate disappears from the face of the earth, we should all have at least tried chocolate made in it's intended original form.

Since I discovered my small list of intolerances three years ago, I have been consuming a speciality chocolate from Modica, Italy, which is supposedly made in that original and ancient Aztec method. Made from roasted cocoa beans, it is then ground by a giant stone pestle and mortar, before it is gently heated to 35-37C with some sugar which remains undissolved, to form cold-worked chocolate (think cold-pressed olive oil). It is extremely yummy, if rather a little grainy as you would expect from the sugar, not that I mind as the grainy-ness actually makes me feel very Aztec. And there are no additions, nothing funny, nothing processed - just good old cocoa beans and sugar, making it extremely intolerant-friendly! Apparently, unprocessed chocolate is very good for you, so it is a win-win situation.

Unsurprisingly, I am hoarding quite alot of this Aztec-late at home, as every trip to the homeland returns with at least 10 bars of yummy goodness in the suitcase. I do not see this changing in the foreseeable future, in fact, I think with all the chocolate warning, I am in need of a bigger suitcase. That, or we should crowd-fund to buy a cacao tree farm in Mexico together. Anyone?

The best lavender berry jam

As part of preparing my first wedding cake, we are testing unusual flavour combinations. Lavender is always a hard one to incorporate into food as too much of it simply reminds us of soap, and too little of it and it is lost. We've cooked with lavender in savoury food (Rachel  Khoo's lavender honey chicken, lavender duck breast with thyme and honey) and we think the key is to always balance with honey. Surely then it must be easy to incorporate lavender into sweet dishes?

Our brainchild is then lavender jam as it has two uses. Firstly, as we will be using fondant icing on the cake, jam (or buttercream) would need to be used to glue the icing to the cake. Lavender jam would also add another level of lavender flavour (whether in a positive or negative manner is still to be determined) to the cake.

I love jam (possibly because of all that sugar) and always have homemade jam /compote in the fridge / pantry. This lavender berry jam leaves a slight after-tang and yet does not overpower. It is delicious spread on corn thins or home made bread, or eaten together with dairy free ricotta cheese. mmm.

Easy Lavender jam recipe:
1kg blueberries and raspberries
800gms golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp lavender flowers, slightly crushed
1/2 green apple peeled, cored and small diced
zest of half a lemon
3 tbsp lemon juice

Put berries and sugar into a heavy bottomed pan and bring to a boil stirring constantly. When boiling, add it remaining ingredients and keep at a rolling boil for 30 minutes (220 degrees if you have a thermometer), stirring occasionally. This is usually the jam set point i.e. if you put some jam on a cold plate, you should be able to draw a line through the jam, without the jam pooling together again. Let cool overnight and put into a jar(s). It will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge. The jam can be stored in a pantry for 6 months if canned and sealed, while hot, in a hot sterilised jar, with the rims wiped with damp paper towel before sealing.

Next jam should surely be lavender and lychee...?

Charred green vegetables soup

There are times when we all try to avoid talking to our Mums, aren't there? "You look like you need a facial" must be one of those times. On her relentless quest to make me look half charming and somewhat presentable (see, also), my Mum then spent the next hour extolling the pleasure, the effectiveness and the importance of a good facial, and that I should wait not another minute to book myself on a full 3 month facial programme. Even as I am grown rather accustomed to the onslaught of self improvement suggestions and persuasive arguments that flow freely my way, "looking older than your age" still manages a hurtful stab in the heart region.

It did not all end badly as my Mum did say I should also do a fruit and veg detox for a week or so, in tandem with the barrage of facials and massages one simply must have. I wasted no time in telling her of my latest invention, a broccoli, spinach and quinoa soup. Born out of laziness and therefore necessity, and rather convenient timing in my defense against above assault, it was surprisingly scrumptious and I felt detoxed just by looking at it. As it is full of dark leafy green goodness, and surprisingly easy to make, I did have it back to back for 3 days. I do not agree that I am obsessive, rather, cooking broccoli does leave a pungent-ness in the flat, so best to make a large batch and freeze until needed.

To serve 3-4 as a starter:
1 head of broccoli (cut into pieces)
1/2 packet frozen spinach
1 onion (sliced)
1 clove garlic diced
50gms quinoa
700ml Chicken / Bone broth
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Dried chilli flakes
Salt and Pepper

Dry fry broccoli, onions, quinoa and chili flakes on high heat for 10 minutes. This should char the broccoli and onions. Dry frying chili flakes made the Italian half have a sneezing fit so if you are prone to that, add the chili flakes in last, together with the garlic. Add in garlic, sea salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Add in broth and bring back up to boil before adding in frozen spinach. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes on low heat and then blend with a hand held blender (off the heat) until desired consistency. Taste and adjust.

Serve hot with a sprinkle of dried chillies flakes.

Kimchi-licious Seoul food, super hot

Our love affair with kimchi began when we were living in Sydney about 14 years ago. Australia's firm and vibrant Korean movement really made a huge impression on us - what with Korean barbecue, luscious oyster pancakes, "stone pot" rice with a flair of gooey egg, but above all the humble but punkish kimchi. In the last year, Korean food has also become especially trendy in London thanks to Judy Joo; not that Korean food was non-existent in London before, but there was no celebrity chef sexing it up and peddling it up-market gentrified style, in the JinJoo (Judy's new restaurant) way.

Homemade kimchi itself needs no additional sexing up of course. It is tangy and spicy, served cold / room temperature but still gives you that warm burn. When living in Australia, we would keep bottles of this in the fridge, to satiate ferocious kimchi-pangs, but with the discovery of our intolerances, kimchi which is bought usually contains some sort of gluten, yeast and other un-freetarian friendly ingredients. With that, my god daughter's grandmother made us home made kimchi, and I am renewed in everything that I am. When I asked for the recipe, the reply was that which is common amongst great cooks, "no recipe is required, a little (or a lot) of this and that". Typical.

No great cook, I did jot down the key ingredients in hopes of recreating it myself. I understand that there are three key stages to it: the salting of the cabbage, the marinating, and the fermentation process. The beauty of it all is that I do love things super-spiced, and I am not kidding here - in an Asian restaurant once, a colleague of mine, also a spice-fiend, ate my leftover laksa noodle soup which I had asked to be specially tailored for me, and had an immediate nose bleed from sheer spicyness... he never made that mistake again.

For a spiced up life, but do be warned!

Ingredients:

1 chinese cabbage

1 cup sea salt (450gms)

2 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 150ml water

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 heads garlic, chopped

1 piece ginger, palm of a toddle sized, chopped

1/2 cup fish sauce

2 1/2 cups Gochugaru (Korean dried red chili flakes, but if not, supermarket chili flakes would be ok) - reduce by 1 1/2 cups if too spicy

2 cups brined shrimps

1 bunch Asian chives / green onions, julienned

1 large carrot julienned

1 large horseradish julienned (optional)

Preparation method:

Quarter the cabbage lengthways and rub salt into every crevice / layer of the cabbage. Leave for two hours, turning every 30 minutes to make sure the salt is evenly distributed. In the mean time, dissolve sugar in the cornstarch and water mixture. In a food processor, blend the garlic, ginger, fish sauce, chilies and shrimp (including the brine) for a minute and add in the sugar cornstarch mixture to loosen. Pour the paste into a large mixing bowl and add in carrots, chives and horseradish. Carefully rinse off the salt and allow the cabbage to drain before adding it into the mixing bowl. Ensure the paste smothers the cabbage leaves, rubbing it in between the leaves. Leave to ferment for 24 hours in a closed container / jar and then refrigerate. Use within 2 weeks - NOTE: As the fermentation process continues even whilst in the fridge, be mindful that the kimchi might explode, so do try to use within 2 weeks.

Serve with toasted sesame seeds sprinkled atop, next to steak, atop polenta and even plain old porridge. Yum.

Rhubarb compote and home made granola!

Nothing quite beats Sunday breakfast, hot coffee properly brewed with the prospect of quite a leisurely bright sunny day ahead. Rhubarb is in season and I just could not resist the call of rhubarb crumble, breakfast style! But why breakfast? Some loyal readers have commented that they just do not understand the concept of vegetables in dessert (including carrot cake... Gasp), and less I shock even more, what with my recent and very indulgent and yummy chestnut brownie, I decided to be more conventional and serve vegetable with breakfast...  Also, breakfast makes me happy.

The granola is absolutely delicious and the goodness of coconut gives amazing lustre and glossiness to hair and nails. The nuts and flaxseed combination is not bad for health either and really do give an increasingly needed energy boost. I hear from my doctor that nuts are also good for detoxifying the body (without the coffee, of course). But whatever the health reasons, and there are plenty, we must always eat for the sheer yummy-ness of it.

Ah, the indulgence of breakfast: rhubarb compote served with homemade almond cranberries granola, with a side of coffee. Good morning England!

Rhubarb compote:

Wash and remove any stringy bits of the rhubarb. Cut into chunks and poach in 1kg in 100ml water, 150 gms sugar or maple syrup, zest and juice of a lime and of a mandarin. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 3 hours. Bring it back to boil for a good five minutes, before bottling. It will keep in the fridge for two weeks. Note, this won't set like jam due to it's low sugar content. 

Almond Cranberries Granola

- 2 cups GF oats

- 1 cup toasted and chopped almonds

- 1/2 cup flax seeds

- 1 and 1/2 cup sunflower seeds

- 1 cup dried cranberries

- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut

- 2 heaping tablespoons of coconut oil

- 2 tbsp a maple syrup

- 1/2 tsp salt

Melt coconut oil and maple syrup over the hob. Then mix all the ingredients together except for the cranberries and spread onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 175degrees C for 45 minutes until sunkissed golden brown, sporadically turning it with a spatula to ensure it all browns evenly. When ready, remove and allow to cool completely before mixing in the cranberries and then store in an air container for the freshly made feel everytime!

CFS: A very real and physical illness

Thumbs up to Claire Jones for the following article, debunking the myth of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and laying it down for those who think it is all in the head and that we CFS sufferers, are all "hiding behind it". I hear you, Claire Jones, I feel you and I wholehearted support you for standing up for people like us. 

http://www.meassociation.org.uk/2015/03/its-a-real-illness-and-a-physical-one-famous-harpist-talks-to-the-times-3-march-2015/

Having CFS is already hard enough, without having to fight the general prejudice, often displayed by strangers, but also by friends and family, whether consciously or unconsciously done. We need more people, famous and otherwise, to join in and help us fight the cause!

Beyond broth: the essence of chicken

Hot Bird Elixir or Bone Liquid, anyone..?
Having been off social media for almost a week in order to replenish the system, what better way than to give the body an additional leg up than with chicken essence? Chicken essence is often served to those who are feeling fatigued, stressed, recovering from an illness or operation or just to pep the body up a notch or two for important days and events. Even more en vogue than bone broth, it is the preserve of the orient, and is widely believed to be the panacea for most ailments. Right.

But as I bang on about chicken essence, many of us would be wondering: what is chicken essence, or my personal nickname for it: Hot Bird Elixir? It is the liquid yielded by the bones and flesh of the chicken when double boiled over medium slow heat for at least 3 hours - hmm, "bone liquid" does not sound the most appetising and may induce a snigger or two, but it is all wholesome soul and goodness. It is imperative here to buy the highest quality free range and organic chicken you can afford - we are looking for a quality fit bird, and by that I do mean a fit bird - one which has minimal fat, is toned and supple from daily exercise, and which adopts a healthy eating and living style. Where possible, we could even be specific on breed and breeding of the bird: a black bird (the Chinese Silkie) is the preferred, but these are difficult to get a hold of and we would settle for a gamey bird, but never one which is corn fed... These can be got from local butchers and in London, the Ginger Pig, Parsons Nose and the posh local in Hammersmith should also do well.

Whilst there are many different interpretations of the method of preparation, there is really only one way to make it, and for the strictest of us, even the pot in which it is made must be vintage enamel. When fit bird is in hand, plucked and readied, you would need a cleaver and a large chopping board - please do wear an apron too as that bird would likely be flying about, as birds usually do. I would chop up the chicken into quarters and then begin to mince it, bones and all. It should be finely minced, so this could take some time (both the mincing and the post mincing health and safety sanitation), but it is so worth it, not least because any (work, life, general humdrum, unexplained) frustrations can be unleashed! Just three hours later, the liquid from the bird would be ready to be served, piping hot.

The conundrum here is when one is tired and needing a boost, chicken essence would be just what the doctor ordered, but all the mincing and cleaning do indeed tire one out, as therapeutic as getting one's hands on a fit bird is... oh well.

Equipment required:

- vintage enamel double boiler or double boiler 

- medium ceramic bowl

- cleaver

- chopping board

Ingredients

- free range, organic, non corn fed chicken, about 1.2kg to serve two

Preparation time

- 30 minutes prep

- 3 hours cooking

Method:

Place ceramic bowl, face down, in the top tray of the double boiler. Quarter chicken and start chopping each quarter with wild abandonment. Make sure the bones are chopped and minced too, as this will allow the essence to yield more easily. Remember, the chicken would not be consumed after cooking as all it's goodness would already have been extracted, and should be discarded. Place the minced raw chicken flesh and bones around and on top of the ceramic bowl, filling in gaps where possible.

Boil some water and place in the bottom pan. The water should not touch the bottom of the top pan when it is placed on. Boil at high heat for five minutes then turn down to medium low heat for 3 hours, remembering to check the water level of the bottom pan regularly. 

After the first hour, you will see flesh and bone liquid surrounding the chicken. After three hours, take the pan off the heat and the top pan off the bottom, and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes. This process allows the liquid in the pan to be sucked into the vacuum in the ceramic bowl. Carefully scoop up all the bones and flesh, making sure the bowl is not dislodged. Becareful as the minced chicken would be hot. 

When all the bone fragments and flesh have been discarded, tilt the pan slightly and prise the bowl off the bottom of the pan - it is "suctioned" on, so tilting the pan would release some liquid from the bowl which would allow the bowl to be removed more easily.

Serve the essence whilst it is still hot: My hot bird elixir.