January Recipe: Mushroom Soup

Makes 1 litre of Soup

Fry 1 finely chopped Onion in a pan with 50g Butter until soft and golden

Add 500g sliced Mushrooms and fry until golden brown

Add 1 litre Vegetable Stock, Season to taste with Salt and Pepper and add a pinch of dried mixed herbs

Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes

Add a splash of Double Cream (or Soya Equivalent) and heat through gently before Blending with a hand blender or processor

SERVE WITH: crusty bread

I always have a pot of Vegetable stock at home in the freezer made from all those left over & wrinkly veg boiled up in seasoned water then strained. I would however recommend getting some Marigold Vegetable Stock Powder (also available as Vegan) for your store cupboard.

A popular recipe at the moment, I had a version of this in the restaurant at Highgrove earlier this week. This version is tried and tested as it was devised by my father many years ago. The best part about it is that it is just as easy to make using Soya ice-cream, so perfect for those with a dairy intolerance.

December Recipe: Christmas Pudding Ice-Cream

Mix together in a bowl then cover closely & set aside for a few hours (or overnight):

When ready, soften 1 litre vanilla ice-cream (perfect for ice-cream straight from the shop!) then mix in your Brandied fruit, 150ml double cream, 25g toasted flaked almonds and 60g chocolate chips (these are optional as they go VERY hard in the ice-cream)

Spoon into a 1.8 litre (3pt) pudding basin, cover with freezer wrap & put in the freezer

When you are ready to serve: remove the wrap then dip the basin in hot (NOT boiling) water for 30 seconds, then tip out of the mould onto a plate. Dust with Sifted Cocoa Powder & let soften slightly before serving.

Easy Peasy! I’ve made some using sweetened dried cranberries for a change instead of the cherries… Although I am also toying with the idea of inventing a”stollen” ice-cream – boozy fruit, almonds & marzipan balls perhaps?

The best thing about making your own is that you can adjust the ingredients to suit your own taste (I like it with lots of nuts in and I generally spend the next two weeks opening the jars & pouring more brandy in!).

Think of the recipe below as a guideline for your own preferences 

This is so easy and knocks the spots off the shop bought stuff, make it now and let it stand for a few weeks for the best mince pies you have ever tasted!

November Recipe: Mincemeat – makes 6 (jam size) jars

Roughly chop (or quickly blitz in a food processor) 250g raisins, 250g sultanas & 125g mixed peel

Then mix this together with:

400g currents,
125g chopped nuts (traditionally almonds – but any will do)
1 finely chopped apple (dessert or cooking, cored but with skin on)
400g soft brown sugar,
180g shredded Vegetarian suet (this is an optional ingredient, my sister omits it from her mix)
Rind from 1 orange & 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1/ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Finally pour in:

Juice from 1 orange & 1 lemon
6 tablespoons Brandy (or rum or whisky)

Put into your clean, dry jars & wait two weeks…

When you are ready to cook them, use either homemade or shop bought Shortcrust pastry rolled out to less than half cm thick. cut out circles & put into a greased bun/muffin tin & prick the bottoms, fill with mincemeat then either leave open or cover (remember to prick the lid) & brush with melted butter. Cook at 200°C for 8-10 mins (for mini ones like mine) or 15-20 mins (larger ones) until they are golden. Serve hot or cold sprinkled with icing sugar!

This mix should keep well for 6 months if stored in a cool, dark place.

Christmas Mince Pies made to impress

For the lovely lady who wanted some recipes, the chocolate brownie one (yes, I agree they ARE the best in the world) is also on this site. Here’s how I made the sponge for the cupcakes (or any cake for that matter!)

Simple Failsafe Cake Recipe

This recipe uses the same weight of everything: EGGS, BUTTER, SUGAR, FLOUR

Decide how large you want your cake & choose your number of eggs accordingly – 2 eggs for a small cake/cupcakes, 3 or 4 eggs for a larger cake

Weigh your eggs whole, this is the weight you need for all the ingredients

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease & flour your cake tin

Whisk the butter (or you can use margarine or sunflower oil) with the caster sugar until creamy

Add the eggs one at a time and mix each one in well (if the mixture starts to split, add a spoon of your flour)

At this stage you can add any flavours such as vanilla essence or cocoa powder. My favourite is crushed cardamom pods with lemon zest.

Fold in the self-raising flour

Pour into the cake tin and cook for 20-25 mins until a skewer comes out clean (Cupcakes only need approx. 12 minutes cooking time)

Cupcake tip: For perfect round cupcakes the mixture shouldn’t touch the sides of the cases, the easiest way to do this is to pipe the mixture gently into the middle of the cases.

I am planning lots of wonderful things to bake and decorate – pink ribbon runouts, bra bunting and pink cowgirl cookie mix in a  jar. It’s not just for me it’s all in aid of our Go Pink Coffee Morning on Friday October 21st with all profits going to Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

I think everyone must know someone, either a family or friend who has had breast cancer, and yes men can get it too… So come along with your friends and support a great cause.

Ribbon topped Cupcakes, Coconut Macaroons, fresh Strawberry Cream Gateau, Cake Pops & Brownies!!!

So definitely a healthy slant dominating the market, but what will work for us? Well, we’ll definitely be stocking some delicious nut/muesli bars which scored well in my personal taste test! We also LOVED the loose nuts although we may get packs in to jazz up the salads & soups in the Cafe.

We also liked many of the pots of soups & stews and although I realise that consumers do go for the ‘branded packaging’ – the products just don’t compare with our delicious freshly made soups & stews that we make here. So bring in your Bento pots & get them filled!

Here’s how we make it:

July Recipe: Avocado & Crispy Bacon Salad

serves 4 people

Fry 150g of Pancetta Cubes for 5 minutes until crispy (you could also used chopped bacon)

Peel & dice 2 ripe Avocados this can be tricky at home as you have to time your avocados somewhere between bullets and stringy brown mush

Make the dressing

(yes, this is the recipe for our world famous Sweet Basil Dressing)

Prepare your salad: arrange mixed Salad Leaves (Endive, Lollo Rosso etc) with 1 sliced yellow or red Pepper, 2 Tomatoes cut into wedges and half a sliced cucumber

Sprinkle the warm, crispy pancetta & cold avocado on top & then drizzle the dressing

SERVE WITH: garlic ciabatta & a glass of rosé please!

The Codfather

Mark had such an amazing time fishing off the coast of Weymouth and apart from the beautiful iridescent mackerel, the catch of the day had to be the turbot.

A sunny evening was perfect to get the mackerel in the smoker and onto the barbeque to infuse it with an amazing smokiness (although bought smoked fillets work just as well).

With a plethora of delicious fish, we thought it would be a good idea to do a delicious paté recipe for you to try.

June Recipe: Smoked Mackerel Paté

4 Portions – (Use ingredients straight from fridge: no chilling time required)

Blend together (by hand or processor):

4 Smoked Mackerel fillets  – skinned, bones removed & flaked

125g Cream Cheese

150ml Sour Cream

Juice from half a Lemon

1 dessertspoon Grated Horseradish/Hot Horseradish Sauce

Add Salt & Pepper to taste

Strawberry & Rosewater and Blueberry Cream Macaroons

]]> http://caferetro.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/is-there-a-market-for-macarons/feed/ 0 caferetro http://caferetro.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/mushroom-white-wine-risotto/ http://caferetro.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/mushroom-white-wine-risotto/#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 10:04:32 +0000 CafeRetro http://caferetro.wordpress.com/?p=88 ]]> A timely entry as this is currently on our Saturday Night menu. Last weekend one of our customers thought it was the second best risotto she had ever had (the best having been in a two Michelin Star restaurant, well you just can’t compete with that!).

Much has been said about the time-consuming nature of a risotto, however I think this is part of the joy as I find it’s a calm peaceful moment in a kitchen: just you, your dish & the open bottle of white wine…

Don’t worry if you don’t have fresh Vegetable stock, just buy yourself a tub of Marigold Swiss Vegetable Stock Powder (much better than your average stock cube).

May Recipe: Mushroom & White Wine Risotto

serves 4

Fry 1 large diced Onion with 2 crushed Garlic Cloves in 30g Butter for 5 minutes until soft and golden

Add 300g Risotto Rice and fry for 5 minutes until glossy & golden

Add 250ml White Wine and cook until the wine is absorbed into the rice

Start adding small amounts of Vegetable Stock (500ml altogether) one ladle at a time and stir often

When the rice is almost cooked (after approx. 10-12 mins) add 200g Sliced Mushrooms & 100ml Cream and cook until soft and thick

Add Salt & Pepper to taste, Sliced Spring Onions then remove from the heat and stir in 30g Butter

This recipe is a cheese-free risotto so perfect for the dairy intolerant as you can easily substitute the butter & cream for non-dairy alternatives.