July 24, 2011

Hot Chocolate Fondants

By kellyvcoop

Hot Chocolate Fondant Ok So I can’t take credit for this recipe but due to popular demand here is Gordon Ramsay’s Hot Chocolate Fondant Recipe – so easy to remember the quantities, perfect for a dinner party (or for yacht charter!) I use it every week, its great to make in advance and stick in the freezer. Although I still get nervous everytime someone takes that first spoonful though – will it be runny or won’t it!

Its goes great with a dollop of ice cream and a swirl of caramel around the edge. I really liked it with Coconut Ice Cream. I have yet to try it with grated coconut inside the tins instead of or with the cocoa powder but when I was in St Barths they had done this in one of the restaurants and it was delicious! Also goes great with some fresh berries :)

This recipes makes enough for 9 – so if you are serving 8, you have a tester!

Ingredients

  • 50g melted butter , for brushing
  • cocoa powder , for dusting
  • 200g good-quality dark chocolate , chopped into small pieces
  • 200g butter , in small pieces
  • 200g golden caster sugar
  • 4 eggs and 4 yolks
  • 200g plain flour
  1. First get your moulds ready. Using upward strokes, heavily brush the melted butter all over the inside of the pudding mould. Place the mould in the fridge or freezer. Brush more melted butter over the chilled butter, then add a good spoonful of cocoa powder into the mould. Tip the mould so the powder completely coats the butter. Tap any excess cocoa back into the jar, then repeat with 1 the next mould.
  2. Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, then slowly melt the chocolate and butter together. Remove bowl from the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for about 10 mins.
  3. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and yolks together with the sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail; use an electric whisk if you want. Sift the flour into the eggs, then beat together.
  4. Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition, until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.
  5. Tip the fondant batter into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds. The fondants can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen. Chill for at least 20 mins or up to the night before. To bake from frozen, simply carry on as stated, adding 5 mins more to the cooking time.
  6. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the fondants on a baking tray, then cook for 10-12 mins until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, then leave to sit for 1 min before turning out.
  7. Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds. Tip each fondant slightly onto your hand so you know it has come away, then tip back into the mould ready to plate up.
  8. Starting from the middle of each plate, squeeze a spiral of caramel sauce – do all the plates you need before you go on to the next stage.
  9. Sit a fondant in the middle of each plate. Using a large spoon dipped in hot water, scoop a ‘quenelle’ of ice cream.
  10. Carefully place the ice cream on top of the fondant, then serve immediately. Repeat with the rest of the fondants.

 

 

 

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May 4, 2011

Homemade Pesto

By kellyvcoop

I love growing my own herbs and I have plenty of basil at the moment, I also had 2 salmon fillets in the fridge so thought it a good time to make some Pesto. Its so easy to make and the ingredients are generally something I always have in my cupboard.  Here is the recipe!

Ingredients (Serves 4)

You will need a Pestle and Mortor or a food processor. I used a Pestle and Mortor.

1 Garlic Clove

2 Big Handfuls of Basil

2 TBSP Toasted Pine Nuts

1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan

Olive Oil (about 3 TBSP)

Half a Lemon

Salt & Pepper

Start with a peeled garlic clove in the Pestle and Mortor and pound until crushed down.  Then add the basil leaves and continue to pound until they are broken down, soft and mushy.  Next add the pine nuts and crush these into the mixture until combined followed by the grated parmesan.   The mixture should be very chunky but all broken down and combined. Now you can start slowly adding Olive oil to the mixture, mixing this in until it is a nice chunky but a spreadable consistency. I used about 2/3 tablespoons. Now add a squeeze of lemon juice and and salt and pepper to taste.

Thats all! I then continued to pan fry 2 salmon fillets for a minute or two, take off the heat and spread the pesto on the top of the samon fillets then place uder the gril for another 4/5 minutes – depending on the thickness of the salmon fillet. I like mine to be only just cooked so it is still moist and falls apart easily.

I served this on a bed of arugula with some stir fried veg (mange tout, baby corn, vine cherry tomatoes (halved) and some steamed broccoli.

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April 28, 2011

Simple, Healthy Seared Tuna

By kellyvcoop

I’ve not been cooking too much since I left the boat as I’ve been in transition and living out of a suitcase!

I’m on my own at the moment so I wanted to whip up something simple and healthy for dinner tonight that didn’t involve much cleaning up.  Its a shame I only thought about taking a picture after I’d eaten it as it looked pretty good for something that took less than 10 minutes to make.

Great weeknight meal or a simple summer lunch :)

Ingredients – Serves 1 (easily multiplied)

1 Fresh Tuna Steak

1Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to season

1/2 Bunch Asparagus

4 Vine Cherry Tomatoes

4 Basil Leaves

1/4 Cup Chopped Olives

2 TBSP Toasted Pine Nuts

Handful of Arugula

 

Heat a griddle pan until smoking. Rub the tuna steak with oilve oil and season with salt and pepper.

Add the tuna steak to the smoking pan and sear for 20 seconds on each side … it could be more or less depending on the thickness of the tuna and how well you like it cooked. I like to just sear it on the outside.

Be careful not to overcook – Even if you dont think the tuna is cooked enough after 20/30 seconds it will continue cooking once it is taken out of the pan

Set the Tuna aside and place a handful of arugula on a plate and add chopped olives, torn basil leaves & toasted pine nuts. Drizzle with olive oil.

Put the asparagus and tomatoes in the dish and drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Add these to the hot griddle pan and cook for about 5 minutes. When done add these to the salad and place the tuna steak on top.

Drizzle with Balsamic Syrup or your favourite dressing.

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April 3, 2011

Spiced Poached Pears in Red Wine w/ Gorgonzola & Walnuts

By kellyvcoop

Most weeks I’ll do Vanilla Poached Pears with a Chocolate Sauce but I seem to have been doing a lot of chocolate desserts lately and with a big Chocolate Cake already prepared for  a 50th Birthday this week I decided it was time to do something a little different.

The Red Wine Sauce that I poached the pears in made the whole boat smell like christmas which was wonderful and it tasted just like mulled wine!  This alone would have been enough to go with the pear but I decided a sprinkle of gorgonzola and a few walnuts would make it a little extra special and finish it off perfectly.

Not only was this dessert a big hit but it was incredibly simple to make and could be made easily at the last minute or in advance.

 

Ingredients ( serves 8 )

8 Pears, peeled & stalks left in tact

2 Bottles Red Wine

2 Cinnamon Sticks, broken in half

2 Vanilla Pods

5 Cloves

4 Pieces Orange Peel

250g Caster Sugar

2 Sprigs Thyme plus extra to decorate

1 Cup Gorgonzola, Crumbled

3/4 Cup Walnuts

Put the Wine, Cinnamon Sticks, Cloves, Caster Sugar, Orange Peel and 2 Sprigs of Thyme in a Saucepan big enough to hold all the pears.

Split the vanilla pods in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.  Add the seeds to the wine mixture. Split each halved vanilla pod in half again lengthwise so that you have 8 long pieces in total and add them to the wine mixture.

Add the peeled pears, making sure they are covered by the wine, if not then add a little water.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 30 minutes. How long it takes may vary depending on the ripeness of the pear.  You can test if they are ready with a cocktail stick, It will easily insert into the middle when they are done.  When the pears feel ready take them out and set aside (at this point they could be cooled and refrigerated for a later date). Bring the wine mixture back to a boil and reduce by about two thirds.  Careful not to reduce too much or the mixture will go too syrupy when cooled.

When ready to serve you can either place the pears whole in a bowl or martini glass or slice and fan on a plate as seen above. Drizzle with the warm sauce and sprinkle with some gorgonzola and walnuts. Decorate with Thyme Sprigs and the Cinnamon Sticks and Vanilla Pods from the Sauce.

Other Ideas – you could also use this for a lunch idea.  Poach the pears the same way, cool, refrigerate and when ready to use slice the pears and add to a salad with gorgonzola and walnuts. Reduce the red wine sauce further into a syrup and use as a sweet glaze/drizzle for the salad

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April 3, 2011

Goats Cheese, Tomato & Basil Frittata

By kellyvcoop

I usually make a breakfast frittata with Sausages, Bacon & Thyme.  Living in the Caribbean it is not always easy to get everything you want, especially fresh ingredients and when sailing around for a week at a time you sometimes have to learn to manage with what is left in your fridge or the few ingredients left on the shelves in some of the island stores.  My fridge was looking pretty empty on my last day of charter this week but I had some tomatoes, goats cheese and some fresh basil I had managed to pick up from a local supplier that came around in a dinghy the day before so I decided these would be the perfect ingredients to this mornings frittata!  It was delicious.  I would also enjoy this for lunch with a nice salad and some freshly baked bread :)

 

Ingredients (Makes 8 small or 6 large slices)

2 Beef or Vine Tomatoes, sliced

1 Cup Crumbled Goats Cheese

1 Bunch Basil Leaves

1 Red Onion, thinly sliced

1 TBSP dried Basil

8 Eggs

1 Cup Heavy Cream

Low Fat Tip - (if i was making this for myself i would use milk instead of cream, also a healthier way to make eggs a bit creamier be it scrambled, omelette or frittata is to add some low fat cream cheese to the mix)

Salt & Pepper

Whisk together the eggs and cream until combined adding Salt and Pepper to season and the dried basil. Mix 1/2 cup of the goats cheese into the egg mixture. Heat a heavy based sauce pan with a little olive oil or butter. Add the red onions and saute until translucent. Pour in the Egg and cream mixture. When the sides and bottom begin to set place the sliced tomatoes in the frittata. Continue to cook a medium to low heat.  When most of the frittata is set but it is still a little liquidy on top place the basil leaves and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of goats cheese.

Turn on the grill in your oven and finish off the frittata under the grill until set and nicely golden brown in parts.

Divide the Frittata into slices and serve.  It is nice served with Rosemary wrapped bacon (see below) and toast.

Rosemary Wrapped Bacon

Take a piece of rosemary and one piece of american style bacon and wrap the bacon around the rosemary stem. Repeat this for as many pieces of bacon and people you would like to serve.

Place on a tray and cook in a pre heated oven at 200C  until nice and crispy.

 


 

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March 21, 2011

Sesame Seared Tuna w/ Wasabi Butter Sauce

By kellyvcoop

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Tuna and this is one of my favourite dinners.

I serve it with a Ginger & Garlic Stir Fry and Miso Glazed Fingerling Potatoes.

Serves 10

10 Tuna Steaks

5 TBSP White Sesame Seeds

5 TBSP Black Sesame Seeds

5 TBSP Olive Oil

Wasabi Butter Sauce

10 oz White Wine

1 Shallot

2 TBSP White Wine Vinegar

1 TBSP Soy Sauce

1 TBSP Teryaki Sauce

2 TBSP Wasabi Paste

110g Unsalted Butter

Ginger & Garlic Stir Fry

1 TBSP Sesame Oil

2 TBSP Chopped Ginger

2 TBSP Chopped Garlic

3 Red Peppers (thinly sliced)

3 Yellow Peppers (thinly sliced)

1 Bunch Boy Choy (chopped white & green parts)

4 Spring Onions (sliced)

500g (roughly) of either Asparagus, Sugar Snap Peas or Green Beans all work well.

Miso Glazed Potatoes

750g Fingerling Potatoes (sliced in half on the diagonal)

2 TBSP Miso Paste

4 TBSP Mirin

Boil your potatoes in salted water until they pierce with a fork easily. Drain and Set aside.

For the Tuna, rub each tuna steak with olive oil. Mix the Black and White Sesame Seeds in a bowl and sprinkle these on all sides of the Tuna Steaks.  Press in a little to help the seeds hold better.

Heat a Griddle pan Until smoking, sear each tuna steak for 1 1/2 minutes on each side then take out and leave to rest.

Meanwhile make the Wasabi Butter Sauce.

Add Shallots, White wine vinegar and white wine to a pan bring to a boil and let simmer until reduced to 2 TBSP. Pass the liquid through a sieve to get rid of the shallots and return the pan to the heat adding the wasabi paste, teriyaki sauce and soy sauce. Chop the unsalted butter into cubes and whisk into the sauce 1 cube at a time. It is important not to let the sauce boil, to keep whisking and not to let the sauce cool too much either. Try taking it on and off the heat whilst whisking to keep an even temperature. This will help the sauce emulsify and avoid an oily residue on top. Leave the sauce until required, occasionally coming back to give it a quick stir.

Take your Boiled Potatoes and return them to a heated frying pan, add the Miso and Mirin mixed together and heat until the sauce thickens a little and all the potaotes have a nice glaze.  Be sure to give them a good mix whilst they are on the heat.

Heat a Wok until Smoking, add the sesame oil and then the garlic and ginger. Let brown for 1 minute and then add your chopped vegetables.  Heat for 5-7 minutes tossing the veg whilst cooking to ensure it is all cooked evenly and the garlic and ginger gets mixed throughout.

To Serve, place a mound of colourful Stir Fried Veg in the middle of the plate. Slice a Tuna Steak in Half diagonally and set each piece standing on its side, either side of the veg.  Place a small mound of potatoes and drizzle some Wasabi Sauce around the edge.

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March 4, 2011

Caribbean Key Lime Pie

By kellyvcoop

Caribbean Key Lime PieWorking in the Caribbean, Key Lime Pie is a popular dessert.  I have tried so many different recipes, most of them pretty good but one always lacking something another had! Here I have tried to combine everything I like into my own recipe. I wanted to try and incorporate the favours of the Islands and make my pie a little different so I used ginger biscuits for the crust, a bit of coconut in the filling and a little rum in the cream on top, hopefully giving it a lovely Caribbean Flair.  I also wanted to keep it nice and light and fluffy, making sure not to overcook it is important, taking it out of the oven when it is still wobbly in the middle but I have also used some egg whites. Most recipes call for just condensed milk and egg yolks, here i have whisked the egg whites separately and folded them in the final stages to make a lovely light filling.


Ingredients: (Serves 10)

2 Cans Condensed Milk

Grated Zest 3 Limes

50g unsalted butter, melted

2 Packs Ginger Biscuits

4 Eggs Separated

1 tbsp Sugar

200ml Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream

4 Tbsp Rum

2 TBSP icing sugar

3 TBSP Desiccated Coconut

1 9 Inch Spring form Pan

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Put the Ginger biscuits in a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin until small crumbs.  Add the melted butter and mix together.

Add the ginger biscuit mixture to the base of the spring form pan and press down either with the back of a spoon or I often find a potato masher works well! Set Aside.

In a large bowl whisk the grated zest of 2 limes, coconut and egg yolks until pale and thick.  Add the Condensed milk and whisk for a further 3 minutes.  Add the Lime Juice and give it another quick whisk to combine.

In a seperate Clean bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add 1 Tbsp sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.

Fold the egg whites into the Lime mixture until combined and pour into the spring form pan.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until just set and still wobbly in the middle.  Be careful not to overcook.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

In the meantime whip the cream and mix together the rum and icing sugar.  Add this to the cream giving in one last blast with the whisk to combine.

Remove the key lime pie from the tin once cooled and transfer to a serving plate.  Top with whipped cream mixture. Grate the zest of the remaining lime onto the cream.

Refrigerate Until ready to serve.

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February 26, 2011

Sesame Seared Tuna w/ Sweet Soy Chilli Sauce

By kellyvcoop

I often do this version of Seared Tuna as a starter. By special request here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 Saku Blocks Tuna

2 tbsp Olive Oil

2tbsp each black and white sesame seeds

1 granny smith apple, cut into match sticks

1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks

4 spring onions (scallions), cut into matchsticks

Serves 8 as a starter.

 

Sweet Soy & Chilli Sauce

3 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 thumb-sized red chilli pepper, deseeded and stem removed

2 garlic cloves

1inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

juice of 2 limes

2 tbsp caster sugar

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor/blender and puree until fairly smooth.

 

Rub the Saku tuna blocks with olive oil and roll them in salt & pepper and the sesame seeds.

Heat a dry pan until smoking and sear the tuna on all sides (about 1 minute each side)

Allow the tuna to cool slightly and then wrap very tightly in clingfilm  and put in the fridge, preferably overnight but at least an hour.  (the longer it is in the fridge and the tighter it is wrapped the easier it will be to slice)

Unwrap the fish and slick very thinly, about 1/4 inch

Arrange a bed of spring onions, cucumber and green apple on individual plates and top with the tuna.  Serve with the Sweet Soy & Chilli Sauce

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February 17, 2011

American Pancakes

By kellyvcoop

It has taken me 5 years to find a great American Pancake Recipe and finally Jamie Oliver has saved me.  These pancakes are fool proof, they are incredibly easy to make and turn out wonderfully fluffy, thick & delicious every time. Try this Recipe on Shrove Tuesday – 8th March this year … don’t forget!

pancakes usa stylie

ingredients.

• 3 large eggs

• 115g/4oz plain flour

• 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

• 140ml/5fl oz milk
• a pinch of salt

First separate the eggs, putting the whites into one bowl and the yolks into another. Add the flour, baking powder and milk to the yolks and mix to a smooth thick batter. Whisk the whites with the salt until they form stiff peaks. Fold into the batter – it is now ready to use.

Heat a good non-stick pan on a medium heat. Pour some of your batter into the pan and fry for a couple of minutes until it starts to look golden and firm. At this point sprinkle your chosen flavouring (see below) on to the uncooked side before loosening with a spatula and flipping the pancake over. Continue frying until both sides are golden.

You can make these pancakes large or small, to your liking. You can serve them simply doused in maple syrup and even with some butter or crème fraîche. Or if you choose to sprinkle with a flavouring, try one of these…

fresh corn from the cob
crispy bacon or pancetta
blueberries
banana
stewed apple
grated chocolate
anything else you can imagine…

PS Blueberry pancakes (above) are great but you must try the corn pancakes. On one condition – you must use fresh corn. To do this, remove the outer leaves and carefully run a knife down the cob – this will loosen all the lovely pieces of corn – and sprinkle these raw over your pancake, before flipping it in the pan. I like to have some grilled bacon over my corn pancakes, drizzled with a little maple syrup. This sounds bloody horrid but it honestly tastes great!

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February 15, 2011

Banana Muffins

By kellyvcoop

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 large bananas, mashed

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 deg c)

1) Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2) Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl.  Fold in flour and mix until smooth.  Spoon into greased muffin pan or a muffin pan with paper liners.

3) Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes.  Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped

I used this same recipe for Banana Bread too – popped it into a loaf pan and sprinkled some walnuts on top (my mum says she would have preferred pecans – either would work!) and cooked for 45-50 mins.

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