Category: Cooking for children

Child favourite recipes

Rainbow Trout Risotto

This rainbow trout risotto could be done with other fish.  Increase the quantities to reflect the number of people.  You may need to get a wider (shallower) pot if you need place for more than one fish.

I did not garnish it much or embellish it much, it was a midweek dinner main.

The key to any risotto is A GOOD STOCK  !!!  Oh yeah!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
  • 750 ml to 1 litre mussel (moules) marinieres stock (or good fish stock)
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 rainbow trout
  • 1 glass dry white wine
  • 220 g of arborio rice (rule of thumb is 50 g/pers)
  • Garden herbs (if using)

Note: no need for salt as the stock (at least mine) is salty enough.

Method:

Warm up the stock until simmer.  Peel and crush 4 cloves of garlic.

Place some oil at the bottom of a thick based pot (I used my long Creuset), when hot, place the rice, crushed garlic, unpeeled garlic cloves and garden herbs in the pot and stir from time to time until half of the grains are white.

20160603_130405

Add the wine, reduce the heat to low.

risotto avec vin

Then place the fish over the rice and slowly add all the stock.  Cover and cook on very low for 20-30 minutes.  Turn off the heat when the rice is almost done but still a bit al-dente and with the lead on top, let the dish cool down half an hour.  The rice will keep developing and be just right.

risotto debut de cuisson

Pork belly roast in apple cider

This pork belly roast in apple cider is almost a whole dish in one go.  As any god pork roast, it cooks slowly for quite some time.  My trick, is that I cook it slowly for 2-3 hours covered, switch off the oven if dinner is still a while away and put it back for 1/h to an hour uncovered to finish it off and get the cracking! It works! (on my photo it appear a little dark, I went to pick the children up from school while in the oven which took longer than expected).

You can do the other way around (first the cracking uncovered, then cover up and cook slowly).

Ingredient
  • pork belly
  • apple cider
  • Garlic heads one or two depending on the size of your roast
  • 1 or two apples, cored, cut in thick slices horizontally
  • salt, pepper
  • herbs
Method
  • Score the top part of the pork belly, rub with salt
  • Cut the garlic heads halfway and place in roasting plan along with the apple slices. Put the pork belly on top. Add herbs, a dash of olive oil.
  • Poor the cider around the roast until it touches the meat (it’s of to have a bit of the meat “wet”).
  • Cover with foil.
  • Place in oven at 150°C for three hours or until very soft (the top will not look very appetizing at this stage).
  • If you are close to dinner time, uncover, increase the oven temperature to 180-200 and cook further until the tops blisters and crackles.
  • If you are not so close to dinner, switch off the over (leave the roast in there), and put back on up to an hour before dinner as instructed above.
  • Remove from the oven and rest before cutting and serving.
  • Serve with seized greens and roasted potatoes. See examples below for grilled potatoes and greens.

Pommes de terre grillees      Legumes verts

 

 

Chai Pannacotta

I was watching Masterchef the other night and Nigella (Lawson) had included in a challenge a coffee pannacotta.  I am not a coffee fan, but I do like a nice pannacotta from time to time.  This chai pannacotta is great! It is simple to make and apart for some cooling time, quite quick too.  The recipe is adapted from Valli Little book “Home Cooking”.

Plan to make it at least 4 hours before serving to ensure it sets.

I used a chai tea mix, but if you don’t have access to a good chai tea, you can make your own.

Makes 4.

Ingredient:
  • 300 ml milk
  • 3 teaspoons of good quality chai tea.  To make your own combine 1 cinnamon quill, 6 cloves, 6 cardamon pods, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp mixed spices, 1 tbs black tea leaves.
  • 55 g caster sugar
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scrapped. I alternatively used ground vanilla beans (1/2 tsp)
  • 3 leaves of gelatin gold strength
  • 300 ml thickened cream, whipped to soft peaks
  • To serve: rhubarb compote or chocolate sauce, poached fruits would also work very well.
Method:
  1. Place the milk, chai tea, sugar and vanilla in a saucepan and heat up on slow heat until sugar dissolves. Brings to a small simmer and allow to cook for a few minutes (3-5).  Remove from the heat an leave to infuse.

melange chai pannacotta

  1. In the meanwhile, break the gelatin leaves an place in a bowl with cold water to soften. 5 minutes is enough. Squeeze out the excess water and add to the warm milk mix, stir and make sure it is fully dissolved.
  2. Pass through a thin strainer and let to cool close to room temperature (or you whipped cream will liquefy if incorporated in too hot a liquid).
  3. Fold the whipped cream into the cooled mixture.  I like using a very wide whisk holding it on its size and turning the mixture gently from bottom up (like if inserting egg whites).

creme fouettee legerement

  1. Pour into 4 darioles or silicone darioles moulds.  Place in the fridge.
  2. To unmould, if using rigid darioles moulds place the base of the dariole mould quickly in hot water, then turn over the serving plate.  Wih silicone darioles, you can use a sharp knife around the edge, turn over the serving plate and “massage” the bottom until the pannacotta gently pops on the plate.

CHECK OUT THAT SEXY WOBBLE !! 🙂

 

Chocolate Mousse

A real chocolate mousse is light and airy.  The chocolate mousse is made only from eggs and good quality cooking chocolate.  There is no sugar, no cream! Chocolate mousses for cakes are different and would include whipped cream.  You will find this recipe with small variations on pretty much every French chef website.

Make it at least 4 hours before serving as it needs to set in the fridge.  You can make it the day before if you want.  You can put the mousse in individual ramequins or serve it as one dish to share.

For 8 people.  Preparation- 10 minutes. Resting – 4 hours minimum.

Ingredients

  • 200 g dark cooking chocolate (I like to use 70% but it may be a bit strong for children, use as a minimum a 50%+ chocolate)
  • 6 large eggs separated
  • 10 cl milk (preferred) or water

Method

  1. Melt the chocolate with the method of your choice.  For non-couverture chocolate, I would typically break the tablet in chunks in a bowl, add the milk or water and microwave for 2 minutes on 50 or 70% power depending on the strength of your microwave.  It is important that the chocolate does not burn.  Once melted, mix until silky smooth.  If using couverture chocolate you will want to melt it in a bain Marie (once melted add the milk) and ensure your eggs are at room temperature.  The role of the milk is to make it easier to mix in the egg whites.
  2. Add one egg yolk at the time and mix well.
  3. Beat the egg whites to snow quite firm and insert them by folding them into the chocolate slowly.
  4. Transfer to a bowl or individual ramequins, cover with cell wrap and place in the fridge.  The mousse will settle in the fridge.
  5. Remove from the fridge 20-30 min before serving (in summer 10 min is enough), serve with a madeleine or other plain biscuit.

 

Bonne mousse au chocolat

Chestnuts

 

Chestnut season is here!  Most of you are likely to have memories of hot chestnuts booked on a cold days in the ashes of the fireplace.  It brings you back to your childhood, doesn’t it?

Parisians may argue, you can get a cone of roasted warm chestnuts in winter at street corners for a couple Euros.  I remember that from my student years, although the currency was not yet the Euro!

Today, most of us don’t have a fireplace, but you can still eat those chestnuts! Use a sharp knife to incise slightly through the skin if the chestnut (this is to prevent them having a little tantrum while cooking). Be careful not to cut yourself.  Place the chestnuts on a baking sheet, little tin and in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.  Insert a pointy knife in one of them to check for doneness. Peel the exterior and interior skins and enjoy!

chesnuts ready to cook

What else can you use chestnuts for? Here are a few ideas:

  • Add on the sides of a lamb roast or roasted chicken.  You will need to incise them as explained above, parboil them for a couple minutes and peel them.  The boiling will help removing the skins.  Make sure there is some juice in your roasting pan or they will become dry.
  • Make chestnut puree (water based or milk based).  As above incise, boil a couple minutes then remove the skins.  Then cook in either water or a mix of water and milk on low heat until crumbly and coked through.  Puree.  Add sugar if you wish (it depends what you want to do with the puree).  Keep in the fridge or freezer.   There are a number of recipes with chestnut puree, here is mine for a chestnut pudding. It is light and very delicate, beautiful!

 

 

 

Everyday apple tarte

This recipe is what I would call an everyday apple tart.  It suits perfectly a simple family dinner, it is light and brings a nice finish to dinner.   It is pretty simple to make, once you got the shortcrust pastry right. If you want to know more about pastries and their uses, I wrote a post some time ago on tartes.

For 6 people. Preparation, 15 min. Baking time 30 min.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

  • 50 g of butter softened
  • 100 g of plain flour
  • some cold water (about 1/4 glass – see recipe)

For the filling:

  • 2 large apples (or 3-4 smaller ones)
  • sugar
  • and possibly (see options below 1 egg, some milk or cream, almond meal, butter and brown sugar)

Method

  1.  Prepare the pastry,  by rubbing the soft butter and the flour together until all of the butter sticks to the flour. Add water little at the time to obtain an homogenized ball. Rest for at least half an hour at room temperature.  if you need a bit more support, CLICK HERE, where I detail the process with photos.  Roll the pastry and place in the tart tin (no need to butter/flour it, it will not stick)
  2. Preheat oven to 180ºC.
  3. Quarter the apples, peel and core them.  Cut into further smaller quarters. Place in a circular pattern.
  4. From here, you have 2 options for the finish, I do either or and like both.
    • OPTION A : sprinkle coarse white sugar and add a few nuts of butter, then lace in the oven.
    • OPTION B : mix one egg, half a cup of milk (or cream if not faint hearted), 2 spoons of brown sugar together and pour between fruits pieces. You may also add one tablespoon of almond meal.  It is not critical for apples but is necessary if you use other fruits such as pears.
  5. Bake for about 1/2 h, the sides must be golden, if you feel it is going too quickly reduce the oven to 160ºC.

apple tarte

 

 

Apple tarte fine

Apple tarte fine means thin apple tart.  The reason it has this name is due to the elegance of the dish, yet it remains such a simple dessert.  There is slightly more work involved in the preparation of the tarte than a classic apple tarte.  This is a traditional French tarte, most often found in bakeries.  In Sydney, you can find some at Flour and Stone in Woolloomooloo or on market days at Orange Grove and Everleigh market (where Flour and Stone have a stall).  There are probably other places.

The tart consists of puff pastry, apples, butter and sugar (very little).  You may find some versions with Calvados, feel free to indulge. The recipe below is mine and remains simple.

Serves 6-8

Preparation – 30 min

Cooking – 30 min

Ingredients:

  • 4 large apples
  • 1 quantity of puff pastry (2/3 of the pastry obtained by my recipe here for a 37 cm diameter round tray – I use my pizza tray, alternatively use some commercial butter puff pastry)
  • About 50 g butter
  • Icing sugar (2 tablespoons)
  • Good quality redcurrent, apricot or strawberry jam (any of the first two is better) – for the shiny finish, optional

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 170 ºC (150 forced fan)
  2. On a very lightly floured work bench, roll the puff pastry to a 5 mm thickness, place on baking paper on your baking sheet (no need to use a tart tin).
  3. Delineate with the point of a knife the centre from the edge.  With a fork, make holes using the teeth of the fork, as on the photo below.  This will prevent the puff pastry from “blooming” underneath the apples.BreadNbutterKids
  4. Peel and core one apple, cut in small size dices, place in a saucepan with about 1/2 cup of water and cook until just tender.  This will make a small apple puree to place below the apple, I find it gives the tart a better finish.  You may have to adjust the water as it will depend on your fire and saucepan.
  5. Smear the pastry centre with the apple puree (there will be left over most likely).  Melt the butter and mix with 2 tablespoon of icing sugar.  Brush all the exposed parts of the pastry generously.
  6. Peel the remaining apples and core them without cutting through the fruits.  You will now cut very thin discs of apple along the horizontal axis of the fruit.  Once you have cut the whole apple, cut the circles in the middle so to get two piles of semi-circles.
  7. With you hands pan out one pile of apple semi-circle at the time and place on the pastry.  Repeat until all is covered leaving the edges exposed. Brush the remaining butter mix over the apples.
  8. Cook for up to 30 minutes, decreasing the heat after 5 minutes to 160ºC. The tart’s edges will quickly become golden, no panic, keep baking at slow heat as you also want a bit of colour on the fruits and want the underneath of the pastry cooked.
  9. In the meanwhile, prepare the final glazing.  apple tart makingPlace 2 spoon of jam in a bowl and add a few spoons of boiling water (2 to 4 depending on the jams) until you have consistency liquid enough to brush the tarte with. Alternatively, do this in a small saucepan on the stove.
  10. Once the tart is out of the oven and still hot, brush over the fruits (not the edges!) the jam glaze.  Be cautious to only put a thin layer.

_MG_9174

 

 

 

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins

This Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins recipe from Bourke St bakery (the Ultimate Baking Companion) is a winner! Light, with chocolate and raspberries (what else?) and easy to make.

A couple important comments :

  • The recipe calls for large muffin trays, it is definitely the very large ones! The large ones you may have at home are perfect too, you will just end up with more muffins!
  • Use good quality muffin paper cases as the mix is quite liquid and otherwise will end up soaking the paper and the muffin will stick to the tin, it will be harder to remove them.

Makes 12 (or about 20 if you use the “home size” muffin trays)

A recipe from Bourke Street Bakery

Ingredients:

• 400 g  plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 300 g caster sugar
• 310 g unsalted butter
• 480 ml buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 225 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 225 g raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 55 g raw sugar
• Icing sugar, for dusting

Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin and line with paper cases.
    Sift the flour and baking paper into a bowl and add the sugar, mixing well to combine.
  2.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, then remove from the heat and stir in the buttermilk. Using a whisk stir in the eggs to combine. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Use a large spoon to gently fold through the chocolate and raspberries. Don’t overmix.
  3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle the tops with raw sugar. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 20-25 minutes. For smaller ones, cook for around 10 -15 minutes. It may be necessary to drop the temperature about 10 minutes before the end of baking time if the muffins are starting to brown on top.
  4.  To test if the muffins are done, push the top gently to feel that it is firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before eating. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

muffin

 

Portuguese custard tarts

These little Portuguese custard tarts are light, perfect for entertaining, be careful, they fly away! To make them, just use your larger size muffin trays!

Ingredients

  • 1 quantity of puff pastry – about 250 g, the recipe is covered separately if you are ready to give it a go.
  • 1 egg
  • coarse raw sugar
  • 1 quantity of crème patissiere
For the crème patissiere:
  • 1/2 L of milk
  • 4 eggs yolks
  • vanilla essence or seeds from a vanilla bean
  • 60 g of plain flour
  • 60 g of white sugar

Another version of creme patissiere (used as much as the previous one, it is a matter of taste) contains cornflour (maizena).  The method is exactly the same, using the cornflour instead of the flour.  This recipe call for 40 g of butter to be added at the end outside of the fire, just before transferring to the container.  It gives it a nice finish taste (richer).  For this version, use 1/2 L of milk, 1/2 vanilla pod or good quality vanilla extract, 60 g corn flour, 100 g sugar, 100 g egg yolks, 40 g butter.

Method

For the crème patissière:

  1. Bring to the boil the milk and vanilla
  2. In the meanwhile, beat the egg white, sugar and flour together
  3. Pour a little milk over the egg mix while continuously mixing, then slowly pour back all of that mix in the saucepan with the remaining milk still mixing and cook on a slow fire. the mix will thicken.  Remove when it starts to boil.
  4. Pour into a plastic container and cover with a plastic film directly on top of the custard to avoid the forming of a skin.
  5. Cool quickly.

For the tartlets

  1. Warm the oven up on 180°C
  2. Roll the puff pastry to about 3 mm thick, you will need to use a little flour to prevent from sticking
  3. Cut squares to fit into a hole of your muffin tray (no need to butter the tray, there is already plenty butter in the puff pastry! it will not stick.)
  4. Place the squares at the bottom of the holes
  5. Fill with crème patissiere almost to the top
  6. Beat the egg in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of water (or about), use a brush to brush the edges of the pastry with the egg-wash (do not egg wash the crème patissiere)
  7. Sprinkle a little coarse raw sugar over the egg wash
  8. Place in the oven, cook until golden brown on the edges about 20 minutes
  9. Remove from the oven, turn the muffin trays over a cooling rack, the tartlets will pop out, some may need a bit of help, let them cool down.

Enjoy!

 

Bisher Muesli

Bisher muesli is a good alternative to a toast breakfast,it contains less gluten and the yogourt and the oats help with digestion.

Once you make the base recipe, you have many way to serve it.

Base Recipe ingredients

  • 1 cup cow’s milk
  • 1 cup natural yogurt
  • 2 cups rolled oats

Method

The evening for the next morning, mix together the ingredients and place in the fridge.

Served with a drizzle of honey, a bit of soy milk and nuts and fruits if desired.

Serves 4.

Bisher muesli keeps 2 days in the fridge.

Variations

  • Use soy milk or other milks as desired
  • Add sultanas when making the mix the evening before
  • Add 1/2 cup of orange juice (and reduce the milk quantity) when making it, this will give a little tangy taste which is quite nice
  • Grate 1/2 to a full apple and add to the mix when making it

Serving suggestions

  • Add soy milk, normal milk or almond milk if the mix is a bit too thick
  • Add frozen berries with a drizzle of honey
  • Add passion fruit and sliced banana
  • Add sliced almond and chia seeds
  • Add mint leaves and fruits

Chicken liver pate

This chicken liver pate needs to be made at least ½ day before use, it keeps quite well for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Many recipes have only chicken livers in them, I like to add some pork mince as it softens a bit the taste of the chicken livers. You could also use chicken mince.  The weight ratio in pork/chicken mince is between 1/5  to 1/4 of the paté.

This method requires cooking each ingredient one by one, then blending them together, there is no lengthy cooking as you may find for some other patés and terrines.

You need to choose before making the paté which flavour you will give your paté, if any.  I may add good quality Port (Porto) or a drop of whiskey.  My favourite is adding different types of peppers (green, black and red).

If you only have a small food processor, I suggest using half the size of this recipe.

You will find livers at the butcher, ask the butcher, livers are often kept at the back.

The recipe below makes 5-6 jars of paté (150-160 g each + butter topping).

Ingredients:

  • 500 g of chicken livers
  • 250 g of pork/chicken mince maximum, 150 g minimum
  • 1 medium onion
  • About 200 g of butter
  • 1/2 glass of water
  • Salt
  • Pepper, black as a minimum ground and whole.  I also use red pepper bays on top. The pepper paté has whole (not grounded) green pepper (35g – that would depend where your source the pepper from) and one generous tablespoon of black peppercorn inside.
  • Optional – A bit of port, fortified wine, whiskey or strong alcohol (not required if opting for strong  pepper option)
  • A few leaves of parsley or red pepper for the topping

Method:

1/. Prepare the livers by removing all the small nerves or skins, make sure to keep the livers whole as much as possible.

2/. Cut the onion in small cubes or small slices, melt 50 g of butter in the fry pan and cook gently the onion until melted down, transfer to the food processor.

3/. Cook the mince in the frypan until well cooked, season to taste (salt and ground black pepper), then transfer into the food processor.

3/. In the frypan, add another 80-100 g of butter, when the butter is melted, add the livers, season (salt and black pepper) to your taste. Be careful with the salt, it will appear saltier when cooled down. Cook the livers until just pink in the middle (cut one open to check).  You will need to turn the livers half way (a couple of minutes) and remove earlier the smaller pieces from the frypan. There should be no more blood but it should not be overcooked. Once cooked, transfer to the food processor, including all the butter of the frypan. Add the whole pepper to the blender is using making the pepper version.

4/. Whizz the food processor until you reach a very fine structure, add the alcohol at this stage if using. Add half of the water at his stage.  If the paste is thick and does not mix well, you can add a bit more of the water or a drop more alcohol (do not add too much though) or add some melted butter, one teaspoon at the time.  This is also the time where you can adjust your seasoning before a last short whizz (so they are not fully broken down).

5/. Transfer the chicken liver pate to containers (plastic boxes or ceramics bowls).  With a spatula or the back of a spoon, ensure the mix is spread evenly and flat at the top.  Melt the remaining butter and cover each surface with it.  This will prevent oxidation.  Add the red pepper or parsley leaves (for decoration).

The chicken liver pate will keep in the fridge for two weeks.

Enjoy!

Coddler Eggs for breakfast

Coddler eggs for breakfast is another child friendly recipe.  This is all about the fun of  little vessel called “coddlers” used to cook eggs.  Coddlers are, traditionally, English porcelain egg cups with a metal lead.  Very Britishsh! Egg coddlers have been used in England since the 1800s. The original name for an egg coddler was pipkin. My sister sent me a microwave version of them for a recent Christmas, what a great find! The advantage of the microwave version is the cooking time, it cooks in 30 seconds whereas the ceramics ones are cooked in a bain marie, this takes for ages!

Microwave Coddler
Microwave Coddler

All you need to do is:

  1. Crack open the egg and gently put in the coddler
  2. Add salt, a teaspoon of cream, pepper if you want.  You can add many more things like cheese, spices, …
  3. Close the lid
  4. Place in the microwave for 30 seconds (this will depend on your microwave and requires a bit of trial and error)
  5. That is it! Bip! Ready!
Cooking an egg in a coddler
Cooking an egg in a coddler
Egg cooked in a coddler
Egg cooked in a coddler