Tag: Baked

Baked Sour Dough with Brie and Chive Butter, Green Tomato Chutney

Photo by Jun Pang

So, we have been through compound butters before.

If you can’t remember, a quick re-cap.  It is basically “flavoured” butter.  Simply put, you take softened butter, place it in a mixer and add flavourings such as nuts, herbs etc.  Depending on what you are going to use the butters for will depend on the ingredients you put into the butter for flavour.  For example, chopped herbs with lemon zest will go great with flavouring fish, a little bit of Jus (refined juices from a roast, most home cooks would call it “gravy”) and some type of fruit jelly with chopped herbs would go great with grilled beef and so on.

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Leek, Bacon & Potato Bake

Photo by Jun Pang

What else goes better together than leeks, bacon and potatoes?

There are so many versions of these flavours but none more recognizable than in the famous soup, potato and leek as we know it or cock-a-leekie of Scotland or the French version, vichyssoise.  These soups, no matter what version you pick, have two ingredients that are a match made in heaven, leeks and potatoes.  Separately, these two ingredients are unassuming, almost boring but combine it together with lashings of butter and cream and you have something totally wonderful, something “mind-blowingly” simple but absolutely tasty and top it off with my favourite ingredient of all time, bacon – and boy you have a flavour sensation that will remain with you for the rest of your life.

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Orange & Cardamom Custard Tart

Photo by Jun Pang

Custards are probably the first things you learn to make in trade school when it comes to sweets.

Trick here is temperature control and the best way around this is usually a double boiler.  A double boiler is a bowl above simmering water.  This allows for gentle, even heat on what ever you are cooking.  When you are making custards especially for the first time, you must use a double boiler, it is user friendly for the novice pastry cook.

I won’t lie, you might want to try this recipe a few times.  The custard has to be “totally” cooked correctly and with the correct consistency otherwise it won’t set then you can’t brulee it.  It is such a fine line between the right amount of doneness and being over cooked and coming up with scrambled eggs.

Keep stirring the custard and make sure you “never” leave it, other wise it will over cook, trust me, even the best chefs muck this one up but stick with it, try it over and over again because getting the ingredients together is easy, the hardest bit is the correct doneness and it will only be through practice that you will recognize what that is.  After that, you will be doing it with your eyes shut!

So get cracking, if first you fail, try again!!

Baked Orange and Cardamom Custard Tart

Makes about 12

720ml Cream

1tblspn Grand Marnier

5cm Piece of Ginger                          finely sliced

5 Cardamom Pod                              crushed

1 Cinnamon Stick

14 Small Egg Yolks

80gr Caster Sugar

1 Orange Zest

½ the Short Crust Pastry Recipe     previous article

 

Method

  1. Place the cream, Grand Marnier, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon sticks in a saucepan and bring to boil
  2. Once boiled, place it in jug and refrigerate
  3. Next day, reheat the cream in the sauce pan to boil, once boiled, add the orange zest and set aside for about 5 minutes
  4. After 5 minutes, strain the cream mixture
  5. Put the egg yolks in a large mix bowl and whisk together then add the sugar and whisk until combined thoroughly
  6. Pour the cream mix into the egg mix and whisk through
  7. Put a pot of water on to simmer large enough to hold ¾ of the bowl on top of the pot
  8. Place the bowl on top of the pot and using a temperature resistant rubber spatula, mix the egg and cream mixture
  9. Cook on this double boiler for about 12-15 minutes or until the mixture is thick, with no lumps.  Use the spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl.  Do not at any time allow the bowl to touch the water, it will over cook the egg

10. Remove from the heat once you have the correct thickness and whisk for a couple of minutes to cool (over ice water if necessary)

11. Refrigerate over night

12. Place the custard into a piping bag

13. Pipe into the tart shells

14. Sprinkle evenly with caster sugar then brule with a torch gun until golden

Apple Tart Tatin

Photo by Jun Pang

Two simple things I love, warm apple pies and warm apple tart tatins, both served with vanilla ice cream.

I grew up eating Granny Smith apples straight from a tree my mate’s dad grew.  I love the tartness of these apples, the crunch and the floury texture on the inside.  I remember eating them right to the core.

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