The hot hot dog

After a couple Man V Food marathons my friend and I were getting massive cravings for slow roasted, gut busting, meaty and cheesy American grub. Last Sunday turned out to be the perfect time to fulfill those meaty urges when we decided on some delicious chili hot dogs. To get the slow cooking element in to the recipe we chose to cook the chili in the oven for a few hours, until all the flavours had really mingled and the meat was almost melting. The recipe which follows is actually more of a guide because I made it up as I went along and it was down to personal taste. I think next time I would do more of a savoury, meaty chili as the one we ended up with was quite sweet and had a rich tomato flavour. We got some nice Polish frankfurter type sausages which had turkey and pork in them and some soft fresh buns. It definitely was man vs food when it came to serving up the chili dogs but this time, man won.

Chili Hot Dogs

Chili:
300g beef mince (or a mixture of beef and pork if you want a really nice chili)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tsp chili powder or to taste
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp hot paprika (if you want a really hot chili)
1 tsp cumin
a sprinkle of chili flakes
1 beef stock cube
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes (add the whole tin if you like it to have a bigger tomato flavour)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp cocoa powder (trust this, it works!)
salt & pepper to taste
dark sugar if sweetness is need

Preheat the oven to 150°C/Gas Mark 2/3. Start by browning the meat off in an oven proof pan or casserole dish, then add the onions and cook down until they become soft. Add the crushed garlic and all of the spices and fry them all for a couple of minutes. Add the stock cube mixed with a little hot water and the chopped tomatoes and mix in until you have the consistency of watery porridge, adding more water if necessary. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and the rest of ingredients and cook for about 5 minutes. Give the chili a taste now and adjust the ingredients depending on what you think is needed. Don't be afraid to use a fair bit of salt to prevent the chili tasting bland. Once you are happy with the taste, pop your lovely chili in the oven and leave to cook down for as long as you can wait.

Once ready, boil the sausages for 3-4 minutes and serve the hot dog and chili in a nice, soft bun with grated cheese, American mustard and some chopped onions. Meaty heaven!

Giant Raspberry Cupcake

The other week my mum asked to borrow my giant cupcake mould to make a cake for a couple of her friend's for their birthday lunch. Instead, seeing as I love a good old bake, I proposed that I would go home and bake the cake for her. When talking over what flavour I should do, a few different options came up but we decided on doing some kind of strawberry cupcake creation with fresh strawberries in the center. So off we went to Waitrose only to find they had no strawberries in stock. They did however have a nice deal on fresh raspberries so that is what we came home with. I made the recipe up as I went along and the outcome seemed to work, especially from the feedback I got form my mum's friends. I did cheat slightly and used some jam and some lovely raspberry sauce from M & S. It was a lot like a raspberry coulis so could be made by hand if you were that way inclined. The cake ended up being a vanilla sponge with a mascarpone and raspberry filling topped with raspberry icing. Lovely as an unusual birthday cake for a child or an adult!

Giant Raspberry Ripple Cupcake


Sponge:

340g butter, softened
340g caster sugar
6 large free range eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
340g self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder

Filling:

1 small tub mascarpone
1 tbsp raspberry jam
raspberry coulis/sauce to taste
1 punnet of fresh raspberries

Icing:
(recipe taken from british bake off book but modified slightly)

125g butter, unsalted
400g icing sugar
1 tsp milk
3-4 tbsp raspberry coulis/sauce

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Cream together the butter and sugar for the sponge until light and fluffy. While mixing, gradually add each egg and the vanilla until fully combined. Then carefully but firmly fold in the flour and baking powder until just mixed in. Spray the mould with cooking spray or grease with some butter. Add your mix to about 2/3 full, being careful not to over fill. Cook for 1 hour but check on it at 40 minutes to be sure you don't over cook the sponge. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

Next combine the mascarpone, jam and sauce in a bowl making sure it isn't too runny or too sweet. Then carefully fold in the raspberries and set aside.

To make the icing, cream the butter until smooth then add the rest of the ingredients and mix for at least 5 minutes. The icing should be light a fluffy and hold its shape if you plan on using a piping bag.

When the cakes are cool you can assemble the top and the base. I cut out a small well in the top of the base and spooned the mascarpone mixture in to it There is an extra part to my cake mould that you can use to make a well already but I find you don't get a good bake on the bottom sponge. The filling then acts as a sort of glue for the lid to sit on top of. Then you can pipe the icing all over the top and decorate with more fresh raspberries or sprinkles.

Mammoth dinner/picnic menu part 4

 Finally I have reached the pudding part of the epic meal I made for my parents to take for their upmarket picnic. I thought that the best bet would be to have individual puddings for each person rather than have something to share out between everyone. Saves on extra plates and cutlery! As I have mentioned before, I love trying out new and strange flavour combinations and when I found this recipe by Nigel Slater I definitely wanted to try it. It turned out to be rich and luxurious, perfect for those chocoholics out there looking for something a little different.

White Chocolate and Cardamon Mousse

Serves 6-8


8 plump green cardamom pods
100ml milk
3 bay leaves
250g white chocolate
300ml double cream
3 free range egg whites
best-quality cocoa powder for dusting


Break the cardamom pods open and extract the seeds. Crush them lightly, then add them to the milk and bay leaves in a small saucepan. Warm the seasoned milk over a moderate heat until it approaches the boil. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, break the chocolate into small pieces and melt in a bowl balanced over a pan of gently simmering water. It is best if the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Overheating the chocolate will cause it to go lumpy, so as soon as it starts to melt, turn off the heat but leave the bowl in place.

Whip the cream so that it forms soft mounds rather than peaks. In other words it should not be too stiff. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.

When the chocolate is completely melted, remove from the heat and pour the warm milk on to it through a sieve. Stir the chocolate and milk together till velvety.

Scoop the mixture on to the stiffly beaten egg whites and fold gently together with a large metal spoon (a thick wooden one will knock the air out). Now fold into the softly whipped cream. Scrape into a serving bowl or espresso cups and refrigerate for three or four hours till set. Dust with cocoa or serve with a jug of chocolate sauce.

Mammoth dinner/picnic menu part 3

 Now I have finally got round to continuing the picnic menu I started in the summer. I doubt any one will remember but I managed to get up to the appetisers and starters. This post is the recipe for the main course which was a beautifully sweet rack of lamb. I found the recipe in one of my mum's cookbooks which is from Ottolenghi. It wasn't really a cookbook which had a lot of recipes that jumped out at me but my mum had only just got the book and said she had only tried a few recipes from it. It was for this reason I wanted to make sure I included a recipe from the book and it turned out to be the perfect one. When it came to planning the main course, I had difficulty finding something interesting and meaty that would be nice to have cold. When flipping through the ottolenghi cookbook, I stumbled across this recipe which said it would be perfect hot or cold. From then I was sold and I'm glad I made that decision. I was lucky enough to try the end result too as some of the lamb came back from the picnic and it was delicious!


Ottolenghi Marinated Rack of Lamb with Coriander and Honey

(serves 4)

1kg rack of lamb, french trimmed

20g flat leaf parsley, leaves and stalks

30g mint, leaves and stalks

30g coriander, leaves and stalks

4 garlic cloves, peeled

15g fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

3 chillies, seeded (I actually deseeded the chillies and I think the heat was perfect, any more and it would have been too much)

½ teaspoon salt

50ml lemon juice

60ml soy sauce

120ml sunflower oil

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

4 tablespoons water

Make sure most of the fat is trimmed off the lamb, leaving a uniform thin layer that will keep the meat moist and add to the flavour. Use a very sharp knife to separate the rack into portions of two or three cutlets. place in a non-metal container.

Blitz together all the remaining ingredients in a food processor, pour them over the lamb and make sure it is well covered for a night in the marinade. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200c and heat up a griddle pan.

Remove the meat from the marinade, shaking off the excess. sear well on all sides, about 5 minutes in total. transfer to a baking tray and cook in the oven for about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the racks and how well cooked you want them.

Meanwhile, heat the marinade in a small pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

I served with some lovely herby couscous and roasted peppers, perfect for a warm evening.