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Showing posts from February, 2023

FENNEL WITH BUTTER & PARMESAN - FINOCCHI ALLA MILANESE

This slow-cooked fennel recipe is one of the best I've ever eaten. It's a recipe from northern Italy, and as the author says, 'the original cooking fat from Lombardy is butter, not olive oil. This is due to the abundance of cows due to the richness of the pastures of the Lombard plain and the absence of olive trees due to the cold winters. Most of the vegetables used to be finished like in this recipe, with butter and cheese.' Today I served it to accompany other recipes from the same cook, a chicken cooked with truffle cream, potatoes with garlic and parsley and mushrooms also sautéed with garlic, parsley and sherry. A very good dinner, although the amount of butter it uses, even if it's finger-licking, is not ideal if you're on a diet and want to lose weight 😁😋! Ingredients 4 fennel bulbs 50g unsalted butter 1 Tbsp olive oil 4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese sea salt Method 1. Remove any bruised and brown parts of the fennel and cut off and discard the tops. Cut...

PEA PANCAKES WITH CRISP PANCETTA & SWEET CHILLI SAUCE

A delicious and easy to make recipe. It looks fantastic when served in single entrée  plates or as a side dish, with the sour cream and the chilli sauce served in separate bowls. I have put two recipes to make your own chilli sauce at the end of this recipe, but it is equally good when served with a good bought sweet chilli jam. Truly enjoyable! Ingredients    1 cup (160g) fresh, podded or (120g) frozen peas 3 eggs 250 g fresh ricotta, drained ½ cup (35g) plain flour 1 tbsp olive oil plus extra for frying 4 spring onions, finely chopped 8 slices round pancetta or streaky bacon To serve Sweet chilli sauce (see below) Sour cream pea tendrils or watercress sprigs Instructions Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil, salt the water and blanch peas for 5 minutes if fresh, or 2 minutes if frozen . Drain and refresh under cold water.  Place eggs, ricotta, flour and oil in a food processor. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then process until smooth....

CARAMEL AND MACADAMIA CHEESECAKE

OMG!!! These were the first words uttered by the people who tried this cake! And it is certainly out of this world... It is light and sweet and you can't stop eating it. Another fantastic recipe from Ottolenghi. I have adapted his recipe to do some of the steps with the Thermomix, so you can find both methods for making it below. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do 😍😋! Ingredients 600g good-quality cream cheese, at room temperature 120g caster sugar ½ vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla paste  4 eggs, lightly beaten 60ml sour cream icing sugar, for dusting Base 160g dry biscuits (HobNobs or digestive biscuits are good) 40g unsalted butter, melted Nut topping 150g macadamia nuts 90g caster sugar Caramel sauce 65g unsalted butter 160g caster sugar 100ml whipping cream Method Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/Gas Mark 3. Lightly grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment. Traditional Method To make the base, whiz the biscuits to crumbs in a food ...