Roast duck with cider, cream and apples

It being a bank holiday I decided to treat myself to a roast dinner. there was only really one possible choice: duck. I found a great recipe from Simon Hopkinson's Week in Week out

The duck was served with a tangy stewed apples and a sauce made only of reduced cider and cream. For a lover of both duck and cider "heavenly" does not even begin to come close to describing how good this was: sweet and tangy and creamy and ducky and appley. Yum. The potatoes and watercress salad serve only as further vehicles to get the maximum amount of sauce and apples into me.

Thus I succumbed to the perennial hazard of cooking for only oneself and ate far too much, just because it tasted so good. My aching belly didn't thank me but my taste buds did.

Here's the (simple) recipe for the apples and cream sauce to accompany a roast duck.

Stewed apples

Ingredients:
3 Granny Smiths, peeled, cored, diced
1oz butter
1tbsp caster sugar
Lemon juice

Method:
1. Melt the butter then add the apples and sugar.
2. Stew until soft and some sides are slightly caramelised.

Cider sauce

Ingredients:
500ml sweet cider
300ml whipping cream

Method:
1. Slowly reduce the cider until very dark and syrupy
2. Pour in the cream and whisk together.
3. Bring back to a simmer and stir until of a cream consistency

To pair with a duck. Put a portioned half duck in an oven-proof dish and pour over the sauce. Spoon the apples into any remaining gaps. Bake for 20-25mins until the duck is glazed and everything is re-heated.

Krispy Kreme bacon cheese burger

To begin with I'd like to remind you of the classic Sesame Street game "three of these things".

Now, having refreshed your memory take in the following picture and sing along:

#Three of these things belong together
#Three of these things are kind of the same
#But one of these things just doesn't belong here
#Now it's time to play our game (time to play our game)

Did you get it right? I have to confess it's a bit of a trick question. Actually these four items - an original glazed Kripy Kreme doughnut, a beefburger, bacon and cheese - are the components that together make up the (self-acclaimed) "best burger in baseball": a Krispy Kreme bacon cheese burger.

Clearly, once I'd heard about such a thing (thanks Man vs. Food) I had to have one. As the burger is only available from the Gateway Grizzlies ballpark, I'd have to do it myself.

Today, I finally managed to get all the requisite ingredients and set about making me a Krispy Kreme bacon cheese burger.

I fried the smoky bacon first, then fried the patty in the tasty bacon grease (I even used Heston's 15s flipping tip which did actually produce a great crust and a juicy burger). Before mopping up all those meaty juices by grilling the sliced doughnut in them. The burger is then built with the doughnut glazed-side in.


Now, everyone who I have mentioned this to has so far had a similar reaction, much along the lines of "WHAT? That's disgusting. Why would you do that?".

I feel I am now ready to answer that question and defend this burger because it was actually a uniquely tasty experience.

Unsurprisingly the sweetness of the doughnut glazing pervades every mouthful. However, the burger actually manages to titillate all your tastes in one mouthful. After the initial sweet hit, the meaty umami of the beef kicks in, followed by the tang of cheese, finishing with the saltiness of the bacon. It's really quite remarkable. And incredibly moreish.

I was quite sad I couldn't have another immediately. I'd gladly have another and would urge you to try it. I really think you'll be surprised.

What's the difference between a cake and a sponge?

Apparently the difference (according to Campden BRI) is that a cake uses fat to stabilise the cake whereas sponge uses air. Technically it's a Victoria cake, then. There's only a few "true" sponges; these are the fatless one like flan cases.

Amazing what you find out on training courses for work.

Apologies if you were expecting a joke.

Goose risotto

I finally got round to using up the meat from the goose legs that have been in the freezer since the family Goose-fest. In retrospect I should have not roasted the whole goose and then I could have made a confit with the legs or even a tasty cassoulet.

Still a risotto is always good. This one was based on the Hairy Bikers recipe and had plenty of chestnut mushrooms and I used some of the reserved goose fat to sweat the onions and rice at the start.

[Obviously I would have used goose stock made with the bones of the bird, but I haven't got round to that yet...]

Easter egg

*Post alert*

There are some pictures at the end but don't look until you've read the words for maximum effect. I should have taken photos as I went. Unfortunately for us all , I didn't.
*Post alert*

It being Easter and having seen a suitable mould in Abraxas (the great local cookshop in Banbury), I thought I would have a go at making Easter eggs for the traditional family get-together.

It all seems pretty straight forward. Melt some chocolate, pour it into a mould and let cool. Easy. (I couldn't be doing with all this tempering malarkey). For a little bit of interest I thought I'd do a milk outer layer, white middle layer and a thin dark inner layer. Then decorate with a little icing.

However, I'm not sure the phrase "easier said than done" has never found a more apt use. Needless to say, things didn't quite go to plan.

I'd done a little bit of research on the interweb and it was clear that it would be necessary to take it step by step and build up the egg in stages to avoid the chocolate just pooling in the middle resulting in a very thick centre and very thin walls.

It all went well with the outer milk chocolate layer. I took my time and took great care to only add a small amount of melted chocolate, moving it around the mould to get an even covering, (although building up the sides was tricky) then leaving it to cool. Before repeating the process.

It was when I started on the white layer that it all went Pete Tong. As soon as I put the first spoonful of white chocolate in, it started melting the milk layer. Then it all just started to pool in the bottom. I guess I must have had the chocolate slightly too hot. I left it to set and tried again with slightly cooler chocolate. Same result. And the white chocolate had started to get through to the surface somehow.

I decided that my three distinct layer of different chocolates was not going to happen. Instead I just melted the dark into the white and layered up as I had done with the original milk chocolate layers.

One half down, I melted all the chocolate together and produced a reasonable second half. A little melted chocolate was used to sandwich the two halves together and I left the whole egg in the freezer overnight to set.

What I took out of the freezer seemed reasonable and I set about decorating with very thick icing. However, it didn’t occur to me that as the thing defrosted, moisture would gather on the surface thus wash away the icing.

All in all a catalogue of errors. Mainly down to my lack of patience, I reckon. Not sure I’ll be in too much of a hurry to repeat. Although eating the leftover warm chocolate was very nice…

Maze

Back in January I bought a dinner for four at Maze via a Travelzoo offer and tonight we finally got to go. I really wanted to go to Maze when Jason Atherton was at the helm but didn't manage it before he left in 2010. So, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, I had a hunch that Atherton was the soul of the restaurant and his departure would probably have meant that it would have lost its enticing innovative sheen. The proof would be in the eating.

Maze doesn't follow the usual protocol of Russian serving, but offers "tasting plates". Essentially this meant we had two small starters, a small main and a pudding.

***

Pressed chicken and foie gras, pear and saffron chutney, green tea caramel

Rather predictably I went for the foie gras option. I love the stuff. Any opportunity I get to have some will be taken. Anyhoo, the terrine was OK nothing particularly great or awful. The only noteworthy item was the appalling green tea caramel. It formed a hard and bitter tasting perimeter on the plate adding absolutely nothing.

***

Pork dumplings, radish, aromatic mushroom broth

Pork dumplings are a relatively recent revelation to me. They are delicious. Again, if I'm having Chinese I simply have to have these delicious packets of bliss. I was amazed to see them on this menu so absolutely had to have them. They were the single most delicious thing we had. Beautifully seasoned and savoury pork balls enveloped in delicate thin pasta. Swimming in a clear savoury mushroom liquor. Absolutely wonderful from first tentative nibble to the last slurp of the broth.

***

Braised beef featherblade, pomme puree, shimiji mushroom, tograshi spice

The beef "main" had a lot to live up to after the pork dumplings. It didn't. Yeah, the beef was good but the flavour was swamped by the sauce. The mushrooms didn't particularly add anything. The mash was good (as you'd expect) maybe a touch "claggy" and the tograshi spice was a thin line on top of the potato. The flavour of which only came through if you deliberately tasted it. This was a case of over-complication or addition of "exciting" and "exotic" ingredients just for the sake of it. A disappointment. Something makes me think that Atherton wouldn't have allowed it.

***

Banana and date parfait, butterscotch, walnuts

This was almost the most substantial dish of the night. The advertised flavours were present and correct. A silky smooth parfait with lots of chewy lumps of date, the walnuts came baked into a slice of rather dense banana cake, a lovely butterscotch sauce and a perfectly caramelised banana.

All in all a typical Ramsey affair: luxurious surroundings, good service (in the main) and reasonable food. The thing is that's the problem with the place as well: it just seemed too anodyne and formulaic. I'd go back but there are plenty more places I'd like to go to first where I think I'd have a better time, especially at this high-end side of things. Now, when can I get to Pollen Street Social...

Pineapple upside down cake, with a twist

After the disaster of my first attempt at this cake, I finally had the opportunity to give it another go. Thankfully it turned out slightly better this time. The break also gave me the opportunity to change a few things with the recipe, a much welcome treat.

The reason its not your usual pineapple upside down cake is because not only is it a sandwich but I also gave it a tropical twist: the caramel had a touch of chilli flakes, the sponge was coconut and lime and I made a coconut butter icing for the middle.

All in all I was very happy. The chilli in the caramel gave a nice heat and the variety of textures and complimentary flavours meant that each mouthful was different; quite unusual for a cake. Improvements might be to make it even more coconutty by investing in some Malibu (for the cake and icing?), maybe try a cream cheese based filling and maybe gild the lily by decorating with a simple icing made with coconut milk.

Pineapple upside down cake, with a twist

Ingredients:
For the caramel:
120g dark brown sugar
60g butter
~50ml pineapple juice (either from the tin or from blending the off-cuts)
scant ½tsp chilli flakes
For the cake:
1 pineapple, cut into thick rings (or 2 tins of pineapple rings) and halved
2oz dessicated coconut
150ml coconut milk
2 limes
7oz plain flour
8oz caster sugar
4 eggs
1oz cornflour
1tsp baking powder
For the icing:
1oz dessicated coconut, lightly toasted
3oz butter
6oz icing sugar
Coconut milk

Method:

1. Firstly, prepare the coconut for the cakes. Add sufficient coconut milk to the lime juice to make 150ml. Warm this until nearly boiling. Pour this over the dessicated coconut, cover and leave to soak for an hour.
2. To make the caramel, melt the butter and sugar together in a thick bottomed pan. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the chilli flakes and pineapple juice (remember to only swirl the pan don't stir, to prevent sugar crystals forming) and simmer on a low heat for about 3mins. Remove from the heat before the caramel has reached a "perfect" colour as it will continue to cook when the cake is baked.
3. Pour the caramel into a buttered 8" spring-form cake tin and cram as much pineapple in as possible in a single layer.
4. To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and light.
5. Add the eggs one by one (add a spoon of flour between each egg to prevent curdling)
6. Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder together and fold into the mix.
7. Gently stir in the dessicated coconut and liquor as well as the lime zest.
8. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins. Bake at 180°C.
9. The cake without the pineapple should be ready after 25mins. The pineapple cake will require a little longer, so start checking every 5mins after 30mins has passed.
TIP: Be careful when you turn the pineapple cake out! Place a large cake over the top of the tin. Hold the plate and tin together firmly and flip in one smooth bold motion.
10. To make the icing beat together the ingredients, adding sufficient coconut milk until the required consistency is reached.
11. To construct the cake, once cooled slather the single cake with the icing. Top with the pineapple cake (pineapple uppermost!).