An indulgent farewell to 2013: smoked salmon towers

Happy New Year! The festive fortnight has (so far) left me almost unable to move due to the sheer volume of deliciousness that I have consumed. Having been away for Christmas itself (deliciousness prepared by my brother), we felt slightly worried by the fact that upon returning home, we would have none of the usual leftovers to pick at over the days to come.

Rather than allowing normal service to resume (an option the more sensible and health-conscious might have chosen), we headed to the supermarket in search of bargains and snapped up a fridge worth of tasty canapes, cocktail sausages, a whole ham, various cheeses, festive biscuits and chocolates. None of which were required but all of which have been consumed with dedication and appreciation. 

By New Year's Eve, I must confess that, greedy as we are, we had pretty much reached our limit. Rather than leaping with joy at the prospect of another gourmet meal, we groaned slightly and checked the supplies of Zantac. We had planned a spoiling meal for two, taking it in turns to cook the courses. No expense spared (within reason) due to the fact that 'staying in' saved the cost of a babysitter. At 5pm, neither of us looked particularly thrilled by the idea of yet more food but miraculously (and thankfully), one glass of Champagne in and we rallied! I call it the power of Perrier Jouët.

I was in charge of the starter and pudding with Mr Greedy taking responsibility for the main course and side dishes. I was quite pleased with my pretty starter which I made up as I went along - a stack of smoked salmon, avocado and cucumber with a layer of smoked salmon pâté, topped off with lumpfish caviar. They were rather large and I would scale them down next time (I need smaller rings) but I will definitely do them again - they can be prepared well in advance and are easy to do. If you have individual ring moulds (timbales), then so much the better. If not, you can make your own with old, clean yoghurt pots or similar.

An empty pot of cream makes a handy make-shift mould!

Roast duck was the main event, accompanied by a rather tasty red wine blackberry sauce from a Gary Rhodes recipe. Gratin dauphinoise, braised red cabbage and glazed carrots were welcome additions alongside. Pudding was chocolate fondants. Not particularly adventurous, you might think, but actually something I have never attempted to make. I have always assumed they would be tricky to get just right but this recipe from Gordon Ramsay is absolutely foolproof. The best part is that you can make them in advance and even cook the straight from frozen. I halved the recipe to make four fondants and have two in the freezer to whip out when we have an urge for a treat further down the line. I will definitely make these again for a dinner party for this reason - I had always assumed that they would have to be made last minute which always puts me off! As suggested, I served with a caramel sauce and good vanilla ice-cream. A dusting of chocolate honeycomb topped it off nicely and gave it a little New Year glitz.

Fondant au chocolat - before

Fondant au chocolat - after

 

All in all, our New Year dinner-à-deux was a great success and a good excuse to test-drive some new recipes for entertaining. It was also a great excuse to enjoy some fabulous wines - the starter was served with a lovely St Veran from Château de Beauregard but we felt a crisp Alsace riesling might have been a better match. A reserva Rioja from Muga was beautiful with the duck and The Wine Society's Tawny Port a reasonable match with the chocolate pudding. A touch of Trivial Pursuit kept us going until midnight and we toasted the 2014 amidst resolutions to focus on quality not quantity on all things food and drink related going forward!

Trivial Pursuit - A festive essential!

Here is the recipe for the salmon starter. Quantities are very approximate - it will depend on the size of your moulds. Also, feel free to layer it up however you choose - I liked to alternate green and pink and the crunch of the cucumber made a nice contrasting texture. A layer of prawns might be good if you are that way inclined. Perhaps a layer of quail's egg mayonnaise? 

Smoked salmon towers

Serves 4 (based on small 2.5 inch ring moulds, or individual yoghurt pots with the bottom cut out!)

*Note: I topped my towers with a layer of lumpfish 'caviar'. I found this too overpowering and next time would just use a small blog with the crème fraîche as a garnish. My husband thought it worked well though, so each to their own!

For the smoked salmon pâté:

100g hot smoked salmon, flaked

50g cream cheese

1 tsp horseradish sauce

1 tsp freshly chopped chives

good squeeze lemon juice (to taste)

1 large, ripe avocado pear

good squeeze lemon juice

100g cold smoked salmon

4 inch piece cucumber

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill, plus extra to garnish

Small jar lumpfish roe/caviar*

Crème fraîche to garnish

1. To make the pâté, place all ingredients in a food processor (I use a mini one). Add lemon juice and pepper to taste. Set to one side whilst you prepare the other layers.

2. Chop the avocado up into chunks and squeeze over lemon juice to prevent discolouration. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and mash slightly.

3. Peel the cucumber, scoop out the majority of the seedy middle with a teaspoon and chop into tiny dice. Stir through the dill and set aside.

4. Chop the smoked salmon into small pieces - I used a pair of scissors for this.

5. Assemble your towers: take the plates upon which you plan to serve the starter and place the moulds/rings in the centre of each plate. Start with a layer of avocado mix - spoon evenly between the moulds and gently push to the edges of the ring so that you have an even-ish layer. Repeat this process with a layer of pâté, then cucumber and finally the smoked salmon. I then topped mine with a layer of caviar but please see note*.

6. Place plates in the fridge for at least half an hour but longer is fine too (you could make late morning for that evening). When ready to serve, carefully lift the moulds up and garnish the towers with a blob of crème fraîche and a sprig of dill. A little melba toast on the side might be a nice addition too!

A greedy Christmas ahead: the tale of two cakes

It has been an eventful few days in the littlebitgreedy household involving a trip to A&E by ambulance and a night in the paediatric ward. Fortunately, all is now well and despite much coughing, sneezing and wheezing we are packing up the car to head off for Christmas with family.

With all the dashing about, festivities are a little bit behind yesterday and my cake icing timetable went out of the window. A frantic bit of rolling, moulding and cutting out and tah-dah: two very rushed Christmas cakes!

Why two, you may well ask? Well here at littlebitgreedy HQ, we take Christmas greediness to a whole new level. Tasked with providing 'the cake' for our family gathering in London, we were concerned that once we returned home on the 27th, there would be no cake to last us through the season of gluttony Goodwill. As such, it was decided that I would simply have to create a second cake to fulfil our needs upon return home.

I am very much a novice when it comes to decorating cakes (I leave it to my sister who does so professionally) but I have picked up a few tips along the way which stand me in good stead. I enjoy deciding how to ice my cake each year but must admit that doing two did challenge me somewhat. For the round cake (for home), I decided on a snowman theme as I thought it might appeal to my little boy. Not that he really knows what a snowman is really. But hey-ho. The men were easy to create out of fondant balls, secured with a trusty cocktail stick. The arms were a little fiddly - again the cocktail stick came in handy as I moulded the icing around one and secured in position. I dusted the top with 'edible snow' that I stumbled upon in a certain upmarket supermarket. You can't really tell in the very hastily snapped photos, but it does look rather nice.

The square cake proved more of a challenge. I am not a great one for precision, unlike Mr Greedy who was horrified that I placed the 'ribbon' on my parcel cake without the aid of a ruler. As such it is not central. Overall though, I am pleased with the overall effect and think it will go down well at the family gathering.

Time to dash now - the presents are loaded in the car (as are the million and three other items required when travelling with a small child) and it is time to load myself in too with the cake precariously balanced on my knee.

I wish everyone the happiest of Christmases. May your days be merry, your wine be sparkly and your cakes be tasty!

A hint of festive spice: Rhubarb and ginger crumble

The decorations are up, the cards are posted and the dining table is awash with wrapping paper, ribbon and tags. Christmas is well and truly here in the littlebitgreedy household. Although Mr Little Bit Greedy spends much of November (and a good part of December) Bah Humbug-ing, he does actually love Christmas and once we hit the home straight he gets suitably merry and jolly. I love Christmas too for so many reasons and it has to be said that the level of greediness goes up quite significantly around here at this time of year. The feasting angle is an important one to me - we feast together with immediate family, with extended family, with friends and with neighbours. Any excuse really!

I try not to indulge in festive foods too early - a month of non-stop mince pies tends to take the edge of this annual treat. But it does seem that as we creep ever-closer to 'the big day', my cooking does take on a little seasonal flavour. I got a little over-excited when I spied some of the first forced pink rhubarb in the supermarket last week. Not British yet, but from Holland which, for now, will have to do. Forced rhubarb is such a treat during the dark days of winter - it is lovely to feast on something so bright and vibrant in the months where we are otherwise weighed down with root vegetables and cabbages.

Forced rhubarb: a vision in pink

I love most rhubarb-based desserts but my favourite simply has to be a classic rhubarb crumble with thick vanilla-scented custard. On this occasion, I decided to spruce my crumble up with the addition of ginger (both stem and ground), cinnamon, a little orange zest and ground almonds. Ginger goes so well with rhubarb and the flavours here really lift this crumble without taking it too far from the traditional original (I can't bear a crumble with ideas above its station - no granola-topped fruit compote for me!).

The recipe is, essentially, one from Annie Bell's fantastic book 'Gorgeous Desserts'. This seems to be out of print in this country currently although second-hand copies are available. I have tweaked the recipe to include the orange zest and also the spices in the crumble itself. I have also halved the original recipe which makes enough for six.

Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

350g forced rhubarb

1 knob stem ginger

finely grated zest from 1/2 orange

100g self-raising flour, plus 1 tbsp

1tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

100g demerara sugar

50g ground almonds

90g butter, chilled and diced

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C.

2. Wash rhubarb and chop into 3cm pieces and chop the stem ginger into small pieces. Toss both together in a bowl with orange zest, 1 tbsp of flour and half the sugar. Place in the bottom of a shallow ovenproof dish.

3. Mix together the remaining sugar and flour with the ground almonds, ground ginger and cinnamon and rub in the butter until you have large crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the fruit and bake for approx 35 minutes until the crumble is golden and crisp.

4. Serve with lashings of custard or good vanilla ice-cream.

Feeling Festive (already!) - Sticky Christmas Cake

I know that it is only November but (please humour me), my thoughts are very much turning to Christmas. Or rather, the food that goes with Christmas.

Please don't get all 'Bah Humbug' on me - I have enough of that at home. I am loud and proud when I admit that I absolutely, categorically LOVE CHRISTMAS. Everything about it. But particularly the feasting.

This year, I am feeling slightly bereft though as we are going away for Christmas. Whilst I am very excited to be off to stay with my brother and his family, I am already feeling a bit lost without the usual menu planning that usually starts in earnest around now. I keep looking at food magazines and deliberating whether to do the sprouts with chestnuts and pancetta again this year or try something more radical when I then realise that the decision is taken out of my hands as it won't be me doing the cooking. It is a very strange feeling.

However, I have been tasked with making the Christmas cake. This is perfect as (modesty aside) I think I made a truly delicious Christmas cake. In fact, the only people who I believe rival my Christmas cake  for sticky deliciousness are my mother and my sister (both of whom use the same recipe as me)! They are both more adept in the decorating stakes (my sister having the advantage as she is a professional cake decorator) but I enjoy 'having a go'.

This week I baked two cakes as my husband was concerned that we wouldn't have one to enjoy 'at home' once we return from our Christmas break. I decided to bake a round and a square cake and will be deliberating over decorating ideas over the next few weeks. The picture at the top is of last year's attempt!

I usually make my Christmas cake around October half-term time. I have no idea why as I do not have school age children so half term has little impact on my life (other than it leading to a reduction of mid-week parking spots in the parent-and-child spaces at the supermarket - the sort of thing that casts a shadow over an otherwise pleasing morning). Mid-October to Mid-November gives enough time for the cake to mature nicely for Christmas although earlier is good too.

This is not a cake for those who like a very traditional, dark and treacly bake. It is paler in colour, perhaps a touch lighter though not much. It is very sticky and moist and, in my eyes, utterly delicious. I do not soak the fruit in alcohol before baking (though you certainly could if you have the time and inclination) but do feed the cake weekly once it is baked with a heady mixture of rum or brandy and sherry, mixed with all-important glycerin. This gives it the gorgeous sticky texture that I love so much. 

I am not quite sure where the recipe originates from - I think perhaps an old wedding cake book - it has been used by the family for many years and lives on a much-scrumpled piece of paper in my recipe folder. If anyone knows the origin, please let me know so that I can credit appropriately.

Delicious Sticky Christmas Cake

N.B. The recipe here is for one 'quantity' of cake. You simply multiply up according to the size tin you are using to bake. This makes it a handy recipe if you are planning a multi-tiered cake for a wedding or Christening. 

For 8" round, use 3 quantities - bake approx 3 1/2 to 4 hours

For 8" square, use 4 quantities

For 9" round, use 4 quantities - bake approx 4 to 4 1/2 hours

For 9" square, use 5 quantities

I like a really deep cake and so usually do one extra quantity for my cakes. It does mean the tin is very full but the cake doesn't rise much.

2.5 oz / 71g currants

2.5 oz / 71g sultanas

1 oz / 28g raisins

1 oz / 28g glace cherries

1 1/2 oz / 42g mixed peel

1/4 lemon, zest and juice

2 oz / 57g plain flour

pinch nutmeg

pinch mixed spice

pinch salt

2 oz / 57g light brown muscovado sugar

2 oz / 57g butter, softened

1 large egg

3/4 oz / 21g ground almonds

2 tsp brandy or rum

Soaking mixture:

Equal quantities rum, sherry and glycerine.

1. Pre-heat oven to 140C. Line the tin with a double layer of buttered greaseproof paper.

2. Clean the raisins, sultanas and currants: pour the fruit onto a clean tea towel. Sprinkle over a couple of tablespoonfuls of plain flour and then close the tea towel around the fruit. Give a good shake and rub of the fruit through the tea towel - this should loosen any grit or stalks which should remain attached to the tea towel.

3. Halve the cherries and mix the fruit, mixed peel and lemon zest in a large bowl.

4. Sift flour, spices and salt into another large bowl.

5. Cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the ground almonds and then fold in the flour and spices. Add fruit, alcohol and lemon juice and mix thoroughly to combine.

6. Scrape into prepared tin and level the surface. Drop the tin carefully a couple of times onto the work top or floor so that any air bubbles rise to the top.

7. Pour one pint of water into a baking tin and place on the lowest shelf of the oven for the first half of the cooking time - this will create sufficient humidity to keep the top of the cake moist and ensure level results in baking.

8. Bake cake according to timings above - it is done when a skewer comes out clean with just some damp crumbs sticking to it. The timings above are approximate!

9. When baked, leave cake in the tin to cool overnight. The next morning remove from tin and sprinkle with soaking mixture before wrapping in waxed paper for at least three weeks. Feed with soaking mixture every week or so.

10. Decorate as wished!