No Amphibians were harmed! - Toad in the Hole

So it is the end of March and I would be expecting to be cooking meals that aren't as stodgy and wonderful as Toad in the Hole, but snow in late March means that salad isn't really going to cut it. Shame eh? Snow!!! Anyway, to celebrate the fact that British Summer Time starts on Sunday and I am still scraping ice off the car, here is a recipe for one of the ultimate and peculiar named British iconic dishes. Whoever thought bunging sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter would be so glorious? Mind you let me remind myself of the key ingredients again... yes, it was always going to be wonderful wasn't it? March is Delia month at 'Cook like a Star' blog hop, hosted by Zoe at Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake. After you have looked at this Delia recipe, take a look below for more Delia deliciousness. Here is the recipe: Toad in the Hole with Roasted Onion Gravy, adapted from Delia Smith's 'How to Cook, Book One'. My adaptations in red Note - I doubled the quantity below to make four to six servings: Ingredients: 6 good-quality pork sausages – about 14 oz (400 g)

1 tablespoon groundnut or other flavourless oil (if necessary)

For the batter:

3 oz (75 g) plain flour

1 large egg

3 fl oz (75 ml) semi-skimmed milk 1 tsp dried thyme

salt and freshly milled black pepper

2 fl oz (55 ml) water

For the onion gravy:

8 oz (225 g) onions, peeled and sliced

2 teaspoons groundnut or other flavourless oil

1 level teaspoon golden caster sugar

1 dessertspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 level teaspoon mustard powder

15 fl oz (425 ml) vegetable stock made from 1½ level teaspoons Marigold Swiss vegetable bouillon powder dissolved in 15 fl oz (425 ml) boiling water (I made mine using a vegetable stock cube)

1 rounded dessertspoon plain flour

salt and freshly milled black pepper Method: Begin by making the batter, and to do this sieve the flour into a large bowl, holding the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing. Now, with the back of a spoon, make a well in the centre, break the egg into it and add some salt and pepper. Mix the dried thyme in. Now, measure the milk and 2 fl oz (55 ml) water in a measuring jug, then, using an electric hand whisk on a slow speed, begin to whisk the egg into the flour – as you whisk, the flour around the edges will slowly be incorporated. Then add the liquid gradually, stopping to scrape the flour into the mixture.  Whisk until the batter is smooth. Now the batter is ready for use, and although it's been rumoured that batter left to stand is better, I have never found this, so just make it whenever it's convenient. Now place the sliced onions in a bowl, add 1 teaspoon of the oil and the sugar and toss the onions around to get the lightest coating, then spread them on the baking tray. Next arrange the sausages in the roasting tin, then place the onions on a high shelf in the oven, with the sausages on a lower shelf, and set a timer for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the sausages from the oven but leave the onions in for a further 4-5 minutes – they need to be nicely blackened round the edges. When they are ready, remove them and leave to one side. Now place the roasting tin containing the sausages over direct heat turned to medium and, if the sausages haven't released much fat, add the tablespoon of oil. When the tin is really hot and the oil is beginning to shimmer – it must be searing hot – quickly pour the batter in all around the sausages. Immediately return the roasting tin to the oven, this time on the highest shelf, and cook the whole thing for 30 minutes. Now for the gravy. First add the Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder to the stock, then add the onions from the baking tray to a medium-sized pan. Now add the second teaspoon of oil, then, using a wooden spoon, stir in the plain flour. Stir all this together over a medium heat and then switch to a whisk, then gradually add the stock to the pan, whisking all the time, until it's all in. Then bring it up to simmering point and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Taste to check the seasoning, then pour into a warmed serving jug or over the toad. When the toad is ready, it should be puffed brown and crisp and the centre should look cooked and not too squidgy. Serve with mash and vegetables, and warm yourself up a little! If you're interested in joining the blop hop, click here for details, and please visit the wonderful food blogs below for great ideas and recipes.

If I were on Masterchef, I'd cook these - Melting Chocolate Puddings

 

 

If you watch Masterchef, you will know that should anyone mention the phrase 'Chocolate Fondants' it results in several things - one: a look of horror followed by that look of 'Are you really THAT stupid?' from Messrs Torode and Wallace, two: a grimace and an apologetic smile/look of sheer bravado from the contestant, and three: about two minutes worth of footage of the contestant peering through the oven door watching anxiously for the point at which they think the fondants are ready. The stakes are high. You either get something that will pleasingly ooze when a spoon parts the chocolate sponge that results in a carnival like response, or else you'll get something you can break a window with and everyone ruefully shakes their heads at the contestant's stupidity for even thinking it was a good idea in the first place. A risky business.

 

So my advice to any Masterchef contestant would be to cook Delia's melting chocolate puddings, for being Delia, they behave. I faffed around in the kitchen cooking the main meal whilst preparing these, chocolate, butter and booze mingling nicely over boiling water, eggs and sugar turning to something pale and ribbon like in the Kenwood whilst I was chopping leeks. Then a therapeutic few minutes carefully combining chocolate, eggs and sieved flour with a metal spoon before pouring the glossy but still airy chocolate mixture into dariole moulds. A quick tap to settle the contents and I left them on the side for nearly an hour before firing them into a preheated oven for 12 MINUTES. Result? They came out onto the plate with a tap, and a spoon into its chocolate heart revealed gooeyness galore. Yum, frankly.

 

I served these with cream. Messrs Torode and Wallace. You would have loved them!

 

As March is the month of Delia on the 'Cook Like a Star' bloghop, hosted by Zoe at  Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake, I am submitting this post to the list. See the end of this blog post for more superb Delia recipes!

 

So, the recipe:

 

Melting Chocolate Puddings, adapted from Delia Smith's 'How to Cook, Book Two'.

 

My adaptations in red.

 

Note: I halved the ingredients below to produce a quantity that would feed Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad

 

Ingredients:

 

7 oz (200 g) dark chocolate (75 per cent cocoa solids), broken into pieces

7 oz (200 g) butter, diced

2 tablespoons brandy (I used Triple Sec)

4 oz (110 g) golden caster sugar (I used ordinary caster sugar)

4 large eggs, plus 4 large egg yolks

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2½ oz (60 g) plain flour A pinch of salt Method: First of all place the broken-up chocolate, along with the butter and Triple Sec, in a large heatproof bowl, which should be sitting over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Then, keeping the heat at its lowest, allow the chocolate and butter to melt slowly; it should take 6-7 minutes. Then remove it from the heat and give it a good stir until it's smooth and glossy.   While the chocolate is melting, place the sugar, whole eggs, yolks and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl, place it on a tea towel to steady it, then whisk on a high speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture has doubled in volume – this will take between 5 and 10 minutes, depending on the power of your whisk. (I used a Kenwood and left it to whisk for about five minutes or so). What you need to end up with is a thick, mousse-like mixture that, when you stop the motor and lift the whisk, leaves a trail like a piece of ribbon. Not a great pic, it has to be said! Now you need to pour the melted chocolate mixture around the edge of the bowl (it's easier to fold it in from the edges) and then sift the flour and salt over the mixture. Using a large metal spoon, carefully but thoroughly fold everything together. Patience is needed here; don't be tempted to hurry it, as careful folding and cutting movements are needed, and this will take 3-4 minutes. Now divide the mixture between the pudding basins (it should come to just below the top of each one) and line them up on a baking tray. If you like, the puddings can now be covered with clingfilm and kept in the fridge or freezer until you need them.When you're ready to bake the puddings, pre heat the oven to Gas 6, 400F (200C). Remove the clingfilm and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 14 minutes if they have been chilled first, but only 12 if not; after that time the puddings should have risen and feel fairly firm to the touch, although the insides will still be melting.   Leave to stand for 1 minute before sliding a palette knife around each pudding and turning out on to individual serving plates. If you're cooking these puddings from frozen, give them about 15 minutes' cooking time and allow them to stand for 2 minutes before turning out. Serve absolutely immediately, with some chilled cream to pour over. As the puddings cool, the melted chocolate inside continues to set, so they can, if you like, be served cold instead as a fudgey-centred chocolate cake with whipped cream.

 

More Delia dealings: Pork braised in Sherry with Tomatoes

 

 

I don't normally blog a recipe from the same source twice but, you know, I make the rules here and I'll break them, plus this is too good a meal not to blog about right now, quite frankly, for it is a thing of beauty - a vibrant, Spanish inspired one pot meal which hints at the idea of Summer evenings sat outside on the terrace with a glass full of Rioja, but is substantial enough for a drizzly, chilly early March evening, couped up inside, watching the opaque light fade to black, with a glass full of Rioja...

 

 

 

March is Delia month at Cook Like A Star, hosted by Zoe at Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Mich from Piece of Cake. which reminds me, I can't believe I haven't posted this earlier...

 

Let's be havin' you indeed. Too much cooking sherry.

 

 

 

and it is also Tomatoes time at Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen at my little favourite DIY and Zoe, at Bake for Happy Kids, and I am submitting this recipe here too, as the recipe covers both bases. Helpful.

 

This is a very easy dish to make, a genuine one pot wonder which once assembled, looks after itself for a couple of hours or so whilst the robust flavours meld. I served this with some garlic bread. Delia suggests potatoes. Delia knows.

 

A word, or several, about olives. I love them, Phill loves them, Lola and Finn hate them. I put them in as instructed in the recipe below and then carefully served Lola and Finn a helping without olives, however, they did taint the sauce a little. The kids persevered, bless them, (the dunking of garlic bread helped enormously!) but if olives aren't your thing, leave them out.

 

Anyway, recipe time:

 

Pork Braised in Sherry with Tomatoes and Chorizo, adapted from Delia's website

 

My adaptations in red

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad (I mostly halved the quantities listed in the original recipe).

 

Ingredients:

 

1lb piece trimmed shoulder of pork

4 oz chorizo sausage (I used raw chorizo)

1 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, thickly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 rounded tablespoon plain flour

A half tin of chopped tomatoes

5 floz dry sherry (I used fino)

1 1/2tbsp tablespoons sherry vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 red peppers, de-seeded and cut into thick chunks (I used a Romano (pointy) pepper)

a handful mixed green and black olives, pitted (Just used black ones)

salt and freshly milled black pepper Method:

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 1, 275F, 140C. Start off by chopping the trimmed pork into largish cubes if you need to (mine was ready cubed) then remove the skin from the chorizo and slice it into thinnish rounds. Next heat one tablespoon of the oil in the casserole over a high heat and when it’s really hot add a few of the cubes of meat to brown well on all sides. Remove them to a plate then continue to brown the rest of the meat in small batches, adding a little more oil if required. Once the meat has been browned, add the chorizo to the pan and cook until it begins to render its red oil, then add the onions and cook for about five minutes until the onions have taken on a golden hue and are starting to brown.   Next, return the meat to the casserole and stir in the flour to soak up the juices, then add the chorizo followed by the tomatoes, sherry and sherry vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle in the thyme and bay leaves then give everything a good stir. Lastly bring the casserole up to a gentle simmer, put the lid on and transfer it to the centre of the oven to cook for 1½ hours.   When the time is up, add the sliced peppers and the olives (left whole), give it all one good stir, cover again then leave it to carry on cooking for another ½ hour or until the peppers are tender. Serve with a sprinkling of parsley and some garlic bread, or potatoes, or rice maybe... As mentioned above, I am submitting this recipe to the 'Cook Like a Star' March blog hop. Please visit the other sites below for some of my friends' amazing Delia recipes. In addition, I am submitting this blog post to 'Little Thumbs Up' the featured ingredient this month being tomatoes.

 

 

Cooking Like a Star, Delia Stylee - Orange and Greek Honey Syrup Cake

 

 

I think it is safe to say that you know where you are with Delia. There is some unwritten gastronomic rule somewhere that says that every Delia recipe will deliver. Your dinner party will be amazing. Everyone will swoon over your pudding. Your bolied egg will be perfect, for Delia showed you how to boil that egg. And whilst a lot of what I have just written is just a little tongue in cheek, it’s very rare a Delia recipe fails you. It’s food that makes you happy.

And that brings me rather neatly to cake, and I will speak for the group here; cake makes you happy. In that way they’re a bit like flowers, or balloons. They make you smile, and even if you decline a slice, (What is wrong with you?) they’re nice to look at. Pretty little things.

 

 

So, when I realised that March is the not only the month of white rabbits, but the month of Delia Smith on ‘Cook like a star’ hosted by Zoe at Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo at Eat your Heart Out and Mich at Piece of Cake I had to start with cake and as it’s a month nearer to what should be the start of some warmer weather (one of these years, I will be right…) I chose something Greek, and who knows, if I wish really hard and my punt on the Euromillions this evening comes off, then tomorrow I might be eating something similar sat outside some taverna somewhere *crosses fingers*.

Cakes with a soaking syrup usually don’t dry out so you can choose to eat this over a few days if you like. It’s a very moreish, tasty, zingy cake though quite crumbly despite the syrup soaking. Probably the semolina/cornmeal content. It does need the yoghurt topping because of this in my opinion. If I made this again, I would go for something richer like ever so slightly sweetened mascarpone spread over the top. That would be tremendous!

Greek Orange and Honey Syrup Cake, adapted from Delia Smith’s ‘How to Cook, Book Three’.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 small oranges (weighing about 9 oz/250 g)

4½ oz (125 g) ground almonds

6 oz (175 g) well-softened butter, plus a little extra for greasing

6 oz (175 g) golden caster sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

9 oz (250 g) semolina (I used fine cornmeal)

4½ level teaspoons baking powder

For the syrup:

8 fl oz (225 ml) Greek mountain honey

5 tablespoons orange juice

1½ tablespoons lemon juice

1½ inch (4 cm) cinnamon stick (I used a tsp of ground cinnamon)

For the topping:

7 oz (200 g) Greek yoghurt

1½ oz (40 g) unsalted, shelled pistachio nuts

2 tablespoons Greek mountain honey

 

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C)

 

 

First, cut the oranges into chunks, removing the pips. Then tip the whole lot – flesh, pith and zest – into a food processor and whiz it to a thick purée.

Next, put all the other cake ingredients into a large bowl and, provided the butter is really soft, just go in with an electric hand whisk and whisk everything together until you have a smooth, well-combined mixture.

When combined, fold in the orange purée, spoon the mixture into a prepared 10 inch springform tin and smooth the top with the back of the spoon.

Now place the cake on the centre shelf of the oven and bake it for an initial 10 minutes. Then lower the temperature to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C) and bake for a further 40-45 minutes, or until it is golden brown, springy in the centre and has shrunk slightly from the sides of the tin.

Meanwhile, make the syrup. To do this, simply combine the honey and 5 tablespoons water with the cinnamon stick in a small saucepan, place it over a gentle heat, bring it up to simmering point and let it simmer gently for about 5 minutes. After that, take the pan off the heat, remove the cinnamon stick and stir in the orange and lemon juices. (I just threw it all in together and heated the mixture!!)

 

Leave the cake aside to cool for 5 minutes, then remove it from the tin to a wire rack to cool, with a large plate underneath. Make a few holes all over it with a skewer before pouring the syrup over it. (It will look like there is far too much, but don’t worry, the cake will absorb more than you think, and any that is not absorbed can be poured from the plate back over the cake.) Then, when the cake is absolutely cold, place it on a serving plate, cover it and leave it in a cool place overnight, though I served it a few hours later.

 

 

Just before serving, spread the top of the cake with the Greek yoghurt, sprinkle over the pistachios, drizzle with the honey and serve cut into chunky slices.

This is a big cake. Serves 8 – 10 comfortably.

 

I am submitting this recipe to March 2013's 'Cook Like A Star' blog hop hosted by Zoe at Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo at Eat your Heart Out and Mich at Piece of Cake. See other amazing Delia recipes below!