Lost in paradise ...

Well, it's been a bit quiet since March, hasn't it? Thats because I've been kidnapped by rastafarian Ninjas and hidden in the bowels of a Hollow Volcano somewhere in the most remote reaches of the Caribbean!

Because I'm here, and all my cool kitchen stuff is 5000 miles away, indulging my passion for culinary experimentation has been severely curtailed, but, thanks to the inspring @sugarappleblog , I have got myself back into the saddle (for as long as my jailers in the Hollow Volcano allow).

....and being Christmas, what better way to begin than with a duet of delectable decadent desserts developed during December? 

Despite being sans cool kitchen stuff (like spatulas, cake tins, or even ingredients in some cases!) , having been invited to the lovely Squidgey's house for Christmas dinner, I volunteered to 'do' dessert.

I LOVED it... it was like meeting an old friend all over again, just to go back to planning, sourcing and cooking ... aside from the added complication of just about anything here beng imported and therefore necessarily limited in quality, quantity and availability.

So, to business... how about Dan Lepards Pecan Crust Bourbon Chocolate Tart?

That'll do. But no, lets go mad and complement it with a White Chocolate and Ricotta Cheesecake  (the festive red bits are Pomegranate Arils...fab, huh?) ...

... First problem ...finding ground pecans, here in the land of packet cake mix and artificial colouring ("no added nature")...

@sugarappleblog - the guru of culinary advice - couldn't help... so I grabbed two rocks off the beach (they let me out occasionally, to collect driftwood and download music files) and pounded my own pecans (insert inappropriate humour here)...

Everything else is available and, save the second problem of having to use tinfoil cake tins, instead of "proper" cake tins, both dishes were a success (watch that cooking time for the pecan crust, though... I got lucky: accidentally just a little longer cooking than required gave a nice coffee backtaste to the VERY rich filling, but a nanosecond longer would have been like licking a melted Mars Bars off a stick of charcoal -like I say, watch the cooking time like a hawk).

Squidgey did us proud...we watched the sun go down over the Land of The Free (just South of the Hidden Volcano) and chowed down on Roast Lamb and Roast Goose, preceded by Butternet Squash soup drizzled with a home made chopped pepper pesto... Mrs. Fod had already presented her Chicken Liver Pate as an aperitif (yes, the sheer quantity of fine Brandy therein qualifies it as an aperitif!), so we were well ready to dine....

My contributions were, of course, somewhat less wonderful than the stellar Christmas trifle that Squidgey had prepared, but I was pleased with the outcome...All in all, a lovely evening... nice to meet the "Lady Who's a Dutchman" and her very interesting partner, who seems just the kind of guy you'd want to be marooned with ... Thanks, Squidgey and Mac.

On reflection I learned two useful lessons ...

one, there's no excuse for not cooking good food, even when imprisoned in a Hollow Volcano - you can improvise and overcome most problems, provided the Henchmen leave you alone;

two, never fight a war on two fronts... one dessert at a time, otherwise your efforts at whisking egg-whites into peaks (don't bother, it's too humid here) distract you from the important timings on baking pastry... like I say, I got lucky ...

Glad to be back! Happy Christmas!

Sunday Roast

It's not quite a Dinner Party, but Sunday Roast with me and mine can sometimes be a culinary adventure. This time, I managed to get my Roast Pork Shoulder with crackling just right, so I thought I'd share it... I have seen the future and it is SLOW ROASTING! Six hours slow at 110c, in fact ...

I heated the oven to 230c, then, whilst it was getting nice and hot, I dried the shoulder of pork with paper towels. Cut the skin with a sharp knife, parallel lines about 1cm apart,  just through the skin, but not into the meat.

A quick glug of oil, rubbed into the skin and then a liberal dosing of sea salt. Into the oven for 30 minutes to crisp and sear the skin, and then the "patience" bit; drop the temperature to 110c and leave it there.... go for a walk, wash the car, empty the bins ... (I did all this) ...SIX HOURS later ...you will find the most melting piece of tender juicy meat you're ever likely to enjoy (leave it longer, if you like, some people report going 12 - 14 hours...).  

Now I'd seen a TV chef cheat on the crisp crackling and, as I was a little disappointed with the crackling on my joint, I pinched his idea... the point is for the juices in the skin to permeate the meat whilst cooking, so I took the skin off whilst the meat was resting, put the temperature back up to 230c (for the roast potatoes) and put the skin on a tray to crisp even further - salty crunchy tasty!...

If I say so myself, it was a nice piece of meat and well worth the three quid I paid for it (yes, I know, it was on offer) ;-)

Christmas Pea and Ham soup... (or, another way with leftovers)

So, I have two litres of stock left over from boiling the Christmas Ham in the last December post. What I didn't mention is that the stock isn't water... its apple juice (the 100% kind) and ... CIDER! (oo-arrr!) . Sweet applyness isn't in it! ... ;-) .
250g of red lentils (split peas) into the pot, bring to the boil and let simmer for maybe 50 minutes ... throw in the chopped up bits of ham left over (and frozen) from New Years Day , whizz with the whizzer and thats it.SOUP to warm the most frozen soul . It's that simple. Who needs Heinz? I have had it two days running for lunch at work and its lovely... yum...

Happy New Year!

1/1/11 (!) Got a bit adventurous this time around: didn't QUITE work, but was ok. Had a great New Years Eve mashing up Jamie's Butternut Squash soup from 2002 with the old trick of crumbling some black pudding into it along with some parsley.It really works.
Main course was James Martin's Honey Fried Duck Breast with Winter Vegetables; bit too heavy on the old butter, so I halved the amount and it worked well without as much. On Mrs Fod's request, I added Jamie's 30 minute Dauphinoise, but I didn't really rate it and that was the first disappointment for me, it has all the right stuff, but doesn't quite have the body or creaminess of a "proper" Dauphinoise.
For dessert, we moved onto pomegranate surprise Panna Cotta with a pomegranate glaze (the surprise is that the pomegranate seeds ("arils") were hidden inside the pannacotta). The glaze called for 600g of sugar! But I was a little disappointed again, because I had wanted it to set like brittle boiled sweets, so I could do a "stained glass" effect, and it came out like a syrup...more research needed I think... That said, it was sweet and sharp and really offset the creamy pannacotta (which is easy to make and lovely when sprinkled with a little lemon zest whilst cooking) . Don't put the pannacotta in the freezer like I did, though; it's meant to be soft and creamy, not like hard ice-cream!
Meal over, port and cheese to finish,  fireworks in the garden to welcome in 2011 and then I slipped on some moss and tore my ligament ...ho hum ... managed to cook a "hangover cure" breakfast this morning, though :-)