Broccoli and taleggio soup

Unless you've had your eyes and ears firmly closed of late, you can't fail to miss the weather currently plaguing Edinburgh. Note my deliberate use of the word 'plaguing' as although the two days I got off work last week due to the white stuff did not go unnotticed, I am now, as I'm sure everyone else is, growing rather tired of the various challenges thwarting my attempts do even the most simple of tasks. Exhibit A: I can't get my car moving, and it hasn't moved for a week now, leading me to believe that it will be some time yet before I embark upon another 'Mini Adventure'.

But alas, I feel now is the time to encourage my negativity to thaw out, and what better to help melt my mood than a piping hot bowl of soup. This recipe was born of a lack of stilton, and an abundance of taleggio cheese. I adore the versatility of taleggio cheese, and always have some in my fridge to accompany my other diet staples, wine and olives.

Broccoli and taleggio cheese are two ingredients that when put together produce a vibrant green winter warmer, guaranteed to lift a snow induced mood.

So here we have it, broccoli and taleggio soup. To get started you need:

600g of broccoli

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

2 onions

1 clove of garlic

200g of taleggio cheese

1.5l of chicken or vegetable stock

Olive oil

Now lets make some soup!

1. Chop the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté with a good glug of olive oil until the vegetables have softened (this should take around 10-15mins).

2. Chop the broccoli and add to the pan with the stock. Boil for around 10 minutes, until the broccoli is cooked and soft enough to blend. Whilst the broccoli is cooking, add the cheese to a clean bowl, and melt over a pan of boiling water until lovely and oozy.

3. Leave the cheese to one side and blend the rest of the soup until you have a smooth consistency. Once the soup has been blended, stir in the melted taleggio. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The ingredients above should give you 4-6 servings. I would love to hear how people think this compares to the classic broccoli and stilton, so if you have any thoughts, please let me know.

Crunch crunch

Winter is definitely here and although I hate the cold, especially the ice and the unfortunate doggy paddle inspired dance I do when trying to stay on my feet, there are aspects of winter that I love, especially when it comes to food and drink.

As odd as this sounds, I love arriving home to an empty, cold flat. I'm sure you're questioning my reasoning here, but I have an ulterior motive; heating on, candles lit, a boiling hot cup of coffee, and of course, no cup of coffee is complete without some biscotti. Although these amazingly crunchy biscuits can literally be suicide for your teeth, there is nothing better to dunk in coffee. Their robust texture allows them to be dunked in your hot beverage for much longer than other biscuits, whilst avoiding that annoying 'half my biscuit has fallen in my coffee' moment.

They are really easy to make as your about to see. This time I made almond biscotti, but once you know the recipe, the options are endless! Keep your eyes peeled for the cranberry and hazelnut biscotti recipe, which I will be uploading here soon. In the mean time, here's my recipe for almond biscotti. This mixture makes 20-25 biscuits.

Almond biscotti

200g of flour, plus extra for dusting

200g of caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

200g of blanched almonds

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 180° and line two baking trays with grease proof paper.

2. Chop the almonds, leaving some whole. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Now add the almonds and stir.

3. To your beaten eggs, add the vanilla extract. This can now be added to the flour mixture. Mix the ingredients together to form a firm dough.

4. Lightly flour your work surface, so that you can knead the dough lightly without it sticking. Divide the dough in two, and shape each piece into a long thick log, roughly 4-5cm wide. Now transfer the dough to the baking sheets, and sprinkle each log with 1 teaspoon of sugar, and bake in the oven for 20-25mins. You will know they are ready when they are brown and firm.

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes, before transferring to a chopping board to cut. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°, and cut the log into 1cm thick slices. Place the biscuits cut-side down back onto the baking trays. Bake in the oven for a further 15-20 minutes, or until dry and crisp. Allow to cool on a wire rack before munching.

Happy biscotti making! If anyone has any other biscotti combinations, I would love to hear them.

Get it whilst it's hot

You know it's going to be a good day when your morning bagel turns out to be heart shaped in the middle. However, this was not my knife skills at work, but rather I feel the work of a baker who was perhaps feeling a little romantic. This is how my mind works, I manage quite successfully to turn everything into a story. But after my many musings, each one more elaborate than the next, the fate of the bagel had been decided, and after being layered with peanut butter, the love heart had been consumed in a far less romantic fashion. And that's when the realism kicked in. This was not the endeavour of a loved up baker, but merely my ability to see heart shapes in various foods/inanimate objects, which seems to happen on a daily basis. Welcome to my world!

Something for the weekend

I know the vast majority of us wake up on Friday morning, already braced for the after work dinner and drinks which so frequently accompany the birth of the weekend. My relationship with food being what it is, when Friday morning arrives and I'm frantically throwing a glass of smoothie down my neck as I run out the door, I start to get excited. My mind wanders from the predictable 'it's Friday' celebrations onto Saturday morning breakfast, where I am all ready to upgrade my smoothie to something a little more indulgent. I love weekend breakfasts. I get up, take my time and have a good old rummage in the fridge, where I can turn almost anything into breakfast bounty. Today however, I am opting for something a little more traditional, to help counteract the after effects of last nights 'house red'. A bacon roll, served traditionally on a bap with a good squeeze of tomato ketchup and a cup of tea. Is there a better start to a Saturday morning?

Clearly this did the trick, and with a spring in my step, I headed towards Valvona and Crolla on Elm Row. Living so close to this Edinburgh institution is detrimental both to my wallet and my waste line, but there is something irresistible about the smell of the cured meats and cheeses that waft towards you as you walk through the door. This is followed by a dose of nostalgia, as I recall a much smaller version of myself peering into the glass cabinets, even then appreciating the beauty of it all. That was the start of my food obsession, aged 5.

Quite often I visit Valvona and Crolla just for the rush. Todays visit is somewhat more specific, where only V&C can deliver. I have a craving for a soup I used to have as a girl, (nostalgia kicking in again), of stelline pasta (tiny, flat star shaped pasta) with cannellini beans and parmesan. This is a humble yet tasty dish, guaranteed to leave you with that warm feeling in your belly that only soup can deliver, especially on a cold winters day. To make this soup you need:

1 small onion, chopped                                           

1 clove of garlic, crushed
                                                            
A glug of olive oil

125g of pancetta, cubed

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

300g stelline pasta (or any other small pasta shape if you can't get stelline)

1 litre of chicken stock

400g tin of cannellini beans

30g of parmesan, grated

1 parmesan rind (optional, but really adds to the intensity of the flavour)

Now here are the three simple steps to making this beautiful rustic soup:

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion, garlic, pancetta and oregano and sauté until the onion has softened.

2. Pour in the cannellini beans along with the stock and parmesan rind. Add the pasta and cook for 10-12 minutes, or according to packet instructions.

3. Once the pasta is cooked, remove the parmesan rind and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.

This soup really is so easy, and will serve 4-6 people, depending on how greedy you are! It is a one pot wonder that never fails to deliver on flavour. I'll be eating this soup all winter, I can guarantee!

Vero Italiano

Today has been one of those rare days where although I took a very laid back approach to proceedings, I feel like I accomplished something, all thanks to a mug of hot chocolate. A stroll through Stockbridge led me to Sprio, a deli and latteria which I have been meaning to try since I moved into the area, but have fallen fowl of the familiar 'better the devil you know' concept.

The moment I stepped through the door, I knew I would be coming back. The Italian newspapers, radio and general paraphernalia transported me back to the Milanese corner bars I frequented as a former resident of the country. I was braced to order a latte macchiato to accompany me whilst I tried to get into the mind set of Italo Calvino, but almost jumped for joy when I saw the six syllable word 'cioccolatissima'. No more time was wasted over ordering, and as I sat breathing in the aroma of my bowl of chocolate soup, I didn't even bother getting my book out of my bag. But rather, as a true Italophile, I merely sat and revelled in the surroundings.

For those of you who have never experienced a true cioccolatissima, I would like to offer you a few words of wisdom:

1. It's not for the faint hearted. If you can't handle your chocolate, (I'm always suspicious of those characters), this is not the drink for you. It has a thick and creamy consistency and must be eaten with a spoon.

2. If you are fortunate enough to live in Edinburgh, catch the bus, jump in the car, hop, skip or jump along to Sprio and order one instantly! Trust me, you won't regret it.

                               

So yes, in terms of having had a productive day, where items finally get ticked off the never ending to-do list, I failed. But in finding true epicurean pleasure, Chiara one, housework nil.

Sometimes it just has to be....

A club sandwich! A trip into town led me on the hunt for a club sandwich. I have absolutely no idea where this craving came from, but I wasn't about to stop until it was satisfied. This led me to Tempus, where I unashamedly devoured the mother of all sandwiches, unconventionally accompanied by a lovely glass of rosé wine. I'm sure there's not a book in the world that suggests you accompany a club sandwich with a glass of rosé wine, but frankly I didn't care when my belly was full and my mind ever so slightly more relaxed. The most amusing part of it all was the look on the waiter's face when he delivered the three slices of bread, laced with chicken, bacon and mayo to my side of the table, whilst the mini fish and chips were delivered to Rob. I rose to the challenge and felt rather victorious when he collected my empty plate.

Messiest baker of the year 2010

This is what Rob wrote on our chalkboard today after I had been baking, and to be fair I don’t think he was far wrong. I have made no secret of the fact that I love my coffee, but in equal measure, I put a great deal of thought into how I can combine caffeine and sugar successfully in order to create the ultimate buzz.  Today, nothing was going to hit the spot like chocolate. Now let me be more specific, I was not just about to settle for the bar of Green and Blacks nestling in the cupboard, I needed something stronger, richer and more luscious. This was how chocolate and hazelnut cake was born, and also how I earned the aforementioned accolade.

The kitchen was temporarily ruined, and the only reason I have not included the photographic evidence, is due to the sheer shame of the situation, further aggravated by the fact that my camera was buried in a mountain of icing sugar. This however should not put you off. This cake is amazing, and being an experimental cook, the kitchen often resembles a disaster zone when I try something new.

If you love chocolate, trust me this cake will well and truly hit the spot.  What more could a chocoholic ask for? If anyone has any other ideas I’d love to hear them. In the meantime, here is how you go about devastating your kitchen.

Ingredients

200g plain flour

250g icing sugar

200g unsalted butter, softened

150g hazelnuts, crushed

150g plain chocolate

30g cocoa powder

1 tbsp Nutella or chocolate spread

5 free range eggs, separated


1. Preheat the oven to 180°, grease and line a 26cm cake tin.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the softened butter and icing sugar. Then add the egg yolks one at a time, beating the mixture well after each yolk has been added.

3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, chocolate and hazelnuts to the bowl. When I made this recipe, I put the hazelnuts in a sandwich bag and bashed them using a rolling pin. This creates a range of hazelnut chunk sizes, which gives the cake a great texture.

4. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into the cake mixture, alongside a tablespoon of Nutella. Finally bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

I served my cake with some homemade blackberry compote and of course a cup of coffee. It would be equally delicious served with cream or ice cream.