Prog Chefs Unite!!!

 

300ml of cream seems to yield around 250g of butter - which works out at around half store-price for 10 minutes work. Result!

 

 

However - I love eating it so I do occasionally make one, and since it doesn't keep that's generally when I'm feeding more than just me and the good lady.

We do?  

Dead simple, dead quick and drop-dead scrumptious. 

Leeks cut into thin rings and sweated in butter over a gentle heat (don't want these to caramelise as you would onions). Lamb steaks seared in a hot skillet for a few seconds on each side, then brushed with Dijon mustard and sprinkled with a thin layer of chopped rosemary and pine nuts and then returned to the pan to finish cooking. Small portion of Udon noodles cooked in boiling water as per instructions on packet. Once lamb is cooked, remove from skillet and slice into thin slices, return to pan - add leeks and noodles and toss them in the meat juices- grate over Caerphilly cheese (or just crumble it if you've got the good stuff that crumbles easily) and serve with crusty bread.

Remember to eat it caerphilly. 

 

...while watching Great British Bake Off on Monday Debs joked about the Opera cakes they were baking as being what she'd like for her birthday, and undeterred by the inordinate mess that the contestants created in 4 hours baking, I thought I'd give it a go. Opera cakes look very complex, having seven layers, each of which are techniques that I've never attempted before - Joconde biscuit of almond and hazelnut flour, bitter chocolate ganache, lemon creme au beurre, tempered chocolate, lemon & Cointreau syrup and glacage chocolat glaze. And decoration. For one who claims to be "artistic", cake decoration is not part of my skill-set. I also find the science of baking too close to chemistry than physics and engineering, which also puts me in unfamiliar territory and out of my comfort zone... especially when the recipe calls for 75g of egg white and 80g of whole egg (sans shell) ... that kind of precision (and in such small quantities) is just a little daunting (and if you've ever tried whisking 75g of egg white to "stiff-peaks" you'll relalise just how little egg that is and how difficult it is to whisk with an electric blender...). So, one afternoon and two evenings later ... having created more washing up than I care to mention, the final result looked like this:

 

 [five candles because it is her "Britvic" year ... some may get the connection and I know better than to reveal a lady's age in public]

 

...as I said, decoration is not my strong-point, writing "Debs" in chocolate glacage is a lot harder than I imagined (and my cursive handwriting is never "neat" at the best of times but I somehow managed to forget how to write an "s"), especially when the piping nozzle blocks then splatters chocolate sauce all over the place (hence the covering of edible gold-leaf). [I also think I need to take issue with Alex over her photographic prowess, or lack of]

 

However, the verdict was remarkably positive - a success in fact - it looked presentable and tasted amazing (even though I say it myself) - was it worth all the effort? You bet it was.

 

 

Happy Birthday Debs.