The Ultimate Indulgence

This is a recipe for a very rich and delicious chocolate fudge cake that is so easy to make it's hard to believe.

What's more, you can make this cake as often as you like and still stay healthy.  You just must NEVER eat it!

The recipe was given to me by a friend ages ago and I make it from time to time.  It freezes well.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Bake at     180 - 200°C
Makes 1 large square cake. Very soft and delicious.

1 2/3 cups plain flour
1 cups sugar
1 cup 32% Drinking Chocolate powder
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp. carb. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 carton Yogurt 125ml
1 tsp. vanilla

Put all the ingredients in a blender and whiz on low speed for 1 min. then turn the speed up to high and whiz for a further 3 mins.

Put into a lined cake tin and
bake  at 190°C (375°F)  50 - 55 mins.

May be iced and split with cream , cocoa and icing sugar.

 

Note 32% chocolate powder is a drinking chocolate not cocoa

A  US cup is 250 ml

Traditional Burgers (Ian’s Recipe)

 

Serves 4

500gms minced (ground) beef
2 medium Onions
2 good tablespoons of rolled oats
1 Tbls worcestershire sauce 
2 Tbls of Tomato Ketchup
I Tbls Olive oil
a dash of sea salt
a medium egg

Method    In a food processor, mince the onion then add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup, sea salt and olive oil and mix a little more
Add the beef, oats and egg and whiz a little more to mix thoroughly.
Adjust the consistency by adding more oats if it's too wet

Take a small ball of the mixture and squeeze tight to compress the mixture together.  Flatten with a spatula and fry gently in a little olive oil
Serve immediately
Or allow to cool and freeze until needed

Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday..

I love Pancake Day, the local name for today.

Almost without fail, my evening meal is constructed to make provision for the main event... Beautiful pancakes doused in Maple syrup, or hiding sultanas.... or both!!

Here is my own Pancake Recipe, yried, tested and developed ove many years of celebrating this special day in this traditional way...

 

Basic Pancake Batter

(makes eight) except it only really made 5 or 6

75g/3oz plain flour

Pinch of salt

2 large fresh eggs

150ml/1/4pt milk

a dash of water

A little oil for frying

Mix the water and milk and beat in the eggs.   Place the flour and salt in a large bowl, then add half the milk. Whisk until the mixture is lump-free. Add the remaining milk and whisk again until smooth. If you prefer place all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth, Pour the batter into a jug. The batter can be made in advance and chilled for up to eight hours before use.   I think it improves if left to stand and usually leave it about 30 minutes or so

Heat a 20cm/8in diameter non-stick frying pan until hot, drizzle a little oil over the centre and wipe it around with a piece of kitchen paper. Now pour a little of the batter into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the batter thinly and evenly over the base. Cook for two minutes or until the top is set and the base golden. Turn the pancake over with a spatula or if you are feeling brave, flip the pancake!

Cook for a further one to two minutes or until the base is golden. Transfer to a plate and interleave with greaseproof paper, keep warm. Use the batter and a little more oil to make a further seven pancakes in the same way. Serve simply with lemon and sugar or try them in the following recipe ideas.

French Mushroom, Ham & Goats Cheese Crepe

Fill the pancakes with sliced mushrooms sauteed in oil, a slice of ham, then top with thinly sliced goats cheese. Fold up to enclose the filling then pop under a hot grill until the cheese begins to melt. Serve scattered with flat parsley.

 

Redcurrant and apple

cook the basic pancake and just before serving add a mixture of stewed redcurrants and apple, then roll and serve immediately.

 

Or, simply add a handful of golden sultanas to the pan immediately before adding the batter.    These are great served with Maple syrup.

Coconut Macaroons

I made these for tonights barbecue...  They are very easy and very tasty.

Preparation time:            5 minutes
Cooking time:                15minutes
Temperature:                 180°C

 

Pre heat oven to 180°C Separate eggs, reserve the whites and give the yolks to a friend to make Mayonnaise

150gms sugar 200 gms dessicated coconut 3 egg whites 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 1/2 teaspoon of salt

sift sugar and coconut into a mixing bowl stir in salt, vanilla essence and egg whites and make sure thoroughly mixed drop large teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet, ensuring that the macaroons are not touching.  They will spread, but only a little Bake in the middle of the oven (180°C) for about 15 minutes until just turning golden on top Remove from oven and let stand 2 or 3 minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool. If you have any, I didn't, dip the bases in melted chocolate

Yorkshire Pudding

Back in the 15th century there were a series of wars in which England was involved.   Here in France, the 100  years war between France and  England was coming to a disastrous end after stewardship for that war was wrest from the successful Duke of York and handed to the non military Duke of Somerset, leading to numerous defeats until in 1451 Bordeaux and Gascony were lost to the French.... Of course, there are those locals who say that in the 21st Century, the British are winning back the territory by stealth!

About the same time, The Duke of York set himself against the Duke of Somerset, and with the various alliances, the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster were born.  The house of Lancaster wore a red rose , whilst the house of York wore a white one and so it was that this became known as the Wars of the Roses.

By now, I'm sure many of you are wondering why on earth this is all relevant to Ian's French Kitchen??

Well, to understand a bit more you need another piece of information..... and that is that Ian was actually born in Lancashire.... and now, here I am living not that far from Bordeaux....

We British tend to take our heritage quite seriously and so, all my life my family have jokingly set themselves against the Yorkists.  As it happens, my family hails from the borders between Yorkshire and Lancashire so, in fact, there are just as many Yorkshire men as Lancastrians in it.

However, one thing I have learned over the years is that there are some things that the Yorkists certainly got right.  One of those things is Yorkshire Pudding.    I'm not sure how familiar people outside the UK are with Yorkshire Pudding so I'll explain that, despite it's name, it is not a dessert.  It's a savoury batter dish which was served to help fill you up during times of hardship and is usually served with Beef, although, today, it has found many fans who eat it with all sorts of savoury fillings.  Yorkshire pudding itself, apparently, dates back to the mid 18th century and is a truly delicious accompaniment to beef gravy

So, enough waffle, here is an easy recipe made in a food processor.  There are as many Yorkshire Pudding recipes as there are Yorkshire housewives, but this is a Lancastrian's version!

Try Yorkshire pudding cold with honey too, if you have any left over!

YORKSHIRE PUDDING

Preheat oven to 220°C 

Preparation 10 minutes plus 30 waiting
Cooking time – 1 hour

Serves 4

125gms Plain Flour 
½  teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Baking Powder
1 large egg
300ml milk
1 tbs oil

In a food processor
Sift together the salt, baking powder and flour
Mix in the egg with half of the milk and beat for a couple of minutes until the batter is bubbly
Stir in remaining milk
Cover and set aside for 30 minutes
Heat the oil, in an ovenproof dish until very hot, then pour in the batter
Place in the centre of the oven and bake for one hour .

The pudding should be golden brown and have risen nicely.  When cut it should not be wet inside.

 

The hot oven is essential.as is the hard beating to get lots of air into the mixture

Pancake Day

I'm still in the UK, getting ready for my return to the Kitchen Garden in France and today is Pancake Day.

I love pancake day and it brings back many fond memories...

As a child, my mother always made pancakes on Pancake Day and it was a real treat.   Not just for me, either, as my father loved them possibly a little more than I did.  He certainly always got more!

Today also bring back memories of fun evenings with friends.   I remember back probably 30 years ago.  I was living in south Wales and one day I was telling one of my fiends that I'd be making pancakes that evening as it was pancake day.  She looked at me incredulously and simply asked, "Do you know how to make pancakes?"

"Come and see!" I replied

The result was a tradition that we built up over the next 20 odd years where, every pancake day, she and her husband, came for dinner and to help make pancakes.  Thinking back, I don't know how we ever managed to make a single pancake as there was so much giggling going on in the kitchen.

Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras as it is otherwise called, is an old Christian festival dating back 1000 years where there is a feast on the last day before lent, in order to use up the foods that should not be eaten during that time.

In England, since the 15th century, the food has been used up by making pancakes, hence the name "Pancake Day".  The biggest pancake ever made was made in Rochdale in 1994 and measured 15 metres, about 50 feet, in diameter and weighing in at 3 tonnes (6600 lbs).   There is also a tradition in the Buckinghamshire town of Olney to hold a pancake race on Pancake day, where contestants, who must be housewives who have lived in the town for more than six months and wear an apron and scarf or hat, run a race whilst tossing a pancake.

It's quite hard taking a photo of yourself, tossing a pancake, using time delay to allow yourself to get back into the photo, pick up the pan and actually toss the pancake, only to find that it went higher than you hoped and was almost out of the frame!!!

My own recipe is very simple

Basic Pancake Batter

(makes eight) 
100g plain flour
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs
200ml milk
A little oil for frying

Place the flour, salt and eggs in a large bowl with half the milk. Whisk until the mixture is lump-free. Add the remaining milk and whisk again until smooth. If you prefer place all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth, Pour the batter into a jug. The batter can be made in advance and chilled for up to eight hours before use.
Heat a 20cm/8in diameter non-stick frying pan until hot, drizzle a little oil over the centre and wipe it around with a piece of kitchen paper. Now pour a little of the batter into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the batter thinly and evenly over the base. Cook for two minutes or until the top is set and the base golden. Turn the pancake over with a spatula or if you are feeling brave, flip the pancake!
Cook for a further one to two minutes or until the base is golden. Transfer to a plate and interleave with greaseproof paper, keep warm. Use the batter and a little more oil to make a further seven pancakes in the same way.

• Serve simply by dusting with sugar, adding a squeeze of lemon and rolling.
• OR, as soon as you have titled the pan to spread the batter sprinkle in a few sultanas then cook as before.
• I have a friend who insists on taking the pancake but adding golden syrup instead of sugar and lemon

or try them in the following recipe idea.

French Mushroom, Ham & Goats Cheese Crepe
Fill the pancakes with sliced mushrooms sauteed in oil, a slice of ham, then top with thinly sliced goats cheese. Fold up to enclose the filling then pop under a hot grill until the cheese begins to melt. Serve scattered with flat parsley.

OH, I used to make the batter in the traditional way adding the milk, beating, adding more milk, beating again etc.  Now... I just throw everything into a food processor and let it do the work.  I can't tell the difference.

Fish Cakes

Friday in our house is fish night.   Actually, it rarely works like that but that is the idea.   I try and make sure that I eat at least one fish meal every week and, in order to keep tabs on it, I set aside Friday....  If I've not eaten fish in the week then I will have it on Friday....

This week was no exception and, as I hadn't eaten a fish meal I got some white fish out of the freezer...not quite deciding what to do with it...

After some debate... i.e. talking to myself!!!  I decided to make fish cakes and soon found a suitable recipe that I could adapt.

Here's what I did....

	INGREDIENTS 300 gms white Fish 400 gms  Potato A little butter 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1 1/2 tablespoons capers, drained 2 small gherkins (chopped) 2 hard boiled egg, peeled and chopped small paprika pepper
For the crumb coating	Wholemeal Breadcrumbs a teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 egg, beaten
For the sauce	Mayonaise 2 gherkins finely chopped a little English mustard

 

first I poached the fish in a little salted milk

Then I boiled  the potatoes in the same milk until they were ready to mash and drained them, reserving the milk

Next I mashed them to a creamy consistency using the knob of butter and some of the reserved milk.

After I had prepared the above things, I mixed all the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl  and added a little more of the milk as needed to help bind it all together.  I mixed well and adjusted the seasoning by adding ground black pepper and salt to taste

Once it was all thoroughly mixed together I formed some balls, I made 8, tightly squeezing the mixture together.

Next I coated the balls by rolling them in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs, placing each finished ball on a board lightly covered in more breadcrumbs.

Finally, I flattened the balls into cakes turning over so that they remained well coated.

To make the tartar sauce I simply mixed together the chopped gherkins and the mayonaise, adding the mustard to taste before leaving to stand until I was ready to serve.

I  fried the fish cakes in a dash of olive oil, over a high heat turning every couple of minutes until they were golden brown.

I served with a garnish of fresh salad leaves and tartar sauce

Frittata

This is a frittata made with Courgette(Zucchini), Pumpkin, Celeriac and Feta cheese

I made it the other day, guided by a recipe I had not tried before, but adapting the ingredients to use up some leftover vegetables.

I used a metal frying pan that I could put under the grill at the end.

Ingredients:

300gms (12ozs) of pumpkin cut into 1 cm cubes
100gms (4ozs)of pumpkin grated
200gms (8 ozs)celeriac grated
200ml (1 cup) Apple Juice
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 green courgette cut into 1cm cubes
2 salad onions sliced
4 eggs
200ml (1 cup) liquid cream
200gms (8ozs) feta cheese, crumbled
1/4cup chopped fresh basil leaves 
3 tbs olive oil to fry

Method:

Turn the grill on high. Heat the oil in a large 25cms(10"~) frying pan, over a high heat.
Add the garlic and onion and cook until you can smell the garlic/onion mix. 
Add the pumpkin cubes and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, then add the grated pumpkin and celeriac.
Add the Apple Juice and bring to the boil and cook for a further 3 or 4 minutes.
Add the courgette(zucchini) and then carry on cooking on high heat until the liquid has gone again. 

Whilst this is happening beat the cream and four eggs together and then add the crumbled feta and chopped basil leaves and stir it all together.  Once the liquid has gone, turn the heat down and evenly distribute this mixture in the pan.  Cook for a few minutes(6 or 7) until the edges are just set but the middle is still quite runny.

Remove pan from heat and place under grill for about 5 minutes. The frittata should be set and lightly grilled on the top.

Serve immediately accompanied by fresh salad leaves.

I opened a young Bergerac Red to drink with this meal and it went very well, the lightness of the young wine nicely complementing the lightness of the omelette.