Dragon Food
BACKDATING
Although not technically 'from' the Dragon Shed, I don't keep food down there for obvious reasons, these recipes are all my favourites... I didn't start the channel with anything particular in mind, so there wasn't much at the beginning of the year before the 4-week rotation... Here are the links to and the recipes for 2016.
23rd April - Fish Pie
Video
HERE
This is comfort food, and as comfort food I think everyone has their own pet recipe passed down through the generations like Trigger's broom, the head replaced when the bristles fall out, and a few new handles along the way, but it's still the same recipe... sort of...
This recipe really depends on what kind of fish you have, although it's traditionally something smoked, something white and something oily... some people add frozen peas or broccoli, or even prawns *shudder* but it's entirely up to you.
Ingredients:
Fish - as above, white, oily and/or smoked, roughly 200-250g per person
Herbs, dried work best
Lemon or Orange Juice/Wine/Olive Oil
Peas, Broccoli or other vegetables, cut small if necessary (steamed for 5 minutes if woody)
White Sauce*
Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Floury Potatoes**
Butter and Milk
Cheese, grated (if you're feeling daring)
Method:
Preheat Oven to Gas Mark 7 / 200C
1. Roast your fish in foil for 20-25minutes, then leave for 10 minutes to cool before breaking into large-ish flakes and discarding any skin or bones.
- White fish - Parsley or Thyme, splash of white wine or lemon and seasoning
- Oily fish - Mint or Tarragon, splash of red wine or orange and seasoning
- Smoked fish - Thyme or Sage, Butter or Olive Oil
2. Meanwhile, boil and mash your potatoes, adding a large dollop of butter, a grating of nutmeg and a splash of milk to help it. (I like my mash with a bit of body so the occasional lump is no problem, but stick it through a ricer if you're particular about it.)
3. Put the fish in the dish, try to keep the pieces quite large. Add in your vegetables and prawns if using, then tip in the white sauce.
4. Liberally grate over nutmeg, then mix together until combined before levelling in the dish.
5. Spoon or pipe the mash in an even layer, then make patterns with a spoon or fork. Sprinkle over some cheese if you like.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling.
7. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before eating.
*Traditionalists will tell you that a fish pie MUST have a white sauce made with milk that's been used to poach the fish... I prefer using ready-made with lashings of nutmeg instead... I will not apologize for being aware of how much time I want to spend in the kitchen... plus, if I'm using smoked fish then it all gets too smoky in the end.
**It can be difficult to judge how many to use, but I usually estimate by placing them into the dish in a single layer, then adding one for luck... Any excess mash can be cooled and frozen for making fishcakes or croquettes later (You could use waxy potatoes, sliced thin-ish and layered like a hotpot, but the fish holds a lot of moisture that really needs to be soaked up by fluffy mash.) You could easily trade some for sweet potatoes, parsnips or other root veg, but keep at least half regular floury potato or it can become slimy.
13th July - Super Lemon Cake
Video
HERE
When it comes to old fashioned cakes, my favourite has always been the lemon drizzle cake. I have a liking for sharp and sweet flavours together, although many of the recipes I've seen are never quite lemony enough... so here is my Super Lemon Cake. This recipe works with any citrus fruit, for variations I would use double the number of limes, 2 oranges or grapefruits instead. Feel free to add more, but there is a point when it becomes soapy so don't go too crazy.
Ingredients:
105g Butter, room temperature*
180g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
210g Self Raising Four
1tsp Baking Powder
Zest and Juice of (at least) 3 lemons
1tbsp Lemon Curd or Marmalade**
1-2tbsp Milk
60g Granulated Sugar
250g Icing Sugar
Yellow Food Colouring
Method:
Preheat Oven Gas Mark 4 / 180C
- Line a 8"x10" (20x25cm) cake tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang.
- Beat the butter and caster sugar with the zest*** until really light and fluffy. - do not skimp, you cannot over beat at this stage.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour and mixing until just combined.
- Sift in the remaining flour and baking powder, then fold until combined.
- Add the lemon curd or marmalade, then enough milk to make a thick dropping batter.
- Tip into the tin and level the surface, then bake for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden.
- Whilst the cake is cooking melt the granulated sugar with the juice of 2 lemons, then set aside.
- Once cooked, allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin, poking all over with a toothpick and then drizzling with the syrup.
- When the cake is completely cooled make up some icing with the remaining lemon juice and spread most of it on top of the cake.
- Mix a little yellow colour into the leftover icing and spoon into a piping bag, then pipe lines and feather with a skewer. Leave to set before slicing.
*It is easier to measure butter when fridge cold, then chop it into cubes and place in a jug with cold water. It will come up to room temperature in about 5 minutes. NEVER use the microwave to soften butter unless you want it melted.
**If using a set lemon marmalade you can either heat it slightly so that it blends in, or chop it on a board and coat with a little flour so that it doesn't sink to the bottom like mine did!
***I find that adding the zest to the fat helps the flavour come out in the cake better than adding it later in the recipe. The fat in most cakes carries flavour well, so try adding vanilla or other extracts at this stage.
10th August - Ginger Zing
Video
HERE
This recipe won Iron Cupcake: London, and earned a 3rd at the Northampton event, so I must be doing something right!
I love the combination of warming, rich spices and smooth zesty frosting. Partnered with a topper made of white chocolate, this cake is a winner at any time. [The video is of a double recipe, so don't get confused at the quantities.]
Ingredients:
130g Butter, room temperature
110g Caster Sugar
175g Black Treacle*
1 Egg + 1Yolk
130g Plain Flour
1tbsp Cocoa Powder**
1 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger***
1tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Ground Allspice
1/2 Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
125ml Milk
1tsp Baking Powder
Jar Lemon Curd
500g Mascapone****
100g Icing Sugar
Zest of 1 Lemon
Grated White Chocolate or Yellow Candy Melts
Method:
Preheat Oven Gas Mark 4 / 180C
- Line a muffin tin with paper cases. This recipe makes about 12.
- Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then stir in the egg and treacle. (Yes, it will look wrong. Don't panic!)
- Sift in the flour, spices and salt then fold until combined and smooth.
- Heat the milk until steaming - not boiling - and stir in the baking powder. It will become very frothy, quickly stir into the batter, then pour into the muffin cases.
- Moving quickly, spoon the lemon curd into a piping bag and squeeze about 1/2 tsp into the middle of each muffin (You'll need about half a jar).
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning after 15.
- For the frosting beat together the mascarpone, icing sugar and zest with 1-2tbsp curd until light and fluffy, then pipe or smooth onto the cooled cakes.
- Top with grated white chocolate or yellow candy melts.
*To make the treacle easier to measure put the tin into a pan with some water and warm gently, do not boil. It also helps to measure into the jug that the butter's been in so that it doesn't stick as much.
**Cocoa powder doesn't add any flavour, so you can do without and replace with flour, but it does help produce a rich colour.
***Choice of spice is entirely up to you, but a majority ginger is traditional.
****This frosting is my favourite by far, not as sweet as buttercream and not as sharp as other cream cheese recipes. Mascapone carries flavour well, but you MUST use the full-fat kind or it simply doesn't work.
14th September - Devil's Food Cake
Video H
ERE
Who doesn't love a chocolate cake, a Devil's food cake or a Black Forest Gateau? Well this was supposed to be all the above...
And, yes, in this instance I was trying to do more than I had the equipment for... that sounds wrong... I was attempting to adapt a bundt tin recipe for a large standard cake tin so I doubled the recipe, but forgot to make allowances for the hole in the middle of a bundt tin that helps the cake cook evenly... Mary Berry would be ashamed. But, I did style it out and none of the cake came home.
This recipe is the single layer of Devil's Food Cake, for 1x25cm round tin, experiment if you dare!
Ingredients:
125g Plain Flour
180g Caster Sugar
1tbsp Soft Brown Sugar
1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
50g Cocoa Powder
1/4tsp Salt
125g Buttermilk
125g Cold Coffee
60g Melted Butter, cooled
1 Egg
Method:
Preheat Oven Gas Mark 4 / 180C
- Line your cake tin with baking parchment.
- Sift the flour, sugars, bicarb, cocoa and salt into a bowl.
- Mix together the buttermilk, coffee, butter and egg, then add to the bowl.
- Fold together until combined then spoon into the tin and level the top.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Cool, then top with cream and cherries or chocolate ganache or... anything that takes your fancy.
12th October - Salted Caramels
This was supposed to be an odyssey of chocolates... I filmed the making of 12 different varieties, then started to edit and found that half the files had been corrupted. After much swearing I was able to recover one full recipe... but it was one of my favourites!
Salted caramel has become a recent fashion, although the use of sea salt in chocolates has long been a secret of the trade. In really dark chocolate a pinch of salt adds a whole new dimension of flavour - but unless you're heavy handed the average consumer wouldn't know. I used to be anti-salt in caramel, but this recipe has grown on me, particularly because I'm using a quality sea salt rather than standard rock salt.
Video
HERE
Ingredients:
200g Plain Chocolate (about 50% cocoa solids)
125ml Double Cream
1tbsp Muscovado Sugar
60g Caster Sugar
2-3tsp Sea Salt
50-75g White Chocolate
You will also need a 15-hole Silicone Mould*
Method:
- Gently heat the plain chocolate in the microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds, stir, then 20 seconds, stir, then repeat 10 seconds until just melted.**
- Line your moulds, then leave open-side down to set.
- Put the cream and muscovado sugar in a bowl over a bain marie and warm gently.
- Spread the caster sugar into a wide pan and heat until melted and caramelized, do not stir, just swirl the pan to heat evenly.
- Remove from the heat then CAREFULLY tip in the cream, it will spit and boil.
- Stir vigorously, then return to the heat and stir until the colour is dark and even.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the salt***, then tip into a bowl to cool.
- Once cooled to room temperature tip into a piping bag and pipe into the chocolate moulds, no more than 1/8" (3mm) from the top. Wrap and transfer to the freezer for an hour or so.
- Melt the white chocolate and transfer to a piping bag.
- De-mould the chocolates and arrange on a covered tray, then pipe white chocolate on top in random lines (or neat ones if you're OCD) and add a sprinkle of salt on top.
- Serve at room temperature.
*If you don't have moulds then chill the caramel for a couple of hours and shape between 2 teaspoons - or roll with your fingertips - then freeze for another hour or so before dipping in plain chocolate instead. Pipe and sprinkle as described.
**If you melt the chocolate slowly and gently it SHOULD stay in temper, so you're spared that process.
***You cannot taste the salt in hot caramel, so don't try, you'll just end up burning your mouth. Taste it once it's cool, you can add extra salt on top as decoration if necessary, but this recipe is fairly punchy.
9th November - Pumpkin Cake
This recipe takes the basic carrot cake and adds a seasonal twist. A great way to use up old Jack-o-Lanterns, as long as they haven't gone too green and furry, or any other squash for that matter. This would work with any hard root vegetable, just adapt the other flavours to match.
Video
HERE
Ingredients:
300ml Corn Oil*
4 Eggs
250g Light Soft Brown Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
500g Pumpkin or Squash, grated**
100g Sultanas
50-75g Walnut Pieces (not too much, or the oils will affect the bake)
Zest and Juice of 1/2 Orange
Zest of 1 Lemon
400g Plain Flour
1 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
2tsp Mixed Spice***
1tbsp Ground Cinnamon
3-4 tbsp Orange Marmalade
FROSTING
50g Dessicated Coconut
50g Coconut Flakes
500g Mascapone (Full Fat)
1tsp Vanilla Extract
100g Icing Sugar
Zest of 1/2 Orange
1-2tbsp Orange Marmalade
2x 24cm Sandwich Tins
Method:
Preheat Oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180C
- Tip the oil, sugar and vanilla into a large bowl and blend with a hand mixer until frothy.
- Add the sultanas, nuts, zest, juice and squash, mix until just combined.
- Sift in the flour, powders and spice, then stir until no lumps of flour remain.
- Divide between the lined sandwich tins and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Whilst the cakes are cooking dry-fry the coconut until golden. Do not leave the stove, this can burn very quickly if you don't keep it moving. Tip into a bowl to cool.
- Cool in the tins for 30 minutes before turning out. Once completely cool sandwich with a layer of marmalade.
- Blend together the mascapone, vanilla, icing sugar, zest and marmalade until light and fluffy, then cover the cake in an even layer.
- Sprinkle or press the dessicated coconut all over the sides, then stick the flakes in the top for texture.
*I'm not keen on using all corn oil, I prefer to split with rape seed or another lighter kind otherwise it can be a bit greasy.
**Grate the squash as finely as you like. If it's super-fine it will release a lot more juice than if you grate it coarsely and will make the cooking harder to judge.
***If you're in a country where pumpkin spice is available, a couple of tablespoons would be great instead of the mixed spice and cinnamon.
14th December - Mince Pie Samosas
Mince pies are part of the Christmas tradition in the UK, but there is always an opportunity for an original thought...
This recipe will take almost any variation you like, it is a great opportunity to use up the last of the seasonal ingredients if you're going for the New Year's diet. These will freeze for up to 3 months (probably longer, the pastry might get frost-burned, but it's still eatable). And this technique can be used for any filling other than mincemeat as well.
Video
HERE
Ingredients:
200g Butter, melted*
12 Sheets of Filo Pastry
1 large jar Mincemeat**
1 Green Apple, finely chopped
Dried Fruit - Sultanas, Raisins, Glace Fruits, Mixed Peel
Nuts - Chopped Walnuts, Almonds, Hazelnuts, Chestnuts, Pistachios
Plain Chocolate Chips... ***
Black Pepper
Brown or Demerara Sugar
Method:
Preheat Oven Gas Mark 7 / 200C
- Measure the apple into a cup and use that level to measure out your other ingredients, this doesn't have to be exact, but a general ratio is good.
- Scoop the mincemeat into a bowl and add the dried fruit, nuts and chocolate, then grind in a good amount of pepper and mix very well.
- Open out the filo and cut the sheets into 3 long strips, then place under a damp tea towel to keep them from drying out.
- One at a time lay each filo strip on a board and brush with butter. Drop 1-2 tsp of the mincemeat onto the bottom of the strip, then fold the corner up to make a triangle. Continue folding up to the end of the strip.****
- Place the samosas end-underneath on a baking sheet*****. Brush with butter, scatter over a little sugar and bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden. [HOT APPLE PIE WARNING - the filling will be volcanic, so allow to stand for 5 minutes before scoffing] Best served warm within a few hours of baking.
*Butter is best for these, it doesn't have the same rich flavour if you use oil. These are a treat for occasional scoffing, not intended to be devoured in one sitting.
**Use whatever kind of mincemeat you like, this works equally well with the vegi kind, but I would suggest getting the cheaper brands as it's only a binder for the filling. You could add a splash of port, brandy, rum or sherry if you like, but not too much or they will leak a lot when cooking.
***Plain chocolate adds a richness to something that is already rather rich, you can leave it out if you want, but don't exchange for another kind or it will be too sweet and sickly.
****Try to use up all your mixture if you can, it can be difficult to balance the filling without overloading the pastry. Any sizable leftovers make great ice cream topping - or if you have enough blend it through a pot of vanilla ice cream with some shortbread crumbs for mince pie ice cream.
*****If you want to freeze them, layer uncooked in a box sandwiched between a sheet of cling film to stop them sticking together. To cook arrange on a baking sheet, brush with butter and sprinkle over the sugar then bake for about 20 minutes.
