Butternut squash loaf cake

I am part of The Happy Egg Co. Taste 100 Blogger network comprising of taste makers and I absolutely love it. They send us challenges every month with of course a winning prize, and its one of those emails i absolutely look forward to. In fact I won the May challenge which was photography and styling oriented and was pretty stoked to have Marte Marie Forsberg select my post as the winning entry. I won an 8 course tasting menu meal for two at the award winning L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon and i cant wait to check out the place (waiting for an occasion to celebrate to make a booking).

 

In July The Happy Egg Co. decided to rustle things up a bit and organised a baking masterclass for bloggers at the Central Street Cookery School. It was conducted by Bee Berrie of Bee's Bakery and it was an afternoon filled with baking. We made a sponge cake and went berserk flavouring it, layering it and decorating it, an Eton Mess, an easy version of puff pastry and Custard tarts. By the end of the evening we were all in a sugar coma, but absolutely satisfied with our work and went back home loaded with all the goodies.

 

The fact that i had to distribute my custard tarts on the bus back home and among friends that weekend is another thing (I would have ended up eating it all on my own if i hadn't done that). I now use only Happy Eggs at home (thanks for the vouchers) and love the sizes they come in. I had some left over butternut squash after the gnocchi expedition and I put it to good use in this super moist butternut squash loaf cake with all the flavours (and colours) of autumn, not to mention how easy it was to put this together.

Recipe adapted from here (makes 2 large loaves or 3 small loaves)

 

Plain flour- 1 3/4 cups

Baking powder- 1 tsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Ground cinnamon- 1/2 tbsp

Ground nutmeg- 1/2 tsp

Ground allspice- 1/2 tsp

Granulated sugar- 1 1/4 cups

Eggs- 2 large

Vegetable oil- 1/2 cup (any flavourless oil can be used)

Milk- 2 tbsp (refer notes)

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Butternut squash purée- 7 1/2 oz ( a little less than 1 cup) (refer notes)

Preheat oven to 175C and line your baking pans with baking paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice together till well combined.

In another bowl whisk together the sugar, eggs, oil, milk and vanilla until well combined. This may need a bit of work, but absolutely achievable by hand and you don't need an electric mixer.

Add the squash puree and continue to mix well.

In batches, add the flour and fold until just combined, and no traces of flour is visible. Resist the urge to over mix.

Pour into the prepared cake tins and bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes (for small loaves and around 1 hr for a large loaf) or till a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cool completely on racks, after which you can wrap them in cling film and refrigerate for up to a week.

Notes: The butternut squash can be replaced with pumpkin purée, mango puree or any fruit purée for a different flavoured cake.

To make butternut squash purée, slice the squash into two, apply some oil on each side and roast in a 200C oven for about an hour or until tender. Keep aside to cool and scoop the flesh into a food processor/blender and make into a purée.

If you find that your purée is quite watery, avoid adding the milk.

With thanks to The Happy Egg Co. for inviting me to the baking masterclass and for the vouchers to be redeemed at supermarkets.

Sri Lankan beef smore

 

This beef pot roast of sorts has been quite popular. I served it at a Christmas party a couple of years ago and got some good reviews and the recipe has been passed on to friends and family over the years. I made it so often for a while and then decided to go off it for the longest time. I find something i like and i eat it or make it till i get sick of it and then not look it at forever. This was something like that, only I went back and made it again last week and fell in love with it all over again. I had a good enough reason too...

...a gorgeous piece of meat from Donald Russell, Britain's leading mail order meat supplier. They are based in Aberdeenshire and guarantees the best-tasting meat you'll ever find. From traditional cuts of naturally reared beef, pork and lamb to more contemporary ones like game and veal, they have quite a wide range of products. They also have a unique collection of marinades for different kinds of meat, which is worth checking out when you've run out of ideas to impress.

My handsome piece of meat came nicely packed in a chilled box, shock frozen and i removed it immediately and transferred it into my freezer. It was a large thick piece of meat, so i had to thaw it at room temperature for quite a bit of time. The quality of meat was excellent and i can safely say, one of the best so far. We paired the beef dish with a full bodied red wine, and mashed potato and vegetables to soak up all the gravy. It was so difficult to make the end product look nice in the picture. But trust me it tasted fabulous.

Recipe adapted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey (serves 4 as part of main meal)

 

Beef shoulder/ brisket meat- 1kg, tied as a roast

Salt- to taste

Pepper- to taste

Coriander seeds- 4 tsp

Cumin seeds- 1tsp

Fennel seeds- 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp

Oil- 3 tbsp

Cinnamon stick- 1, 2 inch piece

Cardamom- 3 pods

Cloves- 3 pods

Onion- 1 large, finely chopped

Ginger- 1 tsp, peeled and finely chopped

Garlic- 1 tbsp- peeled and finely chopped

Chilli powder- 1 tsp

Tomato paste- 1 tsp, diluted in 1/4 cup water

Red wine vinegar- 2 tbsp

Chicken stock- 1 1/2 cups

Coconut milk- 1 cup

Pat dry the piece of meat and season generously with salt and pepper on all sides.

Dry roast the coriander, cumin, fennel and fenugreek seeds for about 2 to 3 minutes or till fragrant, keep aside to cool and then grind to a fine powder.

Heat a pressure cooker over medium-high heat and sear the meat on all sides, to tap in all the flavour. Transfer to a plate and rest.

Reduce heat to medium and into the same pressure cooker add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and sauté for a couple of seconds, making sure you don't burn them.

Add the onions, ginger and garlic and continue sautéing till the onions turn a golden brown and the raw smell from the garlic and ginger disappears, around 7 to 8 minutes on medium heat.

Add the ground masala powder and chilli powder and stir well.

Pour in the diluted tomato paste and continue to stir, till oil slowly starts appearing on the sides.

Add the red wine vinegar and chicken stock at this point and bring to a gentle boil.

Check for salt and add if needed

Carefully place the seared meat , along with any juices, into the gravy, ladle over some of the liquid and close the pressure cooker.

Wait for steam to appear and put on the weights. Reduce heat to low and cook for about an hour.

You will have to play this by ear because cooking times depend on the cut of meat and your pressure cooker. For me, one hour was perfectly fine, in fact 50 minutes to be precise, as the meat was almost fall off consistency.

Open the cooker and stir in the coconut milk.

Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.

Transfer the meat to a chopping board and slice lengthwise.

Place on a serving tray/ bowl, pour over the gravy and serve with crusty bread or mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables like how we did :)

Notes: Original recipe calls for slow cooking in an oven, covered, at 175C for 2 1/2 hours, while basting and tuning at intervals.

I'm thinking this recipe would be just as fine with stewing beef pieces.

With thanks to Donald Russell for sending me the gorgeous piece of meat.

Grana Padano Italian Cooking Maestro blogger challenge

Grana Padano is a cheese I'm familiar with, and so very happily welcomed the cooking challenge judged by none other than the renowned Italian Chef Francesco Mazzei. I was supposed to create a starter and a main or a main and dessert using the cheese as the star ingredient. Broke my head about if for a few days and then the surprise fresh produce and grocery arrived at the door, courtesy Grana Padano, and i knew i had to make use of the beautiful butternut squash, if not for the autumn transition period we are in.

I decided to do a starter of posh chips with truffle oil and Grana Padano, and a main course of butternut squash gnocchi with sage and burnt butter. Although I've tied making pasta at food events and in cookery schools I never thought I'd attempt making something similar at home. I've had gnocchi at restaurants and knew it was not one of those easy to make things. Of course the food blogger in me wanted to try it at least once, and this just happened to be the best time to experiment.

PS: I think my favourite kitchen equipment as of now is the microplane grater. OMG its the best and i have been putting it to good use. Thank you Grana Padano for opening my eyes to the world of micro grating :)

Truffle chips with Grana Padano (Serves 2 as a starter)

The truffle chips turned out so so good. I first tried it at the gorgeous bar at the Renaissance Hotel in St Pancras and have been meaning to try it at home ever since. They were a breeze to make and was delicious, not to mention all posh with the truffle oil and cheese. Very happy with how it turned out and the cheese was most certainly the star of this dish. 

Potato- 300 gms, peeled and sliced into thin strips

Olive oil- 2 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Truffle oil- 2 tbsp

Parsley- 1/2 tsp (fresh or dried)

Grana Padano shavings- 1/4 cup

Coarse sea salt- to season

Preheat oven to 200C and line a baking tray with silver foil.

Toss together the potato, olive oil and salt in a mixing bowl and arrange them on the baking tray. Make sure they don't overlap.

Bake for about 30 minutes, flipping the potato strips after about 15 minutes and spraying/ brushing on some more oil if required.

The potatoes are done when a fork goes through easily, and are crisp, but not burnt.

Toss the potatoes with the truffle oil (generously rather) and parsley and transfer to a serving plate.

Top with the Grana Padano shavings and garnish with sea salt and serve warm.

Notes: For a spicy kick, toss the potatoes with some red chilli flakes. Another flavour would be garlic which would work really well with the cheese and truffle flavour

You can also jazz up your frozen fries like this.

Butternut squash gnocchi with brown butter and sage (recipe adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine Oct 2010 issue)

The gnocchi proved to be quite a bit of work but I'm glad i tried it. The sage and butter combo is a unique one and not everyone's cup of tea (the husband hated it) so if you are sceptical, add in a dash of cream, season with salt and pepper and let the grated Grana Padano flavours do all the work.

Butternut squash- 500 to 600 gms

Olive oil- 1 tbsp

Garlic powder- 1 tsp

Thyme- 1/4 tsp (dried or fresh)

Potato- 500 gms

Grated Grana padano cheese- 3/4th cup

Egg- 1

Nutmeg powder- 1 1/2 tsp

Salt- 1 tsp

Plain flour- 1 3/4 cup + more for dusting

Butter- 3 tbsp

Fresh sage leaves- 5 to 6

Grated Grana Padano cheese- to garnish

Preheat oven to 220C and line a baking tray with silver foil.

Slice the butternut squash in half and discard the seeds.

Mix together the olive oil, garlic powder and thyme.

Place, cut side up, on the baking tray and pour over or brush on the olive oil mix.

Roast until tender, for around 1 hr. (Check by inserting a knife inserted into the middle of the squash, and it should go through easily)

Keep aside to cool and then scoop out the flesh and transfer to a sauce pan and puree either using an immersion blender or alternatively you can do so in a food processor.

Cook the puree over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes or till all the moisture has evaporated.

Transfer 1 cup of the puree into a large mixing bowl.

While the squash is cooking, get started on the potatoes.

Peel and slice the potato into big chunks and place in a microwave safe bowl.

Cover and cook on high in the microwave for about 6 to 7 minutes or in boiling water until very tender.

Drain and pass the potato through and potato rice or use a grater and grate the potato finely. Measure 2 cups and transfer to the mixing bowl with the squash puree.

Once cool, add the remaining ingredients- cheese, egg, nutmeg and salt and flour and mix together using a wooden spoon till they all come together. Add more flour if its too sticky.

Lightly flour a surface and knead the dough till just smooth. Don't over work it.

Place it back in the bowl and refrigerate to make it easier to work with it.

Line a large baking tray with baking paper and lightly flour it. Also flour the work surface.

Divide the dough into 8 and working with one piece at a time roll the dough out into a 1/2 inch thick rope.

Cut the rope into 3/4th inch pieces and working with one piece at a time, roll it on the back of a fork to have the ridges in tact. This takes a bit of time, but worth it.

Transfer them to the baking sheets and once you done with all of the dough, cover loosely with a cling film and refrigerate till ready to cook.

Boil water in a large pot, season with salt.

Cook the gnocchi in batches until tender, around 15 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon and transfer them on to a kitchen towel. Cool and use as needed.

Melt the butter in a frying pan until golden brown, stirring continuously.

Add the sage and stir for a minute after which you add the gnocchi and cook for about 10 minutes or so, making sure they are coated with the butter.

Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a serving bowl.

Generously sprinkle some more Grana Padano and serve hot.

Notes: I didn't use up the entire batch, maybe 2 cups of gnocchi for both of us. I froze the remaining.

There was about a cup of squash left and i used it up in a cake.

With thanks to Grana Padano for the ingredients, welcome kit and grocery voucher sent over to undertake this challenge.

Beef 360, the Science of Steak

Both of us love a good steak and we are in the process of learning how to cook the perfect steak. So i was pretty much looking forward to the Beef 360, the science of steak event hosted by Simply Beef and Lamb, the home of Red Tractor and Quality Standard beef and lamb. On a warm day when the Tube strike was creating havoc in the city, I took off to Le Meridien in Piccadilly Circus to spend an evening learning all about beef.

The evening started off with an introduction to what makes quality beef, and how high standards are followed to ensure a good quality of meat is delivered every time, by putting it through rigorous procedures. Dr Phil Hadley, who is an expert in the field, took us through an intense session explaining what ingredients make different steaks from around the country unique- precisely- how feed, age and breed type make for quality beef.

We blind tasted a wide variety of beef- from grass fed to grain fed, ones aged for different periods of time and so much more, that at the end of it all we were in a beef coma, not one that we complained about though. We then sat down to a fabulous meal put together by the talented Denise and also got to catch up with fellow foodies. We then packed away gorgeous chunks of beef to work on back home and also got tips on how to make a perfect steak by expert Hugh Judd

I froze the beef soon after and put it to good use a couple of weeks later by making the Coronation Steak, radish and pea salad that was served on the day, and was one of my favourites. Ro cooked the steak to perfection, i think this is the first time he's got it spot on, and it tasted delicious. Medium rare, just the way we like it. The salad recipe is pretty straightforward. Cook the steak as per your preference (rare, medium, well done), cover and leave side till you get the other things going.. Toss together the rest of the salad ingredients like lettuce, radish and defrosted peas and arrange on a large plate (or a bowl). The dressing is the best bit and I'll give you the exact recipe as provided by The Meat Elite.

Coronation steak salad (dressing) adapted from Simply Beef and Lamb

Curry powder- 2 tsp

Mayonnaise- 3 tbsp

Cold water- 2 tbsp

Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp

Place all these ingredients in a bowl and mix together till well combined.

Slice the steak into strips and arrange on the plate, along with any of the juices.

Spoon the delicious dressing over the beef and serve with crusty bread.

And that's exactly what we had, and also some gorgeous red wine.

There was still some leftover steak and I made a quick Philly Cheese Steak for lunch the next day. I followed this recipe to the T and its a keeper. I agree it does take a bit of time, because everything needs to be made separately. But trust me, it tasted so darn good. 

The session that evening did open my eyes to a lot of aspects and I'm now aware of the Quality Standard Mark Scheme that provides the highest level of independently-inspected quality assurance for meat in the UK. It cares for the environment, animal welfare and food safety which i believe makes a difference.

With thanks to The Meat Elite for inviting me to the event.