Category Archives: Restaurants

Eggs in pots (oeufs en cocotte)

eggs_in_pots_93154_16x9

Ingredients
150g/5½oz crème fraîche
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch nutmeg
handful of chopped dill
4 free-range eggs
To garnish
red lumpfish roe
small sprigs of dill

Preparation method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Season the crème fraîche with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
Place a heaped tablespoon of crème fraîche in the bottom of a ramekin, followed by a little dill.
Crack an egg on top, add a second tablespoon of crème fraîche and sprinkle with a pinch each of salt, pepper and nutmeg. Repeat with three more ramekins.
Place the ramekins in a baking dish and pour enough lukewarm water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the egg yolks are set to your liking.
If you like, finish each serving with a teaspoon of red lumpfish roe and a sprig or two of dill.

Recipe by Rachel Khoo

Lemon and Raspberry Madeleines

image

For the madeleines
– 3 free-range eggs
– 130g/4½oz sugar
– 200g/7oz plain flour
– 10g/¼oz baking powder
– 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
– 20g/¾oz honey
– 4 tbsp milk
– 200g/7oz butter, melted and cooled
– punnet of raspberries
– icing sugar, for dusting

For the lemon curd
– 1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest and juice only
– pinch of salt
– 40g/1½oz sugar
– 45g/1¾oz butter
– 2 free-range egg yolks

Method
1. Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and frothy. Put the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and add the lemon zest.
2. Mix the honey and milk with the cooled butter, then add to the eggs. In two batches, fold in the flour. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight.
3. Meanwhile, make the lemon curd. Put the lemon zest and juice, salt, sugar and butter into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar and butter have melted. Remove from the heat.
4. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl, then add to the pan and whisk vigorously. Return the pan to a low heat and whisk constantly as the curd starts to thicken. Don’t stop whisking or the eggs will curdle (if the curd starts to boil, take off the heat). Once the curd thickens and releases a bubble or two, remove from the heat and pass the curd through a sieve into a bowl. Place cling film in direct contact with the curd and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
5. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Butter and flour a 12-shell madeleine tin. Put the lemon curd into a piping bag fitted with a small, pointed nozzle and place in the fridge.
6. Put a heaped tablespoon of batter into each madeleine shell and press a raspberry deep into the batter.
7. Bake for five minutes and turn the oven off for one minute (the madeleines will get their signature peaks), then turn the oven on to 160C/325F/Gas 3 and bake for a further five minutes. Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack and leave for a few minutes until cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, wash and dry the tin, then repeat the baking as for the first batch.
8. While the second batch is baking, pop the piping nozzle into the mound in each baked madeleine and squirt in a teaspoon’s worth of lemon curd. Repeat with the second batch, then dust with icing sugar and serve straightaway.

Recipe by Rachel Khoo

Truck Stop

Largest collection of quality food trucks ever assembled in London. Plus cocktails, gin bar, Camden Town brewery beers.

The Truck Stop convoy rolls into town on 4th & 5th July and will feature the largest collection of quality food trucks ever assembled in London.

Alongside the UK’s best food trucks, there will be a craft beer bar, a roadside diner, a Camden Town Brewery keg party with a Rotary Smoke barbecue pit, a taco shack, a ‘secret’ Gin Bar and the Rotary cocktail bar; all packed onto the waterfront at Wood Wharf with live music and tons of seating and eating.

Tickets for Truck Stop are £10. When you arrive at Truck Stop you can trade your ticket in for 10 Truck Stop dollars which you can spend at any of our cocktail and craft beer bars.

TRUCK STOP
4TH & 5TH JULY – 5PM TO 11PM
WOOD WHARF
CANARY WHARF, E14 9SB

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM HERE

Great Napkin Fold

image

Great idea for a napkin fold.

Sticky Toffee Pudding (The best ever)

One of the best Sticky Toffee Puddings I’ve ever tasted. Once you’ve tried this, nothing else will come close.

Ingredients:
For the Date Purée:
375g Stoned Dates
375ml Water

For the Toffee Sauce:
640ml Double Cream
340g Caster Sugar
130g Liquid Glucose
130g Unsalted Butter

For the Sponge:
130g Unsalted Butter (at room temp)
375g Soft Dark Brown Sugar
3 Medium Eggs Lightly Beaten

Sift these together:
450g Strong Flour
10g Baking Powder
3g Bicarbonate of Soda


First prepare the date purée. Simmer the dates in the water over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until they are soft and the water has almost evaporated. Process them in a blender until they are smooth.

Preheat the oven to 175°C – Gas Mark 4.

Now make the toffee sauce. Pour half the cream and the other toffee sauce ingredients into a thick-bottomed pan and mix well. Bring the sauce to the boil, stirring with a wooden spoon, and continue to boil until it is golden brown. Remove from the heat, allow it to cool slightly, then whisk in the remaining cream.

Grease and line a baking tin, measuring approximately 30x24x6cm deep, with greaseproof paper.

Now to make the sponge: In a food processor or mixer, cream the butter and sugar with the paddle on a medium speed until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly, taking care that the mixture does not separate. (If this does happen, add a little of the flour and continue mixing for a minute or so.) Then fold in the sifted flour mixture slowly until smooth. Finally, add the warm date purée and mix well.

Spread the mixture in the prepared tin and bake and bake for about 50-60 minutes or until the sponge is firm to the touch. Allow to cool – it can be left in the tin. Remove the sponge from the tin and trim the outside edges. Cut it horizontally into three, then reassemble it in the baking tin, spreading two- thirds of the sauce between the layers.

Once you have assembled the pudding, reheat it in the oven at 175°C – Gas Mark 4 for 15-20 minutes, then cut in into eight equal servings and top with the remaining toffee sauce. Serve Sticky Toffee Pudding with Ice Cream, soured cream or crème fraiche.

Thanks to The Ivy Restaurant in London for this recipe.