Dairy free eton mess for a wedding near Tewkesbury

A record number of dietary requirements this year. Unlike a lot of people I do try and go out of my way to make sure they have as near to what everyone else is having as it can be. If you research recipes, and hunt down ingredients, anything is possible really, it just takes time and care! Far too many other chefs don't bother, so the gluten free, dairy free etc guests we cook for are always amazed at what we serve up for them!

Dairy free whipped cream? Easy! With a bit of help from @CocoPazzo .

Chill a tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight. It has to be good quality coconut milk with high fat content. Refrigerating it makes it split between the coconut fat and thin water at the bottom.

Scoop off the coconut fat into a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric whisk till thick. If you've really thought in advance you could chill the mixing bowl too - to prevent it heating and splitting. You can add sugar and vanilla if you want to make it slightly sweeter, like I did here.

It pipes beautifully. All the chefs and waiting staff liked the coconut whipped 'cream' version better than the normal dairy cream version - the piping bag and mixing bowl were wiped completely clean - you can't get much better recommendation than that!

If you're being hi-tech you can also use an isi gun for this. According to information received the isi gun likes 35% fat content and the average can of coconut milk is 20%, so add 2 tbsp of coconut oil to the coconut cream and mix at room temperature, then chill overnight in the fridge before putting in the isi gun. Using coconut milk with added guar gum is also another tip to help prevent the coconut cream and coconut oil from separating while chilling.

We finished this one off with dried coconut flakes and toasted coconut. Despite the fact that it helps distinguish the dairy free version from the normal one, it also adds a bit more coconut flavour! Should have added malibu!

 

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Parma ham, rocket, sun dried tomato and parmesan pinwheel, rhubarb and custard cake and other lunch buffet items

Parma ham, rocket, sun dried tomato puree & parmesan pinwheel

Starts off looking like this. My favourite part of this particular buffet!

Tuna nicoise open sandwich (among others)

Rhubarb - straight from my garden to make this rhubarb and custard cake.
There are also coconut cake bars there and some left over roast rhubarb in the middle.

Rum and raisin cupcakes - see recipe here

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Couple of cakes we served back in Jan for a working lunch:

Coconut and passionfruit cake - see link to recipe here

Pinepple tarts - from this recpie with a little lemon curd on the base

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1001 Kitchen tips #68 - Avoiding a cake wreck - how to save a cake mix that has curdled

Looks like my new year's resolution to finish work before midnight is falling by the wayside already - this was made sometime around 1am the other day.

Coconut and passionfruit cake

When a blogger offers their handy hints on the recipe 'Don't overwork the batter' - don't ignore it!
I'm not a pastry chef - as I went to college on my days off I neatly avoided the pastry course, and became more of a larder specialist. Everything in the pastry/ dessert line I've either learned from my mum and grandmothers (they had us cooking from the moment we could stand on a stool at the worktop without falling off it) or I've taught myself. So I tend to learn by trial and error. The other day it was the turn of error to make an appearance.......

Woops - curdled cake mix

I had ignored the recipe and creamed the butter and sugar and then added the eggs - probably too fast (it was late). Adding lemon juice to that doesn't help. 

Don't worry however - all is not lost. There's always an answer:

1. Normally when adding flour it brings the cake mix back to life & it is saved. However this recipe had only a minimum amount of flour - not enough to bind it.
2. Try adding cornflour - like thickening sauces, it can bring cake mixes together. Only a little though - you don't want to make it heavy. Cornflour works better for this than normal flour as it's lighter.
3. Add a little warm water - this can sometimes bring it back - the same way you can save a split hollandaise.
4. If all that fails (it did) - I found you can stick the kenwood mixing bowl over the gas flame for a few seconds  [obvious note - needs to be a stainless steel bowl - the plastic ones have a tendency to melt in a gas flame]. This gives it a little heat which softens the butter a little - this brought the mix back together with a little whisking and saved the cake!

All in a morning's work.

Related

See other 1001 kitchen tips

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Fish and chips

".... and some of our guests are American so I thought we could introduce them to english food.... could you do fish and chips?"
Fish and chips? Well it had been a while. 3 years in fact since I filled in a few times at The Bluebell gastro pub in Henley in Arden (near Stratford on Avon) when they were between head chefs.

Cod in Cotswold Way Ale batter

675g self raising flour
1 litre Cotswold Way ale

(Makes enough for c. 20 fillets - maybe you could reduce it to the original recipe for smaller numbers).








Chips

I'm a maris piper convert (contrary to what I said last year). Blanched at 140 oC then crisped at 180 oC. As it was a delivery meal they just needed re-heating in the oven. If you crank the oven up high (220 oC +) they crisp up really well if you use maris pipers.









Triple Cooked Chips

Updated Feb 2019
Then triple cooked chips came into our lives.
For a long time I thought why? Kitchen life is hard enough. Then I tried them. Instant convert. They taste better, they crisp up better. People who eat them say "these are the best chips I've ever had!". That's what you want.

Method

1. Cut Maris Piper potatoes into chip shapes. 
2. Place in a large saucepan and cover with salted cold water. Bring to the boil. Cook till soft inside but not falling apart. There's an optune softness which you find after a few goes at making triple cooked chips. 
3. Drain in colander carefully so they don't crush in the colander. Lay out on clean tea towels to steam and dry. The tea towel absorbs water. The chips can stick to kitchen paper at this point which you then have to peel off before frying- no fun.
4. Heat frying oil to 140 oC. Drop the chips for about 5 minutes till blanched. They should be soft inside with a hard skin on the outside, but blond NOT the finished golden colour. 
5. Take out of the fryer and drain on kitchen paper. If you want to work in advance you can store them in the fridge at this point, or in the freezer if you want to keep for a longer time. 
6. When ready to serve heat the fryer oil up to 180 oC and once up to heat drop the chips for about 2 minutes till golden. Drain and season with salt, then try and get them to the table without anyone stealing one. 

Note - if you don't have a deep fat fryer you can also do this in a shallow frying pan if you cook on an electric hob - I wouldn't advise doing so if you are cooking on gas due to fire risk. I did the frying pan version on holiday and they worked a treat!

Mushy peas

Well minted pea puree Heston style.













Tomato ketchup

When you make your own you wonder why you brought it all those years - this just tastes too good. Recipe from Gary Rhodes' New British Classics.










And I whizzed up some tartare sauce too.

Fruit salad

What you need after this gluttony is some fruit. They had asked for fruit salad. I looked for some more interesting ideas for it and suggested this (no idea where I found it from now sorry).

Pineapple
Mango
Mandarin segments (was segmenting against the clock - where did the time go?)
Toasted blanched whole almonds
Fresh diced coconut

As I was really pushing it for time I took the coconut and finished it at Wellacres - which the hostess was happy with actually as she picked up the coconut opening tip? What? You want it as well? OK - you wrap it a few times around in clingfilm so it is well sealed. Then you need a solid floor this one was stone or paving slabs outside your kitchen door work really well too. Then throw it hard at the floor (great anger management technique) and it shatters inside, but the milk is kept inside the clingfilm. Open into a sieve over a bowl so you collect the milk (can use this for risotto or coconut and mango lassi), then you can de-shell coconut with a spoon. I also peeled it for this.

I made some coconut crisps for them to sprinkle on top too.


Related posts

Fish and chips on the barbecue

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Wild strawberry and coriander sushi

Strawberries and coriander - who would ever think of putting those two ingredients together?

Mr Brooks might. And did - that's where I got the idea for doing this. I was going to use normal strawberries, but as I went through the garden this morning in search of rosemary and sage to go on top of foccacia I saw the recent sun had ripened up all the wild strawberries so I just had to pick them......

As this is a sweet version of sushi I used coconut milk to cook the rice rather than water. I'm not sure this is quite authentic - maybe in malaysian cuisine, but it tastes good. If you want a savoury version (with normal sushi rice) tuna and strawberry sushi is a classic.

No nori on this one - though if you google strawberry sushi - you can see some quite interesting versions and some 'interesting' ones too.

Rolled in toasted dessciated coconut. Best to toast it in a frying pan - if you put it in the oven you'll remember it's in there only when black smoke is wafting through your kitchen.......

Let it cool down too before you roll. Roll tightly in cling film - this helps you cut the round shapes easily.

Balsamic syrup makes a nice accompaniment (as above), but you could also sieve some strawberries to make a coulis as a dip.

This has been submitted to the Strawberry Feast at My Kitchen Treasures.

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