Mac & Cheese

As you may know, I recently visited New York on my Honeymoon. During the trip, which was over Christmas, Fabio gifted me Amanda Hesser's   Cooking for Mr Latte. I know it normally isn't important but he bought the book from one of my most favourite bookshops in New York, the independent booksellers, McNally Jackson (52 Prince St, NYC). It came all lovingly gift-wrapped by the bookshop, and I was so happy to receive it as I didn't really know who Amanda Hesser was (I know!!) but now I do, and I'm glad as she has some pretty funny stories to tell from when she wrote for the New York Times, of which her book explains and, each chapter ends with a few recipes. Now bringing back to the topic of this blog, I recently tried one of these recipes; her Grandma Helen's Mac & Cheese. 
This traditional Mac & Cheese has no fancy bits, it is what it is meant to be: pure comfort food. 

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups of grated Monterey Jack Cheese + extra 1/4 cup for topping (I couldn't find this whole, so I opted for breaking up the Monterey jack ready sliced cheese)
3 1/2 cups cooked macaroni 
1 cup of smalls cubes of cooked ham 
1  cup Italian plum tomatoes 
3 1/2 cups of coarse breadcrumbs (use stale bread cut into cubes - I used a stale baguette)
Black pepper (ground or not - Hesser's Grandma uses the already ground stuff)

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees. Butter a casserole dish. 
2. Heat the butter in a saucepan until foamy

3. Make a béchamel by sprinkling in flour and whisking until it turns golden and then slowly adding the milk until all incorporated.  Keep whisking. 

4. Simmer over a medium heat and let thicken.

5. Stir in cheese and take off the heat. 

6. Stir in the cooked Macaroni and then the ham. 

7. Add tomatoes by squeezing and breaking up in your fingertips. 

8. Pour into a casserole dish (as you can see I have already done so beforehand!)

9. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup of cheese. Grind pepper on top and bake until bubbling and brown, about 25 minutes. 

10. Dig in!!!

Cullen Skink - a traditional Scottish soup

The other day when it was particularly cold out, and we both needed something to warm up our souls, I decided to try out a soup which traditionally comes from the fishing villages of Cullen in Scotland. 
Finnan haddock was traditionally used for this broth, or 'skink' as they would have referred to it. I decided to use ordinary smoked haddock as it's really hard to find Finnan Haddock these days. 
This recipe is based on the book Farmhouse Cookery by Readers Digest. 
The recipe is usually a lot thicker, but I actually like it thinner as I prefer my soups a lot more watery and broth-like. I just love how this is soup is so smokey and creamy and just a great one for winter!

Ingredients

450g Smoked Haddock
1 onion, peeled and chopped roughly
1 pint fish stock
225g young leeks, thinly sliced
225g cooked and mashed potato
50g butter
1/2 pint single cream
1 egg yolk
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Note - make sure you remember to cook and mash your potato before starting this recipe!

Method

1. Place the haddock and chopped onion in a saucepan and cover with cold water (how much cold water you put depends on the size of your pan. This will really affect the outcome of your soup. The more water, the less thick it will be. I would however recommend you do cover your fish fully. I used quite a wide, deep frying pan, which meant I used quite a lot of water).

2. Bring slowly to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the fish is becoming really flakey. 

3. Strain but keep the liquid and discard the onion. Flake the fish in a bowl. Bring the liquid to the boil again in the same pan and simmer for 10 minutes more.

4. Add the stock to the pan and bring to the boil again. Add the leeks and boil for 10 minutes or until the leeks are tender. 

5. Mix in the mash potato and butter. Add the flaked fish and simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Beat together the cream and egg yolk and add to the soup. Stir over a low heat until warm. Do not boil as it could curdle. Season and serve with a sprinkle of the parsley. 

Chipping Campden - a traditional Cotswold Village

Before Christmas, my parents and Fabio and I decided to go on a little trip to Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire as we had never been there before, and thought it would make a nice day out. We had plans to go to Stratford-upon-Avon too (more on this in a future post) but we weren't sure whether there would be enough time to do both. We were however very wrong! Chipping Campden is a very small village in the Cotswolds, and really doesn't take a long time to explore the main street. I obviously am all for exploring the more 'slow' aspects of the village, but on this occasion we weren't really equipped for walking and it was really cold and icy! 

This is near the car park where we parked (handy to have one on the high street), and as you can see, it wasn't a very nice day weather wise!

Apparently 'Chipping' means market place from the Old English, 'ceping' and 'Campden' derives from the Saxon 'campadenu' meaning a  valley of fields or enclosures of cultivated land. Fun fact!

I know it's not Christmas anymore, but I just love this house's subtle but lovely Christmassy touches! 

The Bantam Tea Rooms is where we stopped off for a bite to eat and to warm up from the cold! The cakes in there were amazing. Just look at the window..doesn't it look inviting! Wait until you see what's inside!

An open fire! What's not to love! I decided to gorge on the coffee and walnut cake, which was delicious and went down nicely with a cup of coffee. It was the perfect place to stop on a cold winters day; Would definitely recommend. 

Friday Fish Stew

Fridays have always been known as the day when you eat fish. This is because Christians and Catholics used to fast on this day and abstain from eating meat. And so they would feast on fish instead. Nowadays it's not really a tradition that has been kept, although perhaps the older generation like to have fish on Fridays  probably more out of habit than religion.
I'm not a practising religious person myself, however I am a bit of a traditionalist sometimes (especially when it comes to food!) And since it's Friday tomorrow, I thought I would share with you a recipe I tried out recently from a book that was gifted to me two Christmases ago, 'Two Greedy Italians Eat Italy' by Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo. The recipe is for a fish soup-stew, a heavenly meal if you like seafood. 
The two Italians state in their book that no more than 5 types of fish go into this cacciuco from the port of Livorno in Tuscany. This  is because they put one for every 'C' in the name! 

Hope you enjoy! And please let me know as always if you try this recipe. 

Notes - I have slightly adapted this recipe to make it for two people rather than 6-8 as stated in the book. I also only used 4 different types of fish/seafood, as there wasn't a lot of choice at my supermarket!

Changes - I felt this recipe needed more sauce to make it more soup-like, so if you like it this way too, perhaps add in a bit more  red wine and another half a tin of chopped tomatoes. If you like it more stew-like, then keep it as stated below.



Ingredients

1kg of mixed fresh fish (I used whole king prawns, squid, sea bass and sole)
4 tbsp Olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Half an onion, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, plus extra for rubbing
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
62ml of red wine 
1 fresh chilli, chopped
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
Salt and ground black pepper
4 slices of good bread, slightly stale or toasted (I used a small baguette and toasted it under the grill)

Method

1. Clean and prepare your fish by cutting the fish into large chunks and seafood into good sized pieces for eating. 

2. Fry the oil, onion and garlic in a large pan. 

3. Add the tomatoes, wine, chilli, parsley and fennel seeds, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 15 minutes.

4. Add the fish that takes the longest to cook, to the pan first (monkfish is one of these), and then add the more tender fish (red mullet, sole). Add the shellfish last (mussels need to be THE last as they take no time at all - they are done when open. Do not use any that are open before cooking, unless they close if tapped). Cook for 5 minutes until the fish is cooked.

5. Rub the bread with the garlic clove and drizzle with olive oil. Place two slices in each bowl, and when the fish is ready, more over the stew/soup, and serve. 

Exploring Stroud

Last year I took it upon myself to take a little trip on the bus to a town nearby us, called Stroud. I had been there before in passing, but never had the chance to look around the town properly. What I found was a pleasing, yet hilly high street, full of unique and independent shops plus charity shops galore! It was a little treasure trove. Here are some snaps from my visit with some info on the places I favoured. 

On the way to Stroud high street. The main streets are the high street, where you can find the usual shops such as Boots & Superdrug, as well many independent shops and quaint little book stores; Kendrick street and Union Street where there are many charity shops, perfect for that vintage find.

Here's a link to the map of the town centre: http://www.stroud.gov.uk/info/stroud_tourism_map.pdf

A popular place in Stroud where people gather to watch theatre and musical performances. There are also workshops and classes held there.

http://www.subscriptionrooms.org.uk/general.asp?pid=12&pgid=972

Looking down the main high street

One of my favourite places to hunt down reasonably priced cookbooks! Imprint sells a range of second hand books of a very high quality.

http://www.inprint.co.uk

Woodruffs Organic Cafe was recommended to me by my guidebook to the Cotswolds - Slow Cotswolds, and it was everything it promised! It was cosy with a quirky decor. You can find yourself indulging in a homemade cake and luxurious hot chocolate (see below), or eating a full on lunch, such as one of their many healthy sandwiches (try the falafel and hummus in pitta) or one of their daily specials. 

http://www.woodruffsorganiccafe.co.uk

Look at the foam on that! 

Date flapjack

I know this is a pretty dark photo but it the evening was drawing it and I still hadn't finished my adventure! I had to still try and take a photo of this shop as it's one of my faves. 

Moonflower sells many gift-y items such as gloves, socks, jewellery, lotions and creams etc. It also stocks Cath Kidston (though usually the older ranges) and also boots and wellies. 

Their sister shop is also on the highstreet and it called 'Moonflower Too'. It stocks mainly cards, bath bombs, Neal's Yard products and also Emma Bridgewater mugs, plates etc.

https://www.moonflowershops.co.uk/index.php#.Vop13LR3aT8

Do let me know if you visit Stroud and if this guide was useful!

Disaster stew

I know I haven't written in a while, what with it being Christmas and all, and also having been on my amazing honeymoon to New York (posts to follow); however I had to just let you know something I learnt this afternoon: never use a non-flameproof casserole dish on the hob. 
I know what you are thinking, isn't it obvious? Well I wasn't to know if my casserole dish was flameproof or not! I bought it ages ago at Argos (a cheap purchase when we desperately wanted a casserole), but I couldn't remember from the 'instructions' whether it was flameproof, and I had used it before and it was fine. However this afternoon, whilst preparing a stew for our New Years Day dinner (my parents are also here), I poured in some red wine to the already braised meat, and BOOM, CRACK: the whole pot collapses and out floods the red wine and all the little carrot and meat pieces. Disaster had struck! After finding it all funny and slightly annoying; and participating in amounts of cleaning (thank you Fabio!), we all then had to decide whether we would risk eating what remained of the stew, and possibly pieces of the dish! Did we risk it? The meat did look very nice. It looked like it had the potential to become a a great meal. After some discussion, we all decided that the best bet was to just give in and get a takeaway. So that's what our first meal will be in the Cantoni household to begin 2016. Let's hope this isn't a prelude of dinners to come! Haha.

Traditional Mince Pies

In case you are not already sick of them already, here is another mince pie recipe to add to the collection! I personally love them, and could eat them all year-round. I decided this year to make my own pastry (I know, too much time on my hands!) and since there are so many to choose from, I picked one that was described as 'short and melt-in-your-mouth'. The recipe is a Paul Hollywood one, who I definitely trust, and boy was I right! This pastry is so good, I mean, it literally crumble in your mouth but still holds it's shape. It tastes so buttery too!

Hope you like! I would love to hear which mince pie recipe you rely on each year!

Ingredients
375g plain flour
260g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
1 large egg + 1 for the glaze
A jar of mincemeat
Icing sugar for dusting

1. Put flour and butter cut into small pieces into a bowl, and rub until at crumb consistency. 
2. Add the sugar and egg and mix until combined into a dough. Tip out onto your surface and do what the French call 'Fraiser', which is basically when you blend the dough together with your hands. Be careful not to overwork it though. 
3. Wrap into cling film and chill for 10 minutes in the fridge. If you leave it for too long it will harden (this is what I ended up doing) and it will take a while to become soft in order to roll it out!
4. Heat the oven to 220c/200fan/gas mark 7. Roll out the dough to 3mm thick and cut out using a round cutter. You need to do big circles for the base of the pie and smaller ones for the lid. You can measure this easily by just placing the cutter over the pan you are going to use, and if it's slightly larger, then that's the one to use! I decided to use my star cutter for my lids!

5. Press your bottoms of the pie into the muffin tin carefully, and then fill with a couple of spoonfuls of mincemeat! 

6. Next you need to get your extra egg and beat it lightly. Use this to glaze the edges of your pies. This also helps your tops to stick, which is the next step: top with your lids! Glaze those as well after, then give them a little prick with a fork in order to let out the steam. You will notice in the next picture that I decided to fill some of mine with leftover jam, as I thought I would make some jam tarts whilst I was at it!

7. Sprinkle with caster sugar and bake for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool and then dust with icing sugar.