Egg custart tart

Egg custard tart is regarded as another classic of British cuisine. Often described as favourite pastry in the British Isles, custard tarts are widely sold in supermarkets and bakeries throughout the UK. The history of egg tart reaches back to the Middle Ages. It’s usually associated with Medieval recipes for croustade, doucettes and darioles- old French custard pies consisting of shortcrust pastry shell filled with mixture of cream, milk and eggs, enriched with honey and spices. Modern egg custard tarts base on very similar formula. Apart from Britain custard tarts are widely enjoyed in Commonwealth countries like Australia and New Zealand. Also other countries have their regional equivalents. Most popular are French Flans pâtissier, Portuguese Pastel de nata or Dan Tat- speciality of Hong Kong cuisine. 

Ingredients:

200g short crust pastry

4 large eggs

1 pint whole milk

2 oz sugar

Large pinch or ground nutmeg

• Preheat the oven to 190C. Roll out the pastry and line the flat tin. Press the pastry into the tin (Trim the edges of the tart with a sharp serrated knife.) Fill the pastry with baking beans. Blind bake for approx. 15- 20 minutes, until golden and sandy all over. 

• Whisk the eggs lightly with the sugar.
• Warm up the milk and pour it in continuous stream onto the eggs, whisking lightly. Strain into the pastry case and sprinkle the top with nutmeg.

• Bake in the centre of the oven at mark 7 for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to mark 4 and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the custard is set.
• When it's ready, the tart should be set and pale golden on the top, and have just the merest tremor in the centre when you jiggle the tray. Cool completely, then serve in slices. Enjoy!

Creamy chocolate mousse

Chocolate mousse is decadently delicious, elegant and impressive - yet stunningly easy to make. Chocolate mousse is also the perfect make-ahead dessert for dinner parties. You can make it a few days before then just pimp it up with the accompaniments at the last minute.

No matter how many new desserts come along, the traditional chocolate mousse always impresses with its rich and creamy taste. And, if you are not convinced yet, there is one really good reason to make it- CHOCOLATE! Chocolate intake has been linked with release of serotonin in the brain, which is thought to produce feelings of pleasure. So if you want to please your guests, try to do it with this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

300ml double cream

2 tsp Amaretto or other liquor (optional)

1 large egg white

50g castor sugar

Handful of amaretti biscuits- to garnish

White or/and dark chocolate shavings- to garnish

• Warm 150ml of cream in a small pan on a low heat. When boiled take off the heat and add chocolate.

• Mix well together until chocolate melts. Leave aside to cool slightly.

• Add rest of cream and liqueur (if using). Whisk until thick. Liquor can be easily substituted with an amaretto syrup. It incorporates delicious, distinctive almond flavour and is 100% alcohol free.

• Whisk egg white until peaks. Add a table spoon of sugar at a time- keep whisking until all added

• Fold meringue into chocolate mixture and place in serving dishes.

• Put in the fridge until service. Garnish with crushed biscuits and chocolate shavings. Enjoy!

Traditional apple pie

Apple pie is another old-fashion, perfect tasting dessert or tea time treat, which we would like to share here.

Traditional apple pie showed up, in one form or another, since medieval ages. There is an English recipe that dates back to 1381. Although, without of a shadow of a doubt, apples cooked in pies pre-dates this by many 100's of years. Now almost every European country has its own variation of this British Classic and it’s also one of the most favourites in North America.

Without any doubt cinnamon-scented apple pie with golden melt-in-the-mouth pastry conquers hearts all over the world.

Here you will find out how to prepare this ultimate comfort food in easy way.

Ingredients:

400g short crust pastry

1.5 kg cooking apples (such as Bramley or Granny Smith)

100g sugar

25g butter

½ tsp cinnamon

• Peel, quarter and core apples. Cut them into small cubes

• Melt the butter in a pan. Add sugar, cinnamon, apples and a few tablespoons of water. Cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Keep stirring to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan.

• When the apples are soft and slightly mushy take the pan off the heat and leave to cool down

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Take half of the short crust pastry, roll out and line the tart tin. Trim the edges with a knife using the edge of the plate as your guide. Lightly prick the surface of the pastry with a fork.

• Fill with apple mixture. Add some diced, uncooked apples to give your pie more distinctive flavour and better look. When apples are peeled and especially when sliced, their attractive white colour will very quickly turn a 'not-so-attractive' brownish colour, so by adding some freshly cubed ones you will increase the presentation value of your pie. 

• Roll out the other half of the pastry and cover the apple filling.  Transfer the rolled out pastry to the top of the pie using the rolling pin. (First, lightly roll 50% or so of the flattened pastry over the rolling pin. Then support the rest with your hand and transfer it to top of the dish). Using both hands, 'crimp' the pastry round the edge of the pie to obtain an attractive finish. Finally lightly prick the pastry with a fork to allow the steam to come out during cooking and prevent the top going soggy.

• Brush with egg wash to give it a light brown colour when cooked. Sprinkle with sugar and bake in preheated oven for approx. 25 minutes. Enjoy!

TIPS:

-     Apple pie tastes delicious warm or cold. You can serve on its own or with custard, whipped cream or ice cream.

-       For more acidic and tangy flavour add a few drops of lemon juice to your apple mixture. It will also prevent apples from browning so quickly.

-       If you want to add shine and sparkle to your apple pie, thin 4 tablespoons of golden syrup with very hot water. When the pie is done, brush the thinned syrup over the top of the pastry. You can add granulated sugar or demerara sugar at this time. Return the pie to the oven for 2 to 3 minutes to let the glaze dry and set.

-      To check the doneness of the pie filling, insert a knife into the centre of the pie. If it meets with little or no resistance, the pie is done.
If the pie is not quite done but the top or edges are becoming too dark, loosely cover the top of the pie with aluminium foil to shield it from the heat.

-      When it is cooked, leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving to allow pie filling to set. Beware; apple pie can stay really hot for an hour or so. Ready apple pie can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days.

Lemon meringue pie

Lemon meringue pie is slightly forgotten English classic. It combines both sweet and tangy flavours and it’s simple and quick to prepare. Lemon flavoured custards, puddings and pies have been enjoyed since medieval times, but meringue was perfected in the 17th century. Lemon meringue pie, as it is known today, is a 19th century product.

This irresistible dessert can be served warm or cold. So if you haven’t tried it yet, you shouldn’t wait any longer…

 Ingredients:

1 prebaked Short crust pastry shell

For Filling:

2 lemons

40g corn flour

125g caster sugar

15g butter

2 egg yolks

For Meringue:

2 egg whites

100g caster sugar

½ tsp corn flour

1. Put the juice and rind of the lemons in a measuring jug. Add sugar and corn flour. Mix together into a paste.

2. Add enough water to make up to 300 ml.

3. Pour this liquid into a small pan and cook gently on low heat until mixture thickens.

4. Remove from the heat. Add butter and beat in egg yolks. 

5. Pour the mixture into pastry shell and leave to cool.

 

6. Whisk egg whites with electric whisk until stiff, add half of the sugar and whisk again. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and gently mix in.

7. Spoon the meringue over lemon filling. Using a knife pull out delicate spikes.

8. Place in preheated oven and bake in 180C for about 10 minutes until meringue is golden brown. Enjoy!

Shortcrust pastry

Shortcrust pastry is the easiest type of pastry to make. It's also very versatile as it readily incorporates other flavourings. It can be used for sweet or savoury pies and tarts, pasties and other pastry parcels. Regular shortcrust pastry is made of ½ fat: 1 flour ratio and bound with water but for a richer version the water is replaced with egg. Perfect home-made pastry is quick and easy to prepare and it’s light and crusty.

Ingredients

200g plain flour

100g margarine

Pinch of salt

3 Tbsp water

1. Sift the flour and salt into large mixing bowl.
2. Rub the margarine into the flour Rub until the mixture gains sandy texture. At this stage it should resemble fine breadcrumbs. Try working as quick as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm.
3. Make a well in the centre. Slowly add water to the mixture and stir until dough is formed.
4. Cover with cling film and put to rest in the fridge for about 15-30 minutes.

Tips:

Shortcrust, puff pastry and their relatives need to be kept cool for best results. This means chilling the ingredients and the utensils before making the pastry, and working on a cool surface - marble is ideal. Traditionally, pastry was made first thing in the morning, before the kitchen had a chance to get hot.

Also for this reason pastry needs to be mixed quickly. This helps keep it cool but also minimises development of the flour's gluten content, otherwise the pastry may become too elastic, difficult to roll, inclined to shrink, and tough in texture. Too much handling can also make the fat soft and the finished pastry greasy.

You can use a food processor while making shortcrust pastry. It can be an advantage as it can help minimise handling. However it is important not to let the machine overwork the pastry – it will result in hard, dry pastry - a common fault in pastry making.

Chilling the dough in the fridge helps relax the gluten and set the fat, making the dough manageable and less likely to shrink. Raw shortcrust can be kept wrapped in cling film in the fridge for two or three days before rolling and baking. It can also be frozen for up to three months.

Sweet and sour sauce with chicken

Chinese food has become increasingly popular around the world.  It’s considered healthy, because is rich in vegetables and low in greasy. It combines also the proteins of meats with the plant fibres of vegetables and the starch of rice. And if you mention Chinese cuisine it’s impossible to omit most famous and popular dish- Sweet and Sour.

Sweet and sour is a term that covers many styles of sauce and cooking methods. It stereotypically linked with traditional Chinese cuisine, but its popular Westernised version is actually slightly different in preparation methods than original Cantonese sweet and sour.

Western cultures use sweet and sour sauce in two different ways. Dishes can either include the sauce as an ingredient in cooking or use the sauce as a pour-over or dipping sauce for the meal. In China traditionally the sauces are made from mixing sugar or honey with a sour liquid such as rice vinegar, soy sauce, and spices such as ginger and cloves. Sometimes a paste made from tomatoes is used but this is rare and normally restricted to western cooking.

Also Chinese cuisine usually ties certain sauces to particular kind of meat, while Western sweet and sour is served with variety of battered and deep-fried meats, sea food or stir-fry vegetables.

Common in Western sweet and sour sauce is the addition of fruits such as pineapple and vegetables such as sweet pepper, carrots and onions.

Some people find combining sweet and savoury foods together a little strange for their palettes, however the dish has so many fans that I think you should try it at least once to judge if it suits your taste… Here is the easy way to prepare it at home.

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

2 medium sized tomatoes- skinned, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper- skinned and chopped

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp honey

1 ½ Tbsp malt vinegar

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt – to taste

Optional ingredients:

1 small onion- finely sliced

1 small bell pepper- diced

1 carrot- peeled and sliced

¼ fresh pineapple or 3 pineapple slices- diced

Oil for frying

500 g diced chicken thighs or breast

For batter:

240g soft flour

Pinch salt

30 ml vinegar

280 ml water

20g baking powder

Pinch of turmeric powder- optional

Pinch of Chinese 5 spice powder- optional

Oil for frying

1. Skin tomatoes and peppers using hot water. (Place the whole, fresh tomatoes into a bowl. Cover with boiling water. Set aside for 30-60 seconds, or until the skins have split. Remove the tomatoes from the water using a fork. When they're cool enough to handle, peel off the skins.) Remove the core and cut into small chunks.

2. Place the tomatoes and peppers in a pan. Add enough water to cover the vegetables and shimmer on a low heat until the vegetables are mushy and sauce gains creamy consistency. Add butter to give the sauce a nice glaze. You can add more water if you don’t want the sauce to be too thick. It all depends on personal preference.

3. Take the pan off the heat, add honey, vinegar, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well together. Your sauce is ready at this point.

Honey obviously gives the sweet taste to the sauce, whilst the "sour" is achieved by adding vinegar, and in the more authentic recipes, rice vinegar is used. There's nothing wrong with varying the quantities of honey and/or vinegar in the recipe to either increase or reduce the sweetness of the sauce. You can mix those ingredients in ratio that suits your taste buds best. You can also use vegetarian Worcestershire sauce if you want to make sure your sauce is 100% vegetarian. 

4. Prepare batter for the chicken. Mix sifted flour, salt and vinegar together. Gradually add cold water whisking well. When the batter is smooth add baking powder and mix well. You can add a pinch of turmeric powder as natural yellow colouring to add golden tint to your batter. If you wish to incorporate more flavours into your chicken also add Chinese 5 spice powder. 

5. Heat up the oil to 180C using deep fryer or heavy based pan. Dip the diced chicken in prepared batter and mix well. Deep fry in the hot oil until batter turns golden brown  and chicken is fully cooked inside. Remove  from fryer and drain well on kitchen paper.  

6. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in heavy based frying pan or wok. Add onions and other vegetables and fry for a few minutes until carrot and pineapple are tender. 
Pour prepared earlier sweet and sour sauce over the vegetables and stir together. When ready pour reheated sauce over the chicken. Serve warm with rice. Enjoy!

Tips:

You can create as many varieties of this dish as you want. Instead of chicken you can use any type of meat or fish or just stick to vegetarian stir-fry.

Using vegetables in Step 6 is optional. You can adjust the ingredients to your personal taste. If you don’t like battered chicken you can fry it instead with the vegetables and cover with sweet and sour sauce for a nice glaze.

You can also use your sweet and sour sauce base as a dip for popular Chinese starters or other dishes.

Egg fried rice

Fried rice is a popular component of Asian cuisine. It’s a staple of all Chinese restaurants in the West.  It is made from steamed rice stir-fried in a wok. Although Westerners usually know it to be a side dish, it can comfortably serve as dinner itself, especially after adding in a few extra vegetables, some chopped up meat or seafood.

The opinion is that egg fried rice should be made with long grain rice, such as basmati or jasmine- which is slightly stickier than most varieties.

You can also spice it up to fit your needs and match different sauce, which is leading to countless variations of fried rice. But whatever recipe you follow it’s always fragrant, tasty and easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

1 cup long-grained rice

2 eggs

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Salt to taste

Oil & butter- for frying

1. First wash the rice carefully to remove the starch so that the grains remain separated after cooking. Boil off the rice as normal in a pot or pressure cooker. For home needs leftover rice is commonly used.
2. The golden rule of stir-frying rice successfully is to always make sure the cooked rice is absolutely cold. So if you using freshly steamed rice make sure it’s cooled beforehand to prevent the grains from sticking together while frying. Spread out the rice in a large baking tray, cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C and slowly reheat cold rice to room-temperature. This process will dry it up and will give it grainy, crispy texture, so the rice won’t be too oily and sticky after frying.
4. Meanwhile beat the egg in a small mixing bowl and put aside. Heat the oil and butter in a wok or large frying pan.  Make sure that the wok is very hot when the rice hits it. When it's shimmering and almost smoking lower the heat and add the rice. Stir-fry turning the rice constantly around the pan, for about 3-4 minutes until completely heated through.
5. Pour the beaten egg mixture to the rice and stir it all together so the egg is absorbed by the rice. If you prefer, you can lightly scramble the egg first by pouring it into one side of the pan and leaving for about 10 seconds so it begins to set. Using a wooden spoon, briskly swirl around the egg to break it up and then toss around with the rice.
6. Season the rice well with soy sauce and Worcester sauce. Stir-fry for a further minute to absorb flavours and serve straight away. Enjoy!

TIPS:

• If you like your rice more crispy keep stir-frying it on a high heat until it smells good and is beginning to get nice little brown crunchy bits.
• There are countless variations of egg fried rice. Most popular is enriched with peas and spring onions, but also bean sprouts, peppers, carrots, green beans or chopped cabbage. For non vegetarian version use chopped up meat, shrimps or favourite seafood. Use vinegar to give a slightly sour taste to the rice or Chinese five-spice for sweeter twist. You can also use lemon juice
• You can also Indianise the rice to compliment your favourite curry.  Fry some ginger and garlic in hot oil before adding the rice. For spicy version add chopped green chillies, for lovely yellow colour- add turmeric- natural food colouring. You can also garnish your rice with garam masala, capsicum and fresh coriander.