Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Love her or loathe her, Nigella Lawson's cookery books and TV shows always provide me with at least a couple of dishes that I end up making time and time again. In her latest book, Nigellissima, my new fail-safe recipe is a flour and butter-free chocolate cake. The flour is replaced with ground almonds and the butter with olive oil and I originally made this to try out for my friend Steph who has recently discovered she is gluten intollerant. I've since made it three times as it's bloody good.

The edges end up a little crusty and crumbly and the centre is really delicious, rich and moist - more like a pudding than a cut and keep cake, yet it lasts for up to a week and remains just as moist for that long.

150ml regular olive oil

50g good quality cocoa (I use Green & Black's)

125ml boiling water

2 tsp vanilla extract

150g ground almonds

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of sal

200g caster sugar

3 eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and grease and line a 23cm spring form tin.

Sift the cocoa into a small bowl and whisk in the boiling water till you have a smooth, chocolatey paste that's still slightly runny. Whisk in the vanilla extract and set aside to cool a little.

In a different bowl combine the ground almonds with the bicarb and salt.

(Nigella advises using a an electric mixer for this next step but I don't have such a luxury and so stick to the old fashioned method). Beat together the eggs, sugar and olive oil vigourously for about five minutes until you are left with a pale, aerated and thickened mixture.

Continue beating and slowly add the chocolate paste until it's all mixed in then finally fold in the almond mixture until all combined.

Pour into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes. A knife or skewer should come out mostly clean, with the odd sticky crumb.

Allow to cool a little before turning out of the tin and then sift over a tiny bit of icing sugar if you fancy.

As I said this is a really lovely, rich yet moist cake, but as with all baked things, can be greatly improved with a big dollop of cream. Enjoy!

Bread and Butter Pudding

This is a recipe from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery - my Mum's oldest recipe book, an absolute relic that was a gift to her from my lovely Great Nan, or as she was known to me Nanny Bridge (for Bridget).

It is a basic recipe that anyone can make and is a great way of using up old bread and making a classic, stodgy British pudding - perfect for today, St George's Day.

6 slices of white bread

50g butter

50g mixed fruit

100g caster sugar

Pinch of mixed spice

2 large eggs

1 pt milk

Cut off the crusts from the bread and spread both sides of each slice with butter, generously and then cut into triangles.

Put a layer of the bread on the bottom of a greased, oven-proof dish and sprinkle with some of the mixed fruit and sugar and a little sprinkling of mixed spice. Then repeat the process until you have used up all of the bread.

Beat the eggs and milk together and then strain over the bread and leave to stand for about an hour.

Place into a pre-heated oven at around 180 degrees and bake for around 45 minutes, or until the pudding is set and golden brown.

Serve with custard, cream or ice cream for a classic pudding.

Chicken Kiev

The chicken kiev has been having a bit of a moment recently and when Felicity Cloake wrote about making the 'perfect' method recently on the Guardian Word of Mouth Blog, I decided to give it a go myself. Taking tips from this piece and my brother Daniel who makes them regularly, I had a bash and the result was lovely. Sadly some of the glorious garlic butter managed to escape despite by best efforts, so if anybody has any tips on keeping it in please do share them!

4 chicken breasts

100g butter, softened

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Bunch of chopped parsley

2 eggs

100g plain flour

3 slices of white bread blitzed into breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Firstly in a bowl mix the butter, garlic and parsley till combined and then pop into the freezer.

Get three bowls at the ready - pop the flour and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper into one, the breadcrumbs into another and in the third beat the two eggs.

Use a mallet or a rolling pin to bash the chicken breasts until they're all a similar thickness to make sure they cook at the same speed.

With a sharp knife make an incision into the side of each breast. To keep the meat as moist as possible, I tried to make the little pocket almost as long as the breast, keeping about a 1cm border from the edge. Then take the garlic butter from the freezer and use a teaspoon to cram in as much as possible into the pocket. Press firmly shut and squeeze to try and stop that butter escaping during cooking.

Firstly coat the chicken in the seasoned flour until fully coated, then do the same in the beaten egg. Finally coat in the breadcrumbs.

Heat a smidge of butter in a pan and once hot place the chicken into the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until nicely browned and then transfer to an oven-proof dish and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through and then serve with your choice of accompaniments - for me this will always be chips!

Monte Carlos Biscuits

A couple of years back the kind people at Octopus Publishing Group sent me a copy of the Australian Women's Weekly magazines' book 'The Cake Stall, a fantastic collection of baking recipes including the traditional alongside Australian classics such as Lamingtons and Anzac Biscuits.

I wanted to share this recipe for Monte Carlos - a delicious jam and cream biscuit sandwich that is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. The recipe makes between 20-30 biscuits depending on how big you make them - I prefer them on the large side!

185g unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

110g light brown sugar

185g self raising flour

110g plain flour

40g dessicated coconut

160g strawberry or raspberry jam

Cream Filling:

60g unsalted butter

120g icing sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp milk

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a couple of baking trays.

Beat butter, vanilla extract and sugar in a small bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat in until combined. Stir in sifted flours and coconut.

Shape a level teaspoon of the dough into oval shapes and place onto the baking trays about 4cm apart and then flatten out a little with a fork.

Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes.

Once biscuits are cooled, make the cream filling by mixing together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and milk.

On half of the biscuits spread on 1/2 tsp of the jam and on the other half 1/2 tsp of the cream filling and then gently press together.

Sticky, Saucy Baby Back Ribs

Overnight marinated ribs are one of the most moreish and delicious dishes and can be served with a variety of accompaniments to make an incredibly satisfying meal. The marinade uses only store cupboard essentials, so it's also a cheap supper and when I made it here it was a frugal part of the month just before pay day so I served it with a little rice and some frozen mixed veg. One rack is enough for two people and this marinade is enough for a couple of racks (you can always freeze one in the marinade ready for next time).
1 rack of baby back ribs
Tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp honey
2 chillies, sliced with the seeds left in
3 cloves garlic sliced finely
2 tbsp chipotle paste (can be bought in most supermarkets now)
Generous pinch of salt and pepper

Here's how:
Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and then completely immerse the ribs in the sauce, ensuring every part is covered so the flavours permeate the meat. Cover with foil and then place in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.
Pre-heat the oven to about 160-170 degrees and once up to heat slow-roast the ribs for 1.5-2 hours depending on the size of them.
To crisp up the edges remove the foil for the last twenty minutes of cooking.
Spoon out the remaining sauce in the dish and drizzle over the ribs when serving - it's too good to waste.

A London Lunch No.8: Rare Str'eat Burgito, Borough Market

For the past eight months I’ve been working within skipping distance of Borough Market and have enjoyed a flurry of fantastic lunchtime eats.

A new favourite is the fantastic Burgito, from Rare Str-eat, a new company that describes itself as ‘gourmet food on the go’. If the burgito is anything to go by, they have achieved just that.

With an approach championing high quality ingredients, combined with a fun take on British food, the burgito is as it sounds, a combination of a burger and a burrito – two wonderful things.  

Piled onto a tortilla wrap sits three delicious burger patties made with rare-breed Galloway beef, a little green leaf salad, a homemade, tangy and warm tomato relish, various pickled gherkin and the ingenious addition of Comte cheese (surely one of the finest things in life). Fried, sweet caramelised onions and a slathering of sweet mustard complete this concoction before it is rolled up to make the ‘ito’ part of this dish.

To say it is good would be an understatement. Not only is this a clever take on two food items that London seems to be obsessive about at the moment, but it is delivered so well, and with such friendly service. I predict Rare Str’eat will be around for some time.

Located in the ‘Green Market’ area of Borough Market, you can pick up a Rare Str’eat burgito for a mere £5.00.

L'Anima

L’Anima is one of those seriously slick operations that everybody should try once. 

Francesco Mazzei’s menu, a modern twist on classic Italian, is alone, enough to guarantee your return. Combined with the stylish interior, top-notch service and piano lounge with regular live singers it’s not hard to see why this place always seems busy.

I visited recently with the boy on a Saturday evening, it was freezing cold and we didn’t fancy heading out too far and after a Google search or two, I discovered L’Anima’s ‘Prezzo Fisso’ set menu, £35 for three courses, we were sold.

Located just behind Liverpool Street station in the heart of the square mile, L’Anima is a huge glass fronted building, and considering its city location, it had a serious buzz for a weekend.

We ordered a bottle of the house Champagne (£60) and mulled over our choices. A basket of fresh, Italian bread was delivered, a few types included, all delicious, but none more so than a gloriously salty rosemary scented focaccia.

The set menu we chose from had just three options per course, which made for easier decision-making. 

Glen ordered the Seafood Spaghetti starter option whilst I opted for the Smoked Veal Carpaccio. The spaghetti was in a light tomato sauce with a strong and fiery chilli flavour and amongst the sea creatures included, were clams, mussels and the odd prawn. The portion was perfectly sized for a first course and it really packed a punch. It was the kind of starter that leaves you wanting more. 

The veal carpaccio was equally good. When I have enjoyed beef or fish carpaccio previously, the slices of flesh have been cut far thinner, however this chunkier version was simply delicious, the meat melted in the mouth and was expertly seasoned. With slithers of chestnuts and parmesan topping the dish and a few dark leaves, this was a gorgeous plate of food in every sense of the word.

For the main event, I opted for the Monkfish Gauzetto – basically a piece of monkfish stewed in a tomato, olive and caper sauce which was divine. If I were being incredibly picky, I might have preferred the fish cooked slightly less, but it didn’t really impact on the flavour, it was a dish I would return for with sublime flavours. Quite a strong garlic hum powered the stew, and it is once again, a dish I will be trying to emulate in my own kitchen (perhaps with chicken thighs, or pork cheeks). 

Glen chose the three meat cannelloni, which was a beautifully presented plate. Served on slate, was a slathering of rich, tomato sauce, topped with a creamy cheese sauce and completed with three tubes of fresh pasta filled with a delicious combination of meats. We never did get to the bottom of which meats were included, and as this was a fairly small portion for Glen, I was only allowed a small bite – however I would hazard a guess at pork, beef and rabbit (no horsemeat here). This was yet another fantastic, faultless dish. 

We also had a couple of sides to make up the meal a little, some roasted potatoes with peppers and char grilled vegetables – both good.  

For my dessert I had a vanilla panna cotta, which was soaked in grappa and sprinkled with pomegranate jewels – very pretty to look at, and a lovely refreshing pudding.

The absolute dish of the day though, without fail, had to be Glen’s Monte Bianco – this was quite frankly a triumph. Stunning to look at, and even better to taste, the meringue of pureed chestnuts was in a little structure, held together by fresh cream, and positioned in some rich, dark and utterly irresistible chocolate sauce. Chocolate nibs were scattered around the plate, and a scoop of chestnut ice cream was positioned with two little caramel balls of deliciousness. This was just marvellous, in every way. 

L’Anima’s Menu Prezzo Fisso to me, represents fine-dining at a much more affordable price. The evening we had set us back around the £160 mark, but we enjoyed three amazing courses each, a bottle of Champagne and a live soul singer to boot, in stylish surroundings, what more could a girl want on a Saturday night?