Bubble and Squeak (no mice were harmed in the making of this breakfast)

Anyone would think my family subsists on mashed potato* - well not quite - although we are rather partial to it.  Invariably we always have leftover mash so I am always working out ways to use the leftovers the following day as part of my OCD-can't-throw-food-away personality.  We're also partial to good breakfast/brunch grub.  In fact one of the big things we miss about living in the US is a good diner breakfast.  Home fries, nice runny egg (sunny-side up of course!) and crispy bacon...or eggs benedict.  Yum.  I'm hungry just thinking about it.  All in all it means that if we have time breakfast can become a big deal in our house.

Saturday I was in cleaning mode and had my eyes on the fridge that really needed a deep-clean (q-tips at the ready people!).  In order to get the job done I was trying to empty the fridge as much as possible.  I was looking at leftover mash, white cabbage, bacon and eggs.  No thinking required, Bubble and Squeak seemed obvious.

I'm not quite sure of the origins of Bubble and Squeak but as far as I can tell its a pretty traditional British dish that involves mashing/mixing all your leftovers together and frying them up.  Most people go for the mash/cabbage mix (certainly my folks do) so it seemed like a logical choice.

The recipe - Bubble and Squeak

1 cup mashed potato

1 cup cooked cabbage, finely shredded (I used white but equally you could use spring greens etc)

2 rashers of bacon, cooked and finely chopped

1 tsp onion powder (alternatively use 1 small onion, I had none though - extremely unlike me!)

4 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped (I grew a ton so I've been trying to use it a lot - I feel so smug)

salt and pepper, a good grind of each (tee hee, grind)

1 egg

butter for cooking

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. If you do not already have cooked cabbage start by cooking the cabbage.  In a saucepan heat a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of water until the butter is melted (I recently learnt this trick - it apparently emulsifies and coats the cabbage to give it tons of flavour - it does and I could happily eat just a bowl of cabbage cooked this way).  Put the shredded cabbage in the pan and cook until wilted.

3. In a large bowl, put the mashed potato, cabbage, bacon, onion powder, basil, salt and pepper and mash it all together with a fork until the ingredients are well combined.

4. Butter a small oven-proof frying pan and warm over a medium heat.  Mash the mix into the frying pan and press firmly down.  Then cook over the medium heat until the edges start to brown (about 5mins).  Dot butter all over the top and put the pan in the oven for 10mins.

5. In the interim, in a separate frying pan fry the egg sunny-side up until the white is cooked.  Unless you really don't like a runny egg please please please put a runny egg on top!

6. You may want to put the Bubble and Squeak under the grill to get the top nice and brown if it hasn't browned enough.  Ease the Bubble and Squeak out of the pan and serve with the egg on top!

Tuck in!

The recipe above serves 1/2 people depending on whom you're cooking for or if you do anything else with it.  Hubster wanted it all for himself so this served 1...equally we could have served half each with some sausages or beans (Heinz of course!).  Whatever you fancy.

*For example, the uber yummy sausage cakes.

Pasteis de Nata (or for those of us who don't speak Portuguese, Custard Tarts)

So it was my Mama's birthday and she had decided to have a very very little party with a buffet dinner.  I of course didn't offer to bake, I simply (a) assumed that I'd be helping anyway; and (b) took it as red that I would be baking something so cut-to-the-chase and asked "what" she wanted me to bake and not "if".  She started off pretty vague so I thought "ok I've not done a chocolate cake, so I'll do a chocolate cake" and then she told me that her friend who makes an amazing chocolate cake was coming too.  I figured that even if she wasn't bringing cake, I just couldn't put a first attempt in front of her (not yet anyway).  Back to the drawing board.

My mum (as I have said before) is a pretty picky eater and I've so far nailed 2 desserts I know she loved - the Lemon Meringue Pie and the Creme Caramel - but felt kinda inspirationless.  Not good.  I said she started off vague when I first asked so I asked again but at a better creative-juices-type-moment (we were in Paris for a couple of days - me, hubster, Pose and my folks - and I was hoping Paris might give her some inspiration).  This time she completely threw me.  I was expecting maybe some type of cake, or little mousse-type-cakey-thing or even some sort of patisserie.  But no.  She turned around and said "Portuguese Custard Tarts".  RANDOM?! 

But.  Her birthday.  Her choice.  I agreed.

Now I'm not a massive fan of regular custard tarts so I've never made them.  I certainly had no idea what the difference is between regular English custard tarts and their Portuguese cousins.  So I had to do some investigating. 

I googled "Portuguese custard tarts" and promptly came up with a recipe on The Telegraph's website and figured "its the Telegraph its got to have done its homework right?".  Well.  Judging by the comments on the recipe from one particular lady, no.  The suggested recipe was apparently practically blasphemous - the custard all sorts of wrong and the puff pastry a big fat NONO!  I decided to leave it.  I then ran through a couple of other recipes that had come up in the search and all of them used puff pastry.  Bad start.

The search had however given me the actual Portuguese name for the tarts so I did another google search for "Pasteis de Nata".  This time we had better success.  I toyed with searching for Portuguese language recipes and then translating them using google translate but they just didn't translate well (and my Portuguese is right up there with my Spanish.  Crap).  And then suddenly a ray of sunshine hit my computer and highlighted this little gem...

The recipe - Pasteis de Nata courtesy of David Leite's website Leite's Culinaria (plus, of course, my commentary!)

For the dough:

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¾ cup plus two tablespoons water

16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, stirred until smooth

For the custard:

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 ¼ cups milk, divided

1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar

1 cinnamon stick

⅔ cup water

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (homemade!)

6 large egg yolks, whisked

Powdered sugar and Cinnamon for dusting

1. Start by making the dough. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour, salt, and water until a soft, pillowy dough forms that cleans the side of the bowl, about 30 seconds.

2. Generously flour a work surface and pat the dough into a 6-inch square using a pastry scraper (I personally don't have a pastry scraper and coped fairly well) as a guide. Flour the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 15 minutes. 

3. Roll the dough into an 18-inch square (I struggled with this - I simply don't have the counterspace! - worked out ok though, nothing dramatic happened). As you work, use the scraper to lift the dough to make sure the underside isn’t sticking.

Yes I mastered shapes in school, and YES I KNOW that's not a square...

4. Brush excess flour off the top, trim any uneven edges, and using a small offset spatula dot and then spread the left two-thirds of the dough with a little less than one-third of the butter to within 1 inch of the edge (I started using a spatula but found it really difficult to spread the butter, so abandoned the spatula and just used a knife...worked much better).

5. Neatly fold over the unbuttered right third of the dough (using the pastry scraper to loosen it if it sticks), brush off any excess flour, then fold over the left third. Starting from the top, pat down the packet with your hand to release air bubbles, then pinch the edges closed. Brush off any excess flour.

6. Turn the dough packet 90 degrees to the left so the fold is facing you. Lift the packet and flour the work surface. Once again roll out to an 18-inch square, then dot and spread the left two-thirds of the dough with one-third of the butter, and fold the dough as in steps 4 and 5.

7. For the last rolling, turn the packet 90 degrees to the left and roll out the dough to an 18-by-21-inch rectangle (again a struggle on my kitchen counter but we survived), with the shorter side facing you. Spread the remaining butter over the entire surface.

8. Using the spatula as an aid, lift the edge closest to you and roll the dough away from you into a tight log, brushing the excess flour from the underside as you go. Trim the ends and cut the log in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or preferably overnight.

9. Then onto the custard. At this point I would also put the oven on, turning it up as hot as it can go. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and 1/4 cup of the milk until smooth. Set aside.

10. Bring the sugar, cinnamon, and water to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 220°F (100°C). Do not stir (I actually don't agree with this. I made a couple of batches of the custard to use up all the dough and with the second batch I went more the caramel route used in the Creme Caramel recipe steps 2 and 3. This worked much better).

11. Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, scald the remaining 1 cup milk. Whisk the hot milk into the flour mixture.

12. Remove the cinnamon stick then pour the sugar syrup in a thin stream into the hot milk-and-flour mixture, whisking briskly. Add the vanilla and stir for a minute until very warm but not hot. Whisk in the yolks (careful the mixture isn't too hot when you do this or the eggs will scramble. Thankfully we were fine), strain the mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside.

13. Now you can start assembling the pastries! Heat the oven to 550°F (290°C) (as I said up by step 9 I would actually put the oven on earlier than this mainly because most conventional ovens are unlikely to go this high, so whack it up to the max heat early on and try to get the oven super hot). Remove a pastry log from the refrigerator and roll it back and forth on a lightly floured surface until it’s about an inch in diameter and 16 inches long. Cut it into scant 3/4-inch pieces. Place a piece cut-side down in each well of a nonstick 12-cup mini-muffin pan (2-by-5/8-inch size). Allow the dough pieces to soften several minutes until pliable. 

14. Have a small cup of water nearby. Dip your thumbs into the water, then straight down into the middle of the dough spiral. Flatten it against the bottom of the cup to a thickness of about 1/8 inch, then smooth the dough up the sides and create a raised lip about 1/8 inch above the pan. The pastry sides should be thinner than the bottom (I did this for the first batch and the pastry was a little too thin I think, then for the second batch I used my pestle to start the process off - this made the process slightly easier and the pastries came out much better).

On our LEFT, batch no.1 and on our RIGHT, batch no.2 (much better right?)

15. Fill each cup 3/4 full with the slightly warm custard. Bake the pasteis until the edges of the dough are frilled and brown, about 8 to 9 minutes (don't expect the custard to brown much unless you have a super hot oven, apparently this is the secret to the browning).

16. Remove from the oven and allow the pasteis to cool a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack and cool until just warm. Sprinkle the pasteis generously with powdered sugar, then cinnamon and serve. Repeat with the remaining pastry and custard. If you prefer, the components can be refrigerated up to three days. The pastry can be frozen up to three months.

They tasted good to me but I have no point of reference since I've never eaten Pasteis de Nata. I have eaten English custard tarts though and these were much better (well anything's better, like I said, I don't like English custard tarts - too eggy). As for the party these went down phenomenally well. I was told that they brought back memories of Lisbon! I'd say that's a pretty damn good endorsement! 

My favourite endorsement though was from my little sister's boyfriend. I suddenly heard from the corner of the living room "Oh my god, this is delicious!" and looked over to see this 6ft guy perched on a toddler-sized-chair with a look of joy on his face. It was hilarious.

HOT cross buns, HOT cross buns, one a penny two a penny, HOT cross buns

So firstly, apologies galore.  I've not blogged in the last 2 weeks but that does not mean I haven't been busy in the kitchen.  I have.  But we went away for an Easter break so I have also been enjoying the cakey-bakey goodies that Paris has to offer.  In fact I rather overindulged in cheese, wine and patisserie!  We stayed in an apartment right on the edge of the 1st and 2nd Arrondissement that was literally a stone's throw from a market street filled with ice cream parlours, bakeries, butchers, wine shops, flower shops, bistros....it was an amazing location.  I'm hoping to take some inspiration from the trip so watch this space.

Saying that though.  Easter isn't complete without Hot Cross Buns, and whilst the Parisians lulled me into a food coma they didn't do Hot Cross Buns.  I however do!

I have a recipe folder filled with a ton of recipes that I have never tried.  I tear them out of magazines and file them away, never to attempt.  In fact one of the reasons I started writing the blog was to actually start making these recipes.  With the lead up to Easter the supermarkets, bakers and my mum start stocking up on the Hot Cross Buns.  I've spent a couple of weekends at the folks recently and have been loving toasted, butter smothered Hot Cross Buns for brekkie.  So, given my recent bread/dough successes I felt confident enough to give the Hot Cross Bun recipes a go.

I'm pretty certain this recipe is a Delia and certainly is seems pretty similar to the one listed on her website.

Now for this recipe I didn't have any mixed spice to hand but I did have a variety of spices in my spice/herb drawer so I searched around on t'net and made the mixed spice myself.

To make the mixed spice:
2 tbs ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

I didn't have ground cloves but had whole cloves so I started by grinding them in my trusty pestle and mortar.  Then I dumped everything else in and gave it all a good grind (wow, that sounds rather sordid.  Oh well).

Mixed Spice 

I made the recipe pretty much as directed except (as usual, I can't just stick to a recipe!) I didn't have any mixed peel and in all honesty I'm not a massive fan of my Hot Cross Bun being citrus-ey tasting.  

Ooh, frothy!

Here's a handy tip for working out what "hand-hot water is" (I mean, its not exactly a scientific statement is it??  What is lukewarm to me is hot to my little one!)  Anyway, go by this method - 1 part boiling water to 2 parts cold water.  Bosh - hand-hot water.

They smelled amazing when they were cooking.  Filled the whole house with a bready, spicy aroma.  Better than a Yankee Candle!

As you can see I didn't make the white crosses - I simply didn't have time to make shortcrust pastry as the recipe suggests. However, on the Delia website she suggests making the white crosses using "a flour and water paste made with 4 oz (110 g) plain flour and approximately 3 tablespoons water. Roll out thinly and divide into small strips, dampening them to seal" so I'd try that next time. Much simpler!

The best BEST way to serve them is cut in half, toasted and smothered in butter.  Bloody gorgeous!

I took them into work and they went down a treat.  One colleague ate 2...a second ate 3...he claimed he was doing me a favour.  Personally these are the best thing I've made yet.  I had one for breakfast all week and every time I opened the tub I got a waft of spicy goodness.  Yummers.

...eating her curds...

Was the wait just too hard to bear?  Did you cope?  I know, I know...not quite a True Blood-holding-your-breath style cliffhanger but you never know.  Maybe a broken tart crust leaves your heart pounding?

So where were we? 

I went to bed that night happy with my 6 pie crusts and awoke thinking that the pie crusts seemed incredibly fragile.  I therefore decided to leave them out to harden up a little (i.e. go a little stale).  It just seemed like the right thing to do. 

As I was getting ready to leave for work I was enjoying listening to the conversation between hubby and Pose.  They were discussing the pie crusts and being very cute.  And then I heard the words that never precede good news..."oops".  I peaked my head around the corner to be greeted with pie crust carnage.  ANOTHER TART WAS BROKEN.  I asked why and was given my husband's cute-I'm-trying-to-get-out-of-jail-free-smile (I got no answer to the "why?" but have assumed he was trying to break a little bit off just to get a taste and well, you know the rest).  I just put my face in my hands and explained that I was already down 2 and this now put me in negative equity.  He offered to make more and I really had no choice so let him get on with it, grudgingly thanking him.

Evidently, he is not a pastry chef (but I love that he offered to try to fix it).

Sunday morning rolled around and I was at my mother's bright and early preparing the Mothering Sunday lunch of Coq au Vin (containing 1 entire bottle of very nice red plonk - my father (who does a great hangover fry-up but isn't exactly renowned for his culinary skills) tried to stop me putting in the 725ml called for by the recipe and claimed my mother only puts about a cup in.  I said the recipe I was using was HER recipe given to me about 9yrs ago.  He said ok, but that a bottle is 750mls so I should just pour the lot in...um, ok dad...).  Once that was all settled into the slow cooker I set my mind to completing the LMP (remember Lemon Meringue Pie*).  So next step, lemon curd (see what I did there?  Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet eating her curds...?  No...?  Killjoy).

The recipe - LMP courtesy of the New York Times Cook Book (1961 edition!)

Part 2, the lemon curd

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour (I used plain)
3 tbsp cornstarch (I used cornflour - I'm not sure if there's a difference?)
2 cups water
3 eggs, separated (save the whites for the meringue topping)
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup lemon juice (this is roughly the juice of 1 lemon)
grated rind of 1 lemon

1. Combine the sugar, salt, flour and cornstarch and gradually stir in the water.  Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. 

I should point out here that the recipe isn't particularly detailed on how to "cook" so I basically put the ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat and stirred using a whisk.  You need to be patient though, it takes its time thickening.

2. Gradually stir hot mixture into beaten egg yolks, return to low heat and cook, stirring, two minutes.  Stir in butter, lemon juice and rind and cool slightly.  Pour into baked pastry shell and cool.

Again, not much detail.  Personally after step 1 I put the pan to one side to cool (away from the heat) and then set to beating the yolks, zesting and juicing the lemon.  By the time you are finished (unless you are "Supercook" - faster than a speeding Kitchenaid!!) the hot mixture should be about cool enough to mix in the cold mixture.  Just be wary.  I remember an episode of Masterchef The Professionals where they set the "professionals" the task of making lemon curd and the majority of them created lemony scrambled eggs.  I succeeded where they failed - hurrah!!

Once the mixture begins to cool it goes quite gloopy so you will need to give it a quick whisk.  I then spooned the curd into the pie crusts (and some additional crusts I had quickly made with some ready-to-roll pastry my mum had in the fridge) and returned to the Coq au Vin whilst the pie's cooled.

Of course you could stop here and let them set to have lemon tart instead.  My family took some of the pastry off-cuts and dipped it into the remaining lemon curd as a sort of appetiser (I guess?) and seemed very taken with the curd.  It even got my Nan's seal of approval.  Although it didn't help with her regular afternoon bout of heartburn...

You might notice this post's distinctive lack of pictures.  I take all my baking pictures on my iPhone (its just more handy than my good camera to be honest) and it just so happened that this particular Sunday my mother, my brother and I all had dead iPhones.  It being Mother's Day (i) I had to wait for my mother to get up to find the charger, and (ii) ranking in order of seniority (read "age" but shhh don't tell her I said that), I had to wait for my mother to charge her iPhone.  You'll have to wait for the next post to see pictures.  

...to be continued**...

* My nurse friend advises me that LMP stands for something entirely different and not dinner-time-talk.  Oops.

** Oooh another cliffhanger!! Well I did say it would be a saga.