Posts Tagged ‘cooking’

Two Media Mentions In The Guardian

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Steenbergs was mentioned two articles this weekend in The Guardian which was most kind of the two authors – Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Yotam Ottolenghi – so thank you both. 

Both talk about Steenbergs spices within their recipe ideas, so if you are looking for what to do with cardamom or how to use za’atar they give some excellent recipes.  I think the Savoury Aubergine Cheesecake (Eggplant Cheesecake) sounds amazing and I will have a crack at that soon.

Here are the links:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/06/cardamom-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/06/aubergine-cheesecake-vegetarian-recipe-ottolenghi

Recipe For Granny Salad Or Cucumber Salad

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Following on from the recipe for Yorkshire Salad, my mum makes a wonderfully refreshing cucumber salad, which has a similar sweet and sour flavour.  It’s lovely in the summer for al fresco dining and great with fish all your around.

Ingredients for Cucumber Salad

Ingredients for Cucumber Salad

What you will need:

1tsp caster sugar
1tsp warm water
3tbsp cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 – 4 spring onions, chopped finely
½ tsp sea salt
2tsp dill herb (fresh)
Half cucumber

Firstly, peel the skin off the cucumber and then slice very finely into thin rounds of fresh cucumber.  Place these on a plate so that you can see the tops of all the slices of cucumber, then sprinkle over some sea salt and leave.

Now make the sweetened vinegar, by first dissolving the sugar in warm water and then adding this to the cider vinegar.  Stir it up thoroughly. 

Chop the dill herb up finely and then the spring onions.

Sprinkle the vinegar over the cucumber slices, then sprinkle the chopped spring onion over this, followed by the dill weed.

Cucumber And Dill Salad

Cucumber And Dill Salad

Serve immediately.

Recipe For Yorkshire Salad

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

We have been discussing the ins and outs of Yorkshire Salad, and some of the different variations, including a very similar recipe called Granny Salad which Sandra (one of our amazing spice packers) was handed down from her Granny in Devon.  Sadie – who does all our labels and web site photos – prefers it without onions but says that it definitely wouldn’t be Yorkshire Pudding without an accompanying Yorkshire Salad made by her mum.

Yorkshire Salad

Yorkshire Salad

You will need:

1tsp caster sugar
1tsp warm water
3tbsp cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 – 4 spring onions, chopped finely
8-10 fresh spearmint leaves, chopped finely
A green leaf lettuce (not an iceberg), shredded

Ingredients for Yorkshire Salad

Ingredients for Yorkshire Salad

Onions and Mint

Onions and Mint for Yorkshire Salad

Chop all the salad ingredients and place in a salad bowl or other bowl; I have given some flex in the ingredients as you should really just go with what you feel – I like it quite minty and without too much onion.  Make the dressing by adding a bit of warm water to dissolve the sugar in, then add the cider vinegar to this.  Adjust until you are happy with the sweetness – basically it’s sweet and sour, so not too sweet and not too sour.  Chuck in the dressing and mix well.

You can serve it not only with Yorkshire pudding, but with other salads, or it goes really well with fish, especially smoked fish.

How do you make yours?

Recipe for Vanilla Fudge and Coconut Ice

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Fudge and coconut ice

I know this is really quite pathetic but I have only just cracked how to make fudge in the last year.  It always seemed to burn every time I tried to make it – the problem is that most recipes don’t give the mixture long enough for the sugar to be transformed into fudge.  I would then always turn the heat up too high and it would stick to the bottom and start burning, or turning the sugar to toffee and then burn.

Vanilla fudge 

450g    Caster sugar (organic & Fairtrade)
50g      Unsalted butter, diced
170g    Can evapourated milk
150ml   Full fat milk
½ tsp    Organic Fairtrade vanilla extract (Steenbergs is of course the best!?)

  1. Lightly oil a shallow non-stick baking tray – about 18cm.
  2. Gently heat the sugar, butter and milks in a metal saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon until all the sugar has dissolved.
  3. Bring to the boil and bubble away gently, stirring continuously (and I mean all the time with no breaks) for 25 – 30 minutes.
  4. When the mixture reaches the soft ball stage or 116oC, remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract.
  5. Beat until the mixture becomes thick and pale in colour, then pour into the baking tray and leave to cool.  When cold cut into 2.5cm squares.
  6. For a variation, you could stir in 150g of organic chocolate rather than the vanilla extract, for a rich dark chocolate fudge.   

Coconut ice

397g    Can of sweetened condensed milk
500g    Icing sugar, sieved
350g    Desiccated coconut (organic if possible)
Few drops of red/pink food colouring (optional)

  1. Line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the condensed milk and the sieved icing sugar, then stir in the desiccated coconut.
  3. Now divide the mixture into 2.  Put the first half into the prepared cake tin and press it into all the edges.
  4. Add the food colouring to the second half of coconut mixture and knead until the colour is evenly through.  Put this into the tin on top of the white layer and spread out. 
  5. Leave to set in a cool place, then cut it out into 1-2 cm squares.

Recipe – Pancakes Stuffed With Mixed Mushrooms In A Cheese Sauce

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Following on from making pancakes per Sunday’s post, we used the 8 pancakes, or crêpes, that this made by stuffing them with a mushroom filling, covering them in a cheese sauce and baking them in the oven.  This is how we made it. 

Selection Of Mushrooms - Chanterelle, Shiitake and Chestnut

Selection Of Mushrooms - Chanterelle, Shiitake and Chestnut

How to make the mixed mushroom stuffing

75g / 3oz butter
1tbsp sunflower oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
500g / 1lb mushrooms, wiped, stalks removed and chopped
25g / 1oz fresh breadcrumbs
Pinch of mutmeg powder
Pinch of paprika
Pinch of ground white pepper
1tbsp chopped fesh parsley
1tbsp crème fraiche

You can use any mushrooms for the mushrooms.  I actually used 100g of shiitake, 100g of chanterelle and 300g of chestnut mushrooms for an extra woody and earthy flavour.  Champignons from the shops can be a bit flavourless.

Melt the butter and heat the oil together in a saucepan and then add the finely chopped onion and garlic.  I whizzed them up quickly in a food processor.  Cook these gently until translucent which will take about 5 minutes.

Now add the chopped mushrooms and fry at a high heat until cooked through but not burnt.  Stir in the breadcrumbs, add the seasoning and the crème fraiche together with the chopped parsley.

To stuff the pancakes, put about 1 tablespoon of the mixed mushrooms in the centre of the pancakes and then spread along its length and about 3cm wide.  Now fold over half the pancake and roll up the pancake.  Place the stuffed pancake in a baking tray.  Repeat this for the other pancakes.

Putting Mushroom Stuffing Into Savoury Pancake

Putting Mushroom Stuffing Into Savoury Pancake

 

One Pancake Well Stuffed With Mushrooms

One Pancake Well Stuffed With Mushrooms

How to make the cheese sauce

50g / 2oz butter
50g / 2oz plain flour
500ml / 1pt milk
A pinch of ground nutmeg
A pinch of paprika
A pinch of ground white pepper
125g / 5oz greated cheddar cheese
50g / 2oz grated cheddar cheese (for sprinkling over the final dish)

To make the cheese sauce first melt the butter in a heavy pan, then add the flour.  Stir this well.  Let the mixture cook gently for about one minute then add the milk little by little, stirring continuously after each addition.  When all the milk has been used, add the first lot of grated cheese and the seasonings and stir in thoroughly.

To finish off the stuffed pancakes

Pre-heat the oven to 180oC / 350oF.

Pour the cheese sauce over the stuffed crêpes and then sprinkle the last cheese over the top.

Bake in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes until the sauce is bubbling.

Mushroom Stuffed Pancakes In Cheese Sauce

Mushroom Stuffed Pancakes In Cheese Sauce

Serve immediately.  We served ours with new potatoes, peas and a salad.

Steenbergs Launches New Design For Spice Tins

Friday, February 5th, 2010

At Steenbergs, we have been doing a lot of work trying to refresh parts of our organic spices and seasonings range.  Now we have relaunched our spice tins into a bright new label and an elegant rolled tin.

Steenbergs new spice tins

Steenbergs new spice tins

Part of what we have been seeking to do is to pull out parts of our long list of spices and seasonings that can either sit as a standalone range, such as our Home Bakery products (which we relaunched in August 2009), or added value blends that differentiate Steenbergs in the spices and seasonings world. 

We have a range of over 200 blends that we make in small batches by hand which is way more than industrial spice blenders and packers can hope to do – they just don’t have the ability to work on small batch runs nor the inclination.

So during 2009 we redesigned the spice tin, which was originally a spice dabbah made for us in Mumbai in India, to a rolled tin that is now being made for us in China.  This new tin was launched in mid 2009 and looks much smarter and more elegant than the old tin that we felt was a bit shiny and the shapes of the actual dabbahs were inconsistent.

In the latter part of 2009 and through to early 2010, we have created a new look label for a few of our most popular blends – Steenbergs Signature Blends.  These labels are brightly coloured, individual for each seasoning and now include a recipe idea.

The labels were printed last week and are now launched on the web site and will be officially launched at the forthcoming Organic & Natural Products Show at Olympia in April 2010. 

They have great shelf presence and we expect to add maybe another 5 – 10 more over the next 2 years.  The blends that are currently available are:

Organic Fairtrade 4 colour pepper
Organic Fairtrade curry powder
(a new blend!)
Organic Fairtrade garam masala
Organic Harissa with Rose Petals
Organic Herbes de Provence
Organic Italian Herbs

Organic Mixed Herbs
Ras al hanut
Zaatar

Tell us what you think, and what other Steenbergs products we should add to this range of Signature Blends – I am thinking China 5 Spice, Dukkah, Jamaican Jerk and Mexican Chile Powder.

Recipe for Traditional Pudding: Queen of Puddings

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

I was listening to Radio 4 the other day and they were talking about steam puddings and how it is a truly English traditional that is not found anywhere else.  One of the puds they were talking about was Queen of Puddings which was being made  at Riverford Farm Shop (I think). 

This is one of our firm family favourites and used to be my grandfather’s favourite pudding, as well.  I made it the other weekend for my parents as my dad says he never gets it cooked for him.  Here’s how we did it:

Ingredients

290ml / ½ pint full fat milk, ideally organic
15g / ½ oz butter, ideally organic
30g / 1 oz organic Fairtrade caster sugar
60ml / 4 tablespoons white breadcrumbs
Grated rind of 1 lemon
2 free range eggs, separated into whites and yolks
1tsp Steenbergs organic Fairtrade vanilla extract
30ml / 2tbps raspberry jam or raspberries in a sauce, warmed to make runny
110g / 4 oz organic Fairtrade caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180oC /350oF.

Warm the milk then add the butter and sugar.  Stir it all with a wooden spoon until the sugar has all dissolved, then add the breadcrumbs and lemon rind.

Seperate the eggs.  Whisk the eggs gently by hand and add the Steenbergs organic Fairtrade vanilla extract into this.  When the breadcrumbs mixture has cooled down a bit, stir in this egg yolk mixture thoroughly.  Pour the breadcrumb custard mix into a pie dish and leave to stand for 30 minutes somewhere cool.

Put into the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until set.  This can be done in a bain marie for even more exacting results, but it doesn’t need it if you watch over it.  Remove and allow to cool.

Reduce the oven to 150oC /300oF.

Using the warmed jam, spread this over the top of the set breadcrumb-custard base.  At my parents, we used some frozen raspberries from the garden which we warmed through and then added some sugar to; this was less sweet than using raspberry jam and had a better mouth feel or texture, but maybe are less close to hand.

Whip the egg whites until stiff and then whisk into this about 2 teaspoons of the caster sugar.  Whisk again until very stiff and then fold in all but ½ teaspoon of caster sugar.  Pour this over the top of the base, then sprinkle over the remaining caster sugar.

Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until the meringue is set and lightly brown at the edges.

You could serve this alone, as we do, or with a luxurious clotted cream or even vanilla infused whipped cream.

Vanilla, Gorgeous Heady Vanilla

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

I love vanilla.  I really do.  I blogged about it as a spice back in May 2009 under Vanilla – the temperamental diva.

At Steenbergs, we have had such a good run with our organic Fairtrade vanilla extract that we are nearly down to our last few drops.  So last week, we got delivery of a new batch of organic Fairtrade vanilla beans and after Lee did the initial prep work he said that these Madagascan beans are of the most superior quality, and Lee’s hard to please! 

Gorgeous organic vanilla

Gorgeous organic vanilla

Well, I suppose that’s what you would expect from our new suppliers from the Antsirabe Nord region of Northern Eastern Madagascar; these beans have much more luxuriant richness and depth of the character than our last batch of beans, which hailed from Kerala in India.  Think of it as the difference between a New World wine and a Premier Cru from France; everything’s the same but the terroir in France just creates more character.

I am really excited by our vanilla at the moment.  We’re getting a better quality extraction at present than before.  Also, we have a great range of classic gourmet vanilla products – Steenbergs organic Madagascan gourmet vanilla beans (vanilla pods), organic vanilla powder (that’s gorgeous beans from Mananara that have been ground to a rich black powder, that looks like gunpowder in the old Western films but smells like heaven), organic vanilla extract powder (that’s the extract dried onto a dextrin base to remove the alcohol). 

The gourmet beans are actually from a Fairtrade source and we trade these into Crazy Jack’s and Essential Trading who pack them off as organic and Fairtrade, so we need to get our act together and actually launch them as Fairtrade!  It’s a bit ridiculous as we have had the product approved by Fairtrade and done the design work for them but never actually pushed the go button; soon, I assure you.

Mountain gorilla from Virunga Mountains

Mountain gorilla from Virunga Mountains

I (that’s me Axel Steenberg) have also sourced a wonderful organic vanilla from the Democratic Republic of Congo from the foothills of the Ruwenzori Mountains in the Virunga National Park and near Lake Edouard, which is one of the two strongholds for the rare mountain gorilla (the other is Bwindi Inpenetrable Forest in Uganda). 

I came across them whilst reading Tim Butcher’s book  (Blood River – A Journey To Africa’s Broken Heart) about following in the footsteps of Stanley down the River Congo, like a latter day Kurtz, dodging the insurgents on the back of a motorbike or travelling down the lazy, languid Congo River on a pirogue; hence finding them was really poignant. 

These Congolese organic vanilla pods have a different character to those from Madagascar and will be in short supply as getting them is really, really hard – these organic vanilla beans have a rawer, earthier flavour, full of chocolatey aromas but also an underlying sweet leathery intensity.

Now, I’ve added mysterious tonka beans to this flavour package.  This is banned in the USA because it contains coumarin, an anticoagulant, but banning it almost makes it more exciting.  And the top world chefs like Gordon Ramsay at Petrus-Gordon Ramsay or Alex Stupak at wd-50 or Ferran Adrià at El Bulli use it, so let’s try it I say.

Tonka beans (memories of Tonka toys and that takes me a long way back) are the seeds of Dipteryx oderata, which originates from Venezuela in the Orinoco river basin.  The main sources of tonka beans are Nigeria and Venezuela. 

Tonka beans

Tonka beans

It looks like a flat, wrinkled deep black bean/nut with a shape that’s reminiscent of an almond and a look that’s a cross between a prune and date.  They have a flavour and aroma that is full of volatiles and immediately remiscent of vanilla but with more esters coming through like pear drops or furniture polish, with hints of magnolia and other warming, sweet spices notes like cinnamon, cloves and allspice.  It is used in French cuisine and sometimes for perfumes, and even flavouring tobacco.

Anyway, Steenbergs tonka beans come from Venezuela and a little goes a long way as they are very specialist and very strong – completely decadent and slightly naughty.  You use them like a nutmeg and grate them, so you could cook with them as a garnish over coffee or into cream or over stewed rhubarb.  I’ll conjur up some recipes in a future blog, so hang fire on asking for a recipe.

Recipe: How To Make New Mexico Red Chile Sauce

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Here is a way to use some of the new chillis that I introduced in a blog last week.  It is a traditional recipe for a New Mexican Red Chile Sauce (Chilli Sauce) that is preferred by northern New Mexicans and New Mexican old-timers, especially those with Hispanic roots.  It’s for chile lovers only and has a coarse earthy flavour.

Ingredients

450g/ 1lb dried New Mexico red chile, remove stems (leave seeds and veins if you want it hot)
2 heads of garlic, peeled
1 large onion, chopped
2tbsp dried Mexican oregano (European oregano will do)
1tsp sea salt
Water as necessary

Place the dried New mexican chilli pods on a baking tray and place in a preheated oven at 180oC / 375oF for a few minutes until they become soft and leathery.

Working in small batches at a time, purée smooth in a food processor with all the spices, adding small amounts of water as needed to make a sauce that’s got the consistency of double cream.

Place each batch of the puréed New Mexican chile in a large bowl until it has all been blended smooth, then stir it all up to get a consistent mix of the flavours.

You can then freeze these into batches and use over the next 6 – 12 months.

Recipe: Baking Chocolate Brownies For Haiti

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Our children’s school council have decided to run a cake stall tomorrow to raise money for Haiti.  I feel especially moved by Haiti as my grandmother was born next door in the Dominican Republic, which has escaped the horrors of their neighbours.  This recipe is something my daughter and I cooked up this afternoon.

Ingredients

220g / 7oz butter, organic where possible
450g / 16oz caster sugar, organic & Fairtrade where possible
90g / 3oz cocoa powder, organic & Fairtrade where possible (Suma do a great one)
270g / 9.5oz self raising flour (we used an organic flour by Sunflours)
4 eggs (ideally organic & free-range please)
4TBSP milk, organic if possible
1tsp Steenbergs organic Fairtrade vanilla extract
100g / 3.5oz chocolate, ideally organic & Fairtrade – we used Green & Blacks cooking chocolate, which we bashed into small chunks with a rolling pin

Lightly grease a metal baking tray and line the base with baking parchment.  Heat the oven to 180oC /350oF.

Sift the organic self-raising flour and organic Fairtrade cocoa powder together into a large mixing bowl.  Add the caster sugar, butter, free range eggs, milk and Steenbergs vanilla extract to a food processor.  Whizz it all up together.  Add the flour-cocoa mix and process once again until you have got a sloppy, dark brown mixture.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and then add the chocolate chunks.  We then gave it a gentle stir with a knife to mix in the chocolate bits, then smoothed over the top to give a roughly even covering.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until just set in the middle – a wooden skewer into the centre should come out with just a few moist crumbs on it.  Don’t overbake.

Leave to cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares and serving, or in this case boxing up to take to school tomorrow.

[Sorry no photos today as I have left the camera at work!]

Update 29/1/2010: the school raised £142 for the Haiti appeal which for 100 children is truly brilliant.