Edible birthday gifts...

I've been working on some edible birthday present ideas.
I'm pretty happy with my results, I made mini cupcakes, filled them with lemon curd and topped them with proper vanilla buttercream made by beating egg whites in a bain-marie until cooked and then beating in butter. The result was worth the effort. I loved doing the lettering but I'm going to keep quiet on how I did it......

Cookies.

I’ve been having a bit of fun playing around with some recipes for homemade versions of some classic “ shop bought “ biscuits. My favourites were the custard creams, the inclusion of custard powder lending the biscuits a lovely crispness. Although I do object to using hard vegetable fat, I’m going to try them with all butter.Unfortunately I have no photos of these but I think the jammie dodgers look great as do the iced gems. The high percentage of coloured royal icing of the latter isn’t so good to eat, though maybe age plays a part in my preference..

CUSTARD CREAMS.
175g plain flour
3 tblsp custard powder
1 tsp baking powder
60g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
60g cookeen, cut into small cubes
3 tblsp icing sugar
1 lrge egg
1 tblsp milk
Pre-heat the oven to 190c.
Sieve the flour, custard powder and baking powder into a bowl, rub in the fats until it has the consistency of sand. ( I do this in a food processor ). Add the sugar and mix. In another bowl beat the egg and milk, pour this onto the flour, and mix well and form into a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 mins. Roll out the dough to 3mm thick. Cut the dough into strips 3 cm and then across 4 cm to give rectangles. Bake for 15 mins. Leave to cool.
FILLING.
50g unsalted butter softened
1 tblsp custard powder
100g icing sugar
few drops hot water
Cream butter, sugar and custard powder together until light and fluffy. If the mixture seems stiff add water.
Sandwich 2 biscuits together.

NY.

Another trip, I'm doing well at the moment, this time I had a few days in New York. This was my second trip there and this time I enjoyed it even more than my first. I had done a little research this time around and was rewarded by eating some fabulous meals. I feel truly inspired. There is a style and panache to the food scene over there that seems truly effortless that I love. I find it hard to describe, It’s part shabby chic part utilitarian, but it is a self-conscious style. It’s all about the details and I suppose that’s why it rocks my boat being an anal details person myself. I’ve taken a snap of the menu in one of my favourites, Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn and then a lucky fortune fish that each guest receives in The Mermaid Café in the East Village. The food combinations were simple but quite new to me for example I had lamb 3 ways, a chop, some braised shoulder and some merguez sausage so far not too wild but it was served with a lovely creamed polenta that just brought it all together in a lovely smooth silky way. Another I loved was skate with black butter and capers, also nothing new there but it then it was served with a roasted cauliflower puree which had the most lovely deep nutty flavour and colour. Divine.
Asides from eating we did take in a few NY sights. I made it to the Guggenheim, a building I’ve been inspired by for quite some time. The Art was good but the building for me was by far the star. The lines of the architecture with the smoothness of the finish and unusually shaped rooms are such a delight. Another favourite venue was the High Line. This is an elevated park, it’s a converted disused railway line. They are still extending the conversion so it has a bit of the feel of Gaudi’s sagrada famillia. The style of the park is very zen, lots of wild but not really wild grasses and plants, it has concrete walkways the slabs in shapes evoking the old railway lines, lots of clever benches and sun recliners. I recommend to anyone to go and have a look. It’s there or thereabouts W 14th street accessible by lift or steps from most of the cross streets. A few days is not even scratching the surface of the city. I do feel the familiar desire to spend longer possibly working for a time there but that is something I have done regularly in my past and now I think I’m happier here in my settledness as long as I can keep having forays into the distance. I imagine I’ll keep going back to visit for a long time yet. I don’t usually revisit places too often but this is different.

Skiing.

Just back from a week skiing in Austria.
I'm just past being a beginner. I've been once before but that was a bit of a disaster. My mission this time around was just to improve and I'm pleased to say I managed that. In fact I'm still not very elegant but I got over alot of fears and am happy enough to go off into the unknown as long as I don't have to do any black runs ! We were incredibly lucky with the weather, there were two stunningly sunny days and then a few with snow falling. I find snow so magical I loved it even though it was so so cold. My face was entirely numb for one of the days.
Not much to write about the food. Up on the mountain it's purely fuel. Back in the village, at least it wasn't all cheese.
Check out the lovely Aldi ski suit. It's a little beyond me but it attracted sizeable attention from the locals... Must be the pink trim making them blink excessively..

I have a bit of a crusade going on. I think it's in my genes...
I love a proper bakery and there are so few around any more that I feel the need to alert people to the good ones. I just hate crap bread, we all know that fluffy, not-cooked properly stuff.
I have a few favourite haunts but always have room for a few more. I drove by this place last week and had time today to go and investigate a bit more closely. It's called the Corner bakery and it's in Terenure. It's a lovely little place lined with loaves of bread with character and lots of baked things. I bought two gnarly ( I mean that as a compliment ) bagettes, carried them home under my arm feeling very french. I devoured almost the whole of one of these beauties, the texture was dense and delightfully chewy, I'll definately be back for more.
The corner bakery is 17 Terenure Road North, D 6

INTRO

I’ve thought about blogging for some time now and have decided in 2010 it’s time to take the plunge, feet first…

Can seasoned bloggers please forgive the newbie for any unintentional guffs, faux pauxs or any abuses of the system. I’ll get the hang of it.

My hopes and dreams are that this will be an amusing commentary on food affairs , life in general and also an archive of my researchings….!

To give some background I am self-employed in the catering trade. My job has many facets, I cater for all occasions, I teach cookery lessons, I chef for cook books and cookery shows among other bits and pieces.There’s hardly ever a dull moment..although as a contractor the flip side of that is the constant angst of “where the next job is coming from” I’ve learnt, or more honestly am learning, to ride the waves and there is the thrill of potential job mana around every corner.. For example working on the TV shows this year was an unexpected delight and with a bit of luck I may do a few more.

I spend a good bit of my time trawling around our various food outlets for ingredients both exotic and familiar and hope I might be able to direct some foodies to sought after items.

When not cruising around the shops or on a job I’m often to be found testing recipes and ingredients, I nearly always have a back log of new cook books and clippings of things to try. At the moment top of the list is some Butterscotch cream pots from a blog I follow. Mmmm or as my sister would say Nnyummy. So I can filter through some recipes and offer some short cuts.