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Mushroom Ravioli

Well, tonight the pasta machine was in full use again!  Not only did I rustle up some tagliatelle for the kids but I made mushroom ravioli for me and the old man.  I used the same pasta recipe as before but I based the filling and sauce on a recipe in the Masterchef Cookbook.  For my first attempt, I thought it was pretty good.  The ravioli were maybe a bit more shallot than mushroom, but the sauce was so rich with porcini that it actually worked really nicely together.  My presentation was awful…as you will see in the last photo.  John Torode would be champing his chops at the sloppy sauce – when I saw the photo even I wanted to grab some kitchen towel and wipe around the edge but alas, by that time I had scoffed the lot!
To make the pasta, I took 400g OO flour, 4 eggs & 1tbsp oil and blended the ingredients together in the mixer until they looked like breadcrumbs, then I switched to the dough hook and kneaded it for about 4 minutes.  I wrapped the dough in clingfilm and rested it for half an hour at room temperature.
The filling for the ravioli was 3 large shallots and 2 large chestnut mushrooms, all finely chopped.  I sweated the shallots in 25g of butter until they were soft, then I added the ‘shrooms for another 5 minutes.  Then I added 60ml of double cream, brought it to the bubble to bind it all together, then set aside for later.
The sauce was made by soaking 25g dried porcini mushrooms for 15 mins.  During the wait I boiled 400ml chicken/vegetable stock until it was reduced by half.  Then I added the porcini and any juices and a slug of sherry.  I reduced it by half again and added 75ml of double cream.  I simmered this until it was reduced to a nice silky sauce.
I feel there should be some herbs in there somewhere, but my ignorance of ingredients defies me knowing which ones to add and to what, so any suggestions welcome!
However, it was a very yummy Saturday night supper…and would make a nice dish for friends with some crusty bread to mop up all that lovely sauce!
All set and ready to ravioli…
Mushroom humps!
Little ‘shroom spaceships
Sloppy presentation, but delicious
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My 5 Favourite Recipe Books

Joining in with Kate Takes 5 Listography I am sharing with you my current 5 favourite recipe books (in no particular order):

1.  Recipes from My Mother for My Daughter – Lisa Faulkner
A very recent publication and fast becoming a favourite of mine.  Scrummy, accessible recipes with the personal touch of the gorgeous Ms Faulkner.

2.  Home Cooking Made Easy – Lorraine Pascale
Just like her first book, all the recipes in here are delicious, and indeed, fairly easy.

3.  Hummingbird Bakery:  Cake Days
Yum.  Yum.  YUM.

4.  Feast – Nigella Lawson
I have all her books, this was my first and remains my favourite.

5.  At Elizabeth David’s Table
I don’t cook a lot from it, but love reading it and soaking up everything about this amazing woman.

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The Pleasure of Pasta

I am very excited.  Stupidly so.  All because of a pasta machine.

For my birthday I asked Husband to buy me an Imperia Pasta Machine.  I had been reading up and this seems to be the king of domestic pasta-making.  Despite the fact I have always sworn that the purchase of a kitchen appliance for my birthday would be grounds for divorce, I ate my words (and my pasta) when I gleefully unwrapped my coveted equipment.
I did have a pasta machine once, but it was a cheap one that twisted when you wound the handle and despite pasta dough going in, it seemed to get stuck around the cogs and not really come out.  Certainly not in a thin, beautiful sheet.

However, this is a different matter, and last night I cooked Nigella’s Linguine Tagliatelle with Lemon, Garlic & Thyme Mushrooms FROM SCRATCH!
I did use my second fav cook’s recipe for the actual pasta dough – Lorraine Pascale’s cracked black pepper pasta – without the pepper.  But the rest of the recipe was all Nigella.  It is delicious, easy and swish enough to serve to friends.

Anyway, I digress.  My pasta machine performed beautifully and the tagliatelle tasted amazing.  I always thought that once I started making my own pasta, nothing else would be good enough.  And I fear this may be true.  However, it is so quick and easy to do that it’s not a problem and feeding the pasta through the machine is actually quite therapeutic.  As is having it hanging around the kitchen.  

Recipes from Nigella’s ‘Nigella Express’ and Lorranie Pascale’s ‘Home Baking Made Easy’.

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My First Curry

I made my first curry tonight.

Not a completely from scratch one, but a Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food one, so better than some fried chicken and a jar of Sharwood’s finest.

It was chicken tikka masaka and it was rather nice!

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Coconut Jam Sandwich Bars

Flicking through The Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days book I was transported back to school days.  These biscuitty, jammy, coconutty, yummy things kept me going through many a maths lesson when I was at school and I was desperate to make some and see if I could re-enact days gone by.

Judging by the fact I have already eaten four, you will guess that they were every bit as scrummy.  And fairly easy to make.  The only tricky bit would be the meringue, but as I am blessed with a kitchenaid, this was not a problem.

I urge you to try them.  And if this means buying the book, then do so.  It is worth it for all the other delicious recipes that lie within, including the best vanilla cupcakes I’ve come across.

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Recipes from my Mother for my Daughter

I don’t often do reviews and this is not sponsored or anything like that, but I wanted to write about Lisa Faulkner’s new recipe book ‘Recipes from my Mother for my Daughter“

Lisa Faulkner is a model/actress and recently(ish) won Celebrity Masterchef.  It was during this series that I thought how nice she was and such a good cook!

Anyway, it was with great excitement that I saw she has recently released a book and last week Amazon duly dropped it at my door.

The introduction brought a tear to my eye.  The book is a testimony to her mother who died when Lisa was 16 and for her daughter, Billie, who was adopted after three failed IVF attempts.  It is this that, for me,  makes the book so poignant and although a recipe book, as you read it Lisa makes you feel like you are sharing a real history as well as some very well-loved dishes.

Aside from all this, the book is beautifully set out and full of very accessible recipes.  It is important for me that a recipe is ‘do-able’ for the everyday cook like me with a small kitchen and a temperamental oven.  And that the recipes are not too ‘cheffy’.  The  recipes are something I could serve to the whole family without rasied eyebrows!

My first attempt was the Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pies.  Except I didn’t have any pots, so I served it as one big pie!  The result was tasty, looked good and was consumed with gusto.

Next stop, Rice Krispie Chicken!

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All Hail Nigella!

It is with much giggling I must tell you about the Power of Nigella!

Last week, circa Shrove Tuesday, I replied to a Nigella tweet, extolling the virtues of her pancakes.
Nigella retweeted this (gawd bless her).
My humble blog only averages about 20 hits a day.  After that retweet, in 24 hours, I had 953 blog hits!
This has kept me smiling all week.
I am, naturally, back to normal now.  And this blog is, as I state to your right, just a little outlet for me and my questionable cooking.
So sincere thanks to my loyal followers and hello to the near thousand of you that checked in and promptly checked out again!  And, of course, thank you to the lady herself ;)