Georgina Hayden – Page 24 – Feeding since 1982

Sweet like chocolate

10.07.2014 by georgie // Leave a Comment

Like a lot of people I often need a 3pm pick me up. A caffeine hit. A sugar high. But since I made a real effort to cut out most sugars from my diet (me and the rest of the world) and cut back on the caffeine, I’ve been at a bit of a lose end. My go to option for most of the year is a hot chocolate. It ticks a lot of boxes for me – sweet, warming, delicious, easily consumable and I don’t feel too guilty (with skimmed milk, obviously). However, at the risk of sounding smug I genuinely find a lot of hot chocolates too sweet now. Cutting out a lot of sugars has been interesting, my palate has changed and foods I adored before have become less desirable and less tolerable.

My favourite hot chocolate which I will make a bee line for is Paul A Young’s, which he sells in his beautiful London shops. At around £4 for a small cup it isn’t cheap, but I think it is worth every penny. The smell that hits you when you walk into the shop is insane, and then you spot this vat of hot chocolate simmering away in the corner, with a little spice rack alongside it… Well, it’s all very ‘Chocolat’, very sensual. Interestingly the hot chocolate is dairy free, using just water instead of milk, which is said to get the most out of the chocolate. So with the days a little colder, I’m needing my fix again, and have decided to make my own.

PURE HOT CHOCOLATE

If you are thinking creamy milky hot chocolate, think again. This is rich, short and intense. I use Hasslacher’s 100% pure Columbian cacao for this recipe, and it is heavenly – very pure, nothing added and naturally high in antioxidants . You can order it on Amazon for only a fiver.

Serves 1

15g of 100% pure cacao chocolate (2 squares from a bar of Hasslacher’s)
A tablespoon of agave syrup, honey or light muscovado sugar
a stick of cinnamon or a few cardamom pods, lightly crushed

Melt the chocolate in a small milk pan, over a low heat (as per packet instructions) being careful not to burn the chocolate and letting it melt slowly. As soon as it has melted whisk in 200ml of water with your chosen sweetener and spice. Simmer over a low heat for a few minutes until smooth and hot, but not boiling. Whisk again, taste (carefully!) and add a little more agave/ honey/ sugar if necessary and serve.

Hasslacher's chocolate — Hasslacher’s chocolate

Roasted skate with sherry sauce and crispy capers

10.01.2014 by georgie // 1 Comment

I adore this recipe. I can’t remember when I first had it, but all variations are winner with me (skate often being paired with a burnt butter and caper sauce) – this being my all time favourite though. It isn’t difficult but you’ll need to focus at the job at hand, as the sauce doesn’t sit particularly well.

ROAST SKATE WITH SHERRY SAUCE AND CRISPY CAPERS (Raya con salsa de jerez)

From Casa Moro: The Second Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark

Serves 4

4 portion sized skate wings, about 250g each
7 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
200ml fino sherry
1 banana shallot or 2 normal shallots, finely chopped
a sprig of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
5 tablespoons sherry vinegar plus 1 extra teaspoon
10 black peppercorns
200g good quality unsalted butter, cold, cubed
80g capers in salt or vinegar
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 lemon, quartered

Prepare and fry the capers in advance: Wash the capers in a sieve for 1 minute under running water and then leave in a bowl of cold water for an hour, changing the water a few times. Heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat and when hot add the drained capers. Fry, stirring occasionally until they are slightly browned and crisp. Remove from the heat and drain on kitchen paper. Set aside.

To make the sauce, place the fino, shallots, thyme, bay leaves, 5 tablespoons vinegar and the peppercorns in a small saucepan and simmer over a low to medium heat until you are left with roughly 5 tablespoons of liquid. Strain out the thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns. Over a very low heat, stirring constantly, add the cubes of butter, a couple at a time. Add more when the butter has melted into the sauce and continue to do so until all the butter has been used and a light emulsion has formed. Add the remaining teaspoon of vinegar and a little salt and taste. Keep warm over the stove or in a bain-marie while you cook the fish, but do not allow to bubble.

Preheat the oven to 220/ 425/ Gas 7. When you are ready to cook the skate heat a large metal roasting tin on the hob until very hot. Season the skate with salt and pepper on both sides, drizzle the olive oil into the pan to cover the bottom and gently ease each wing into it, shaking the pan as you do so to prevent the skate from sticking. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the wing, or until cooked through. Remove and serve immediately with the warm sauce spooned over the fish, the capers and chopped parsley sprinkled all over, and lemon wedges on the side. Delicious with braised spinach or chard and new season’s boiled potatoes.

Roast skate with homemade bread to mop up the sauce and a radish and rocket salad — Roast skate with homemade bread to mop up the sauce and a radish, rocket and watercress salad

Roast squash soup with coconut and pumpkin seeds

09.29.2014 by georgie // Leave a Comment

With my fertility chat in mind, my first recipe is a squash and pumpkin seed recipe, of which I can’t take full credit. When we got back from holiday I came home to the new Ottolenghi book ‘Plenty More’, and was over the moon. I love Ottolenghi, I love his restaurants/ cafes/ books/ column, and I don’t think I have ever made a dud recipe written by the man (Jerusalem is our favourite, the fish chapter is already in tatters).

After a trip to our fabulous local greengrocers, where the produce is ridiculously beautiful and the service is rude and grumpy, I came away with a mound of autumn treats including a beast of a butternut squash. So with a little flick through my newest book I came across ‘Squash with cardamom and nigella seeds’, a delicious sounding recipe, which is packed with good stuff (if you ignore the knob of butter at the start).

So I made this for friends, and got thinking, if you omit the yoghurt this would make a wonderful base for a soup, with coconut milk and coriander… So here is a little tweak on Mr Ottolenghi’s recipe, resulting in an incredible soup for Autumn.

ROAST SQUASH SOUP WITH COCONUT AND PUMPKIN SEEDS

Serves 4 – 6

olive oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds, plus extra for serving
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 large cinnamon stick
1 green chilli, halved lengthways
400ml vegetable stock
A can of low fat coconut milk
Half a bunch of coriander chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g feta (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200/ 180/ Gas mark 6.

Place the onion and butternut squash in a large roasting tray, so they are spread out in one layer and add the pumpkin seeds, nigella seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli and a good pinch of salt. Drizzle with a good lug of olive oil and mix well. Pop in the oven and roast for around 30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until cooked through and golden. Transfer the tray to the hob and add the coconut milk and stock and gently bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Discard the cinnamon and chilli and stir in the chopped coriander, stalks and all. Blitz with a stick blender until you have a thick and creamy soup, adding a little extra water if needed. Then serve with the feta crumbled over the top, and a few extra pumpkin seeds.

NB: You can keep the recipe similar to the in ‘Plenty More’ by not turning this into a soup. Ottolenghi likes to serve his with greek yoghurt, or do as I did and serve with crumbled creamy feta.

Served as a starter instead, with crumbled feta