Homemade Crusty Baguette

For 2 baguettes of 350 gr. each
Preheat oven to 240°C - 220°C (fan) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes
This bread should be eaten on the same day, preferably still warm with a knob of salted butter.

ingredients

• 15 gr fresh yeast (or equivalent in dried yeast)
• 40 ml tepid water
• 500 gr strong white flour
• 270  ml tepid water
• 10 gr salt

preparation

• In a small bowl mix yeast with the 40 ml of tepid water and set aside for 20 minutes.
• In the bowl of  your food mixer, add the flour that you bring together with some of the water (the amount of water can be rectified at a later stage as it depends on how much or little moisture your flour contains)
• Add the yeast mixture.
• Knead well for a couple of minutes, adding more water when needed.
• Add the salt and knead for another 10 minutes
• The dough should be pliable, but not stick to the hands.

• Leave to prove, in the bowl, covered with a clean kitchen towel for about 45 minutes.

• When the dough has doubled in size, put it on the flour-dusted worktop.
• With the ball of your hand, gently press it out into a sheet of 1 to 2 cm thickness.



• Lift one corner and roll the dough onto itself diagonally, to a sausage or baguette shape
• Place seam side down on a baking tray that you lined with baking paper.

• Cover with clean kitchen towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour (this depends, obviously, on the room temperature)
• Make two cuts into the bread diagonally of approx 0,5 cm deep


• Bake for 30 minutes

Fish and Chips, Tartare Sauce and Mushy Peas

I sometimes forget  that we once ran a Fish and Chips shop in Ireland (for about three months, ahum)
How did that come about ?
Well, there was this chippy in our village that only opened during the summer months as the owner was a teacher and lived in Dublin, so he would spend his holidays in Sneem, frying up bucket loads of fish.
We came to an agreement that we would keep it open during the winter on the weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday).  We were full of good intentions and I would make lovely fresh foods.  He warned me, did John, that most people would not appreciate good food when they stumbled out of the pub after closing time.  How right was he !
There would be a trickle of appreciative punters coming early on in the evenings, but between 11 pm and 1 am it was mahem.
Sorry to say this, good people of Sneem, but when you're drunk, you suck.  
I'll leave it at that, because we are hoping to return one day ;-) and it was an experience that I don't regret.
Anyway, we soon figured out that it wasn't the most fulfilling job in the world.  We washed the pots, drained the fryers, locked the door and returned the keys.

Recipes

Fish in Beer Batter

ingredients

• 4 x 175 gr fish filet (haddock, cod, halibut... from a sustainable source)
• 2 tbsp corn flour
• 225 gr self raising flour
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 250 ml cold beer
• 100 ml cold water
• 2 liters vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil) It might seem like a waste of oil, but when cooled, I drain and store it for later use - just label it ie. 'fishy oil'

preparation

• Prepare the batter by sieving the self raising flour and paprika into a bowl.
• Pour in the water and beer.
• Mix well and put in the fridge for half an hour.
• Pour the oil in a deep cooking pot (or use deep-fat fryer) and heat to about 180° c (I have a special frying pot for the hob, that I keep for frying anything but chips) I check the heat of the oil by dropping in a small piece of bread, when it starts to colour golden brown, I know it is hot enough.
• Dry the fish filets thoroughly with kitchen paper and cover with the corn flour.  Shake of the excess.
• Then dip the fish into the batter (that you have stirred a little after its rest in the fridge).
• Carefully sink the fish into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. You may have to turn it halfway through the cooking time, so that it colours nicely on both sides.
• Scoop out the fish with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Chips
We love a good quantity of chips, because we are greedy, so the amount of potatoes you use is entirely up to you.
I double fry them, we all do in Belgium.  The first fry you can do well in advance, so you can let the chips cool down completely, gives better results (apparently), but it is not a necessity.
Use floury potatoes, they brown nicely and don't go limp like their waxy relative.  Now, when I am in the mood for chips, any old potato will do.

ingredients

• 2 large potatoes per  person
• vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil - about 3 liters in my deep fat fryer)
• sea salt

preparation

• Heat the oil in the fryer to 120° c
• Peel the potatoes and wash them in  cold water.
• Dry them well in a clean kitchen towel.
• First cut them in 1 cm thick sliced and then cut them into chips - work lengthways for longer ones. I cut them in the towel and dry them very well
• Put a good handfull of chips into  the frying basket. Fry them for about 5 minutes. Don't overload  or they will be soggy from the word go.
• When they become more transluscent, lift them out and drain on kitchen paper in a tray. Spread them out to speed up the cooling process.
• Do the rest of the potaoes the same way.
• For the second frying, heat the oil to 195° c.
• Cook the chips in somewhat larger batches than the frist time.  They will only need a minute till they are golden.
• Drain them again on kitchen paper and add salt straight away. Serve.

Mushy Peas
No, this isn't a recipe for a sluggish grey - green mush, neither is it going to turn out electric green.  Just a fresh tasting, slightly sweet and minty dollop of peas.
This was originally made with dried peas, which are always a good pantry item to have as they are full of goodness.... but I used frozen - it is quicker.

ingredients

• 400 gr frozen garden peas
• 1 knob of butter
• a good few mint leaves ( you can cheat and use a tsp of mint sauce, but hey ho,  only if you don't have fresh mint at hand)
• Salt and black pepper

preparation

• On the hob, melt the butter in a pan.
• Pour in the frozen peas
• Leave to simmer on a low heat, with lid on until tender, stirring occasionally.
• Take a spoonful of peas out and set aside.
• Use a handheld blender to puree the peas, add seasoning and the chopped mint.  Stirr in the whole peas.
• They can be reheated just before serving.

Tartare Sauce
Lots of recipes around, and even I have many variations.  This is the recipe of a very basic tartare sauce.

ingredients

• 2 large gherkins
• 1 small onion, peeled
• 1 tbsp capers
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise

preparation

• finely chop the gherkins and onions  (or grate them - don't be a wuss) and chop the capers
• mix into the mayonnaise together with the parsley. 

How easy was that !

Lemon Posset

I love desserts that require minimum effort, but give you maximum satisfaction, in the words of Gino D'Acampo .
Lemon Posset is one of these desserts, terrifyingly easy to make, with only 3 ingredients and you have to do it well in advance for it to set, so you can forget about it whilst having your dinner party and whip it out of the fridge the moment you want to serve.

At the end of November we had a get-together with the choir.  Cheese and wine, bread and fruits to dip into. Some of the choir members took care of the desserts and I made Lemon Posset - 40 of them. 
They were a hit, as I expected.

I use Nigel Slater's recipe  as a guidance, but add lemon zest to the cream, and strain it out afterwards.

5oo ml double cream
150g caster sugar
75ml lemon juice

Put the cream and caster sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Lower the heat and leave to bubble for about 3 minutes, stirring from time to time. Reduce the heat so that the mixture doesn't boil over, and let it bubble enthusiastically for about 3 minutes, stirring regularly.

Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and leave to settle. Pour into four small wine glasses or cups and leave to cool. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving

  
    

                                     

  

Nederlands
Lemon Posset voor 4 glaasjes

Ingrediënten

                    500 ml volle room (35 à 40%
                    150 gr witte suiker (gries of kristal)
                     75 ml citroensap  en 1 schijfje schil van onbespoten citroen

Werkwijze

          Op het vuur breng room met suiker aan de kook
          Regelmatig roeren zodat de suiker oplost
          Vuur lager zetten en 3 minuten zachtjes laten pruttelen
          dan 3 minuten enthusiast laten bubbelen(voorzichtig voor overkoken)
          Van het vuur nemen en citroensap door roeren
          Laat de grootste hitte afkoelen, neem het schijfje schil eruit en schenk            het mengsel in glaasjes
          Laat verder afkoelen en zet in koelkast tot gebruik
          Zeker een dag op voorhand maken dat het voldoende kan opstijven