Chocolate Chunk Hot Cross Buns

It’s Easter and there’s plenty of traditional food that could be made from all over the world. The hot cross bun is pretty much always a must at this time of year, especially for us British. They’re sweet and sticky… usually containing a variety of spices and dried fruit, but can vary with a lot of different flavours and ingredients. Who doesn’t love chocolate? We do! It’s everywhere at the moment… so why not make them with chocolate instead?

They are the sort of food… a bit like a crumpet, fantastic toasted, slathering on the butter so it oozes out when you bite into it. Not exactly for the health conscious! But what’s wrong with a little treat now and then? Or you can just have them cold (the fruit ones)… but in my opinion that is so wrong.

With a lot of foods, we love to make things from scratch. Although it can be easier to buy tortillas, pasta, breads, salsas, condiments and so on… where’s the fun in that?! OK, we do agree even we are often pushed for time so getting them already made is sometimes faster but we usually do it from scratch when we can. The main reason behind this is that the flavour is usually unmatched. It’s pretty much ALWAYS gonna taste better if you make it yourself and also you know EXACTLY what has gone into it.

A while ago we discovered a Belgian chocolate version which Sasha naturally preferred because of the lack of dried fruit… although she has come around to them a bit more over time. Since then we’ve vowed to recreate them. The chocolate version is perfectly acceptable cold… in fact we didn’t try it toasted so can’t really comment on it. We attempted to create our own... the first attempt being utterly disastrous... a bit like rocks… they didn’t rise properly and weren’t fluffy enough inside. The second attempt worked ok-ish... but we tweaked it a bit further to make it perfect... third time is the charm.

These are based on a recipe by Nigella Lawson, adjusted and played with to refine it to what we think is just divine… and we will definitely be repeating this in future.

Chocolate Chunk Hot Cross Buns

Makes 16

Ingredients

For the dough

400 g bread flour

150 ml milk

1 tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

50 g butter

1 egg

1 clove

2 cardamom pods

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground ginger

Zest of 1 orange

7 g fast action dried yeast

100 g dark chocolate chunked up into chips (70% cocoa)

For the crosses

3 tbsp plain flour

½ tbsp. caster sugar

2 tbsp orange juice

For the sugar glaze

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp orange juice

a beaten egg for egg wash

Method

1. Heat a saucepan with the cloves, cardamom pods, milk, and butter and leave to cool and infuse.

2. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and when the milk is just lukewarm remove the whole spices and beat in an egg. Mix with the dry ingredients. Combine and knead until soft and elastic - this is easiest in a food mixer.

3. Leave to prove for 1-2 hours until doubled in size. 

4. Preheat oven to 190^oC (fan, hotter for conventional) with a pan of water in the bottom, similar to the technique used for baking brioche buns for burgers. The pan of water is imperative to ensure a soft textured bun.

5. Knock back the dough. Divide into 16 equal pieces and roll into balls. Place on a non-stick tray - close to each other but not touching. Score a cross in the top of each one and leave to prove until doubled in size (~1hr).

6. Brush with egg wash and then decorate with the cross mixture; it is easiest to pipe this on. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.

7. Heat together the sugar and juice for the glaze and brush the buns with it as soon as they come out of the oven. Allow to cool on a wire rack. 

 

Adapted from Nigella Lawson - Feast

Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Eggs, Garam Masala

This post we unfortunately cannot claim to be our own. We have adjusted the quantities to suit our own tastes but it is essentially the same. It is a tremendously simple, quick, light dish which comes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “Three Good Things” and we fell for it completely because of its simplicity and how much flavour is packed into it. We just felt like sharing the love.

 

The philosophy of three good things is all about celebrating the ingredients and allowing them to show their true colours with just the help of a few staple ingredients. We love eggs, so we felt you’ve got to have two each to make this a nice meal and a chunk of good bread to accompany the dish will help mop up the yolk and any of the leftover dressing. Not much else to say really. A great dish to make at this time of year whilst purple sprouting broccoli is at its best and in season.

So here it is. Delicious!

Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Eggs, Garam Masala

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 free range or organic eggs

200 g purple sprouting broccoli, trimmed

1 tsp garam masala

1 small clove garlic, finely grated

30 g butter

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

1. Boil some water in a saucepan, slowly slip the eggs in, bring back to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. Once cooked, run under cold water or plunge into an ice bath to cease cooking.

2. Meanwhile, steam the broccoli for 3 minutes or until tender. 

3. Melt the butter with a dash of oil, add the garlic and garam masala and heat through for one minute.

4. Serve as you see fit, drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with salt and pepper if you fancy.

Two Bean Chilli

The chilli journey...

I’ve never been a fan of chilli and beans due to what I remember from scout camps with so much chilli powder that you could fuel a rocket with it and you would remember the heat for days on end… the beans were also dry and mealy and it just really put me off.

Sasha absolutely loves beans - dried, canned or fresh - of any sort. So naturally she wants to cook with them often. I am grateful for her taste in pulses as it has allowed me to re-experience and learn more about them and how to cook with them over the years. Now we have a cupboard half-full with most of the varieties of beans you can think of. 

Therefore beans have made a recurrence in my life since being with Sasha. A lot of my new found confidence with beans has come from understanding, for example, the reason I didn’t like broad beans was because of their papery outer skins. We have now been peeling them for a long time which allows us to experience fully the divine sweetness within. Eating them regularly has transformed my palate and has diversified the types of dishes I like to eat regularly. 

Back to the chilli. The horrifying memory of a pan bubbling away like a cauldron on a campfire with the pungent chilli powder scent and very little flavour to invigorate the imagination still haunts me. The first chilli I ever ate since that fateful day years ago was when Sasha made me one nearer the beginning of our relationship for me to test and try it again. I was very dubious initially. The dish started out as a combination of ideas from various recipes that Sasha adjusted for our tastes. Now over the years, the recipe she guards closely and that I absolutely LOVE (total chilli convert!) has been refined to the most divine, smoky, spicy Mexican bowl of food I have ever tasted. I personally believe this is the best but everyone has their own take on it. There may be an even better one out there somewhere. 

Now the question is vegetarian or meaty? It all depends on what mood we are in or what ingredients we have to which one we make. 

A chilli to us… must be spicy, smoky, flavoursome and whole, where you savour every mouthful as if it’s your last and when you finish you can’t wait for leftovers for lunch the next day or to make it the next time. It’s definitely not so obnoxiously hot you’ll cry and sweat blood, but whatever is right for you, you get to figure that out as we did.

Our palate for heat in foods has changed over time, each time increasing our tolerance… Adjust the recipe to what suits your palate. I remember years ago making a curry which blew our heads off that neither of us could actually eat… another fateful experience... so when the day came around when Sasha said to me… “There isn’t enough heat in this” when I was thinking to myself that it had a nice heat, I was very surprised! Our palates and tastes change over time and are individual, though luckily we do share a lot of the same tastes and our tolerances have increased together. 

When we started playing with more chillies - dried, smoked, much spicier ones… we only used a little but now we just throw the lot in. Play with it and experiment - for us this recipe is perfectly balanced for flavour and heat - it’s been refined over years and now it’s just how we do it. No more refinement from us. If you think anything can be improved let us know what you think would work even better! Maybe one day we may have a eureka moment ourselves!

To finish we love to serve with brown basmati rice, but white will do just fine, whatever you prefer, we love the nuttiness of the brown though. Choose whatever toppings you like - cheddar cheese, sour cream and chopped spring onions are obligatory in our house, sometimes guacamole. With leftovers you can do a variety of things. Baked potato fillings, chilli dog toppings, sloppy joes and nachos. The meat if used can vary from mince to a beef cheek slowly braised in a low oven. We are always sure to use diced chorizo if using meat, it really adds to the depth of flavour. Happy experimenting. 

Two Bean Chilli

Enough for 6 or plenty of leftovers

Ingredients

1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 chilli of your choice, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tbsp chipotles en adobo
1 tbsp tomato puree
400 g can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
400 g can borlotti beans, drained & rinsed
400 g can chopped tomatoes
250 ml stock, we used beef
bay leaf
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
handful fresh coriander
salt and pepper to taste

Notes - We make our own chipotles en adobo, it is easy enough to make if you have the ingredients (to be posted soon). If you don't want to, its available at specialist shops or online. Chipotle paste and chipotles en adobo aren't the same but you could probably substitute it well enough. 

Method

1. Heat a large frying pan with 2 tbsp olive oil and saute onions with a pinch of salt until slightly softened. Add the celery, carrot and pepper and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

2. Add the garlic and chilli and fry for a minute. Add all the cumin, paprika, cinnamon and oregano and fry for a further 2 minutes.

3. Add the fresh tomatoes, chipotles en adobo, tomato puree and stir. Add the beans.

4. Add chopped tomatoes, stock and the bay leaf and 1 tsp of salt. Add the balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, sugar and cocoa powder and give a good stir. Simmer until the veg is cooked and the sauce has reduced and thickened, approx 30 minutes. Finish with a good handful of chopped fresh coriander. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Smoky Chorizo and Butter Bean Soup

As the year is closing in, days are shorter, and evenings cooler, what better to eat in an evening than a hearty core-warming soup, which has a kick of chilli which should clear any sniffly noses out there.
The basis of this recipe is Mexican cuisine and we love the food that comes from Central America. Fiery, smoky, heart warming food that satisfies the taste buds completely. This recipe is a first invention attempt at something which should fill those criteria. With a little time and creativity, last night's meal was delicious and we wanted to share with anyone willing to read this.

It really does amaze me how things change over time. When Sasha and I first met she hated hot food. I remember a while ago failing miserably when I made a dried beef curry which turned out to be unbearably hot my friend and I were sweating profusely and Sasha ended up crying she couldn't even touch it. I soon learnt to test chillies before use! I've not been that experienced with spice in foods, but I guess mistakes is how we learn!

Time changes everything and introducing a little bit of chilli or spice over time has changed her palate; she now loves it. I was surprised to hear not long ago from her that I didn't add enough chilli to a dish.. She loves the stuff, especially if she's got a sniffle. Anyway here goes: simple, quick and nicely balanced.

Smoky Chorizo and Butter Bean Soup

Serves 2 hungry adults

Ingredients

2 red onions, quarters and skin on
2 garlic cloves, skin on
1 birdseye chilli, whole
1/2 red pepper
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp chipotles en adobo
a squidge of tomato puree
100 g chorizo
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 pint chicken stock
1 can butter beans (use whatever you like, we had these)
coriander, small bunch

Method

1. Heat a dry frying pan to searing hot, place the onions, garlic, chilli and red pepper into the pan and char on all sides until smoky and pretty black. Remove from the pan, and turn off the heat. Remove the skins from the onion, garlic and pepper (seeds from the pepper, your choice if you want to leave the chilli seeds in or not). Meanwhile, dice 75g of the chorizo and place into the pan, lightly fry.

2. Place the onion, chilli, garlic, pepper and chorizo into the blender along with some of the tin of tomatoes, chipotles en abodo, smoked paprika and tomato puree, blitz to a fine paste. Pour the paste into the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the stock - to achieve a lighter soup consistency, more or less may be required.

3. Drain the beans and add to the soup and warm through. Meanwhile slice the remaining chorizo and char on a griddle pan. Quickly pick a small handful of coriander leaves, place in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of coarse salt, grind to a paste and loosen with extra virgin olive oil.

Serve the soup with the chorizo slices on top, a drizzle of coriander oil and squeeze of lime juice. Enjoy with some rustic crusty bread.

Pan Fried Hake and Vine Tomato Salad

 

We fancied having something fresh and vibrant for a change and decided upon some fish as we haven't eaten fish in a while. This dish is summery, light and highly fragrant. This summer so far, the weather has been variable, but it has usually been fairly warm and here's a dish that will satisfy those summer food desires. Tonight's supper really hit the spot, the perfect combination of a drizzle of basil pesto and finely sliced basil leaves with a perfectly cooked fillet of hake perched on top.

We've never had hake before this dish but with this dish any firm white fish will do. The hake has the perfect flake and flavour to combine with the tomato salad. We have made the pesto before in previous recipes such as fettuccine with pesto or on our condiment page. The tomatoes must be sun vine ripened tomatoes, they really must pack a punch of flavour, which is enhanced even more by the pesto and a tiny sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

Pan Fried Hake and Vine Tomato Salad

Serves 2 

Ingredients

2 thick fillets of hake

3 large vine ripened tomatoes (the best you can afford)

a small bunch of basil leaves

basil pesto

a pinch of sea salt flakes

a spoon of flour

Method

1. Prepare your tomatoes by slicing medium thickness with a mandolin if you have one, it makes it so much easier, otherwise just do your best with a knife - make sure it is very sharp. Decorate your plate with the tomatoes as you see fit. 

2. Season your spoon of flour on a plate and lightly dust your hake fillets, meanwhile heating a frying pan with a little olive oil. Place your fillets in when the oil is hot and cook for approx 3-4 minutes each side, depending on thickness.

3. Meanwhile, prepare a chiffonade of basil by layering your leaves on top of each other, rolling into a cigar shape and slicing thinly, cutting with one swift motion (a sharp knife and this motion is important, as the more you cut the basil, the more it will oxidise and go brown).

4. Drizzle your tomatoes with a little pesto and sprinkle with a few flakes of sea salt and your basil chiffonade before you place your fillet of hake on top. Drizzle with a little olive oil and garnish with some whole basil leaves. 

We hope you enjoy as much as we did! 

Jacob and Sasha

Pea Pesto, Chicken and Asparagus Pizza

After a long day at work, we started home only to realise we had nothing planned for tea. We felt like being creative and after a quick turn around the food hall we were armed with fresh, extra fine British asparagus (it's asparagus time again!) and a bunch of fragrant basil leaves, remembering that we had some fresh garden peas in the fridge at home. After a brief bouncing around of ideas, this pizza was created in our minds. The result was fresh and delicious.

Pea Pesto, Chicken and Asparagus Pizza

Makes 2 pizzas

Ingredients

For the pesto
200 g fresh (or frozen and defrosted) peas  
1 garlic clove, peeled
25 g basil leaves
50 g cashew nuts, lightly toasted
50 g cheddar cheese, grated
125 ml olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

For the pizza dough
125 g strong white bread flour
125 g plain flour
3 g fast action yeast
5 g salt
1 tbsp olive oil
approx 150 ml water

Toppings
asparagus spears, blanched
cooked chicken
a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar, grated
freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Begin by making the pizza dough. Mix all of the dry ingredients together and then add the oil and water. Combine to form a ball of dough and knead for 5-10 minutes to work the gluten until you have a nice smooth consistency. Leave to prove in an oiled bowl for around an hour or until doubled in size.

2. Whilst the dough is proving, prepare the pesto. Place all of the ingredients into a food processor and blitz into a fine paste. Add more olive oil if the mixture is too thick. Season to taste. This pesto will store for a few days in the fridge - cover with olive oil to prevent it from browning.

3. When you are ready to cook, preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius (fan oven). To assemble the pizza first knock the dough back to expel any air. Cut the dough into two and roll each one out into a thin rectangle/round/whatever you fancy. Spread liberally with a dollop of pesto and sprinkle with grated cheese and your toppings as you see fit. Season with pepper and olive oil and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Serve with salad and savour the vibrant flavours of the season.