What Rachel Ate

Caponata

May 25th, 2011

Caponata is made for the height of summer, when aubergines, peppers and tomatoes are at their best. While it’s not exactly summer yet, even though this weather is fooling us somewhat, there are some beautiful aubergines in Brixton market; if you can’t find nice ones, then save this recipe for August.

Caponata is a Sicilian vegetable stew a bit like ratatouille but with a sourness from capers, olives and vinegar -it cuts through the oily richness of the stew perfectly. It’s best eaten at room temperature, scattered with any combination of basil, parsley and pine nuts and although Ottolenghi says you can eat it with pasta or couscous, I think it’s best on crisp slices of toast or maybe alongside a nice piece of monkfish. It’s also one of those fabulous dishes that improve with age; so if you can, make it the day before to give the flavours chance to mellow and mingle.
More »

Tags: aubergine, olives, pepper
Posted in Dinner recipes | No Comments »

Wedding cakes

May 18th, 2011

I mentioned a while ago that I was making the wedding for my friends’ wedding (along with my partner in crime Kat). Unbelievably, the wedding has been and gone (in a flurry of fabulous dresses and fun times) and I’m no longer a wedding cake virgin.

So, what did I learn? Well… wedding cakes are strange beasts, quite unlike normal cakes. I like baking, I like to think I’m pretty good at baking but wedding cakes require a patience and attention to detail that I struggle with. But, I am getting better (see below) and I’ve shared my tips and advice in this blog post of BBC Food. I think the most daunting thing about making a wedding cake is knowing where to start and understanding all the new terminology (what’s the difference between a cake scraper and a cake smoother? What are dowelling rods used for?) so I’ve tried to break it all down into a step-by-step guide.

It’s worth pointing out that this picture is from a trial run-through that we did for the cake. Yep, we made a whole trial wedding cake. Having never made anything like this before, it was so useful (and my work colleagues happily scoffed the cake). I’m so glad I didn’t have to assemble a three-tiered wedding cake for the first time on the day of the wedding or have to try and roll fondant icing into a big enough circle to cover a 12in cake.

Now for the details: the bottom tier was a 12in version of this chocolate cake, the middle was this vanilla cake (which was a big hit) and we did a fruit cake for the top tier (which the bride and groom have in the freezer for their first child’s christening).
If you’d like to make this wedding cake, I can send you the recipe we used.

This is the second wedding cake I made for my lovely friend Nicky and her husband(!) Juan. Nicky cooks almost as much as me (when she’s not reviewing restaurants for Square Meal) and we worked together to find the right cake. In the end, it was this orange and almond cake, iced with buttercream then fondant. The slight bitterness of the cake is perfect with the sugar overload from the icing. What did I learn this time? Let the experts help you. We delivered the iced cakes to the venue the day before the wedding and they assembled the cake and the florist decorated it. Looks pretty good huh? I would never have been able to do this myself and would probably have had a nervous breakdown in the process.

Posted in Cake recipes, Rachel's favourites | 5 Comments »

Quick limoncello

May 9th, 2011

Limoncello is a lovely, rather sophisticated way to end a meal. Either in a shot glass, or over plenty of ice, especially with some lemon biscuits on the side. There are plenty of limoncello recipes out there, the great thing about this one is that it’s ready to drink straight away (hurray!) and cost me about £6 to make a one-litre bottle. Most importantly, I think it’s actually nicer than shop-bought versions, you end up with something more refreshing and less sweet. Kind of like a lemon sherbert in drink form.

The basic idea is to make a lemon syrup, add lemon zest and juice then mix it with vodka. You can tweak the recipe below to suit your tastes by adding more lemon juice or sugar.
More »

Tags: lemon
Posted in 1 | 2 Comments »

Almond granola

May 4th, 2011

I follow a lot of blogs, but there are a few that I always click on when a new post pops into my reader, Joy the Baker is one of them. Short, sweet and funny posts and delicious recipes with a twist like this avocado cake and this almond granola.

Full of almonds, coconut, honey, cinnamon and vanilla – this is a good granola. I made tonnes of it for Breakfast Club guests to take home, thankfully there was enough left for me. I love granola with warm milk so it softens slightly and the milk becomes nice and sweet, but it’s also lovely with yoghurt and fruit.

Posted in Breakfast recipes, The Breakfast Club | 1 Comment »

White Chocolate Brownies

April 27th, 2011

Unbelievably, I’ve been writing this blog for nearly three years (!) so sometimes my favourite recipes, those that I cook again and again tend to get a little lost. I discovered these brownies at uni (from a friends Good Housekeeping book, I think) and have been making them ever since. They’re my dad’s favourite thing in the whole world and since I just baked a batch for his birthday, I thought I’d re-post this recipe.

You must seriously make these, they’re a revelation – super sweet and gooey. The first time I tried them, I loved them so much I pretty much baked them continuously until they made me feel a bit sick. Now don’t do that, but do bake them. They are about a million calories in each brownie, but why eat a brownie that doesn’t? It pretty much guarantees it will be tasty.
More »

Tags: brownie, chocolate, nuts
Posted in Sweet things | 5 Comments »

My guide to presenting food

April 20th, 2011

I’ve written a guide to making your food look really beautiful over at Big Girls, Small Kitchen. What’s the point of spending all that time making something really delicious to then just slop it onto a plate?

I’ve mentioned this website before, right? It’s a veritable mine of information and definitely worth a dig around. They are tonnes of recipes (natch), but also really useful guides (The 10 Best Ways to Eat on the Cheap or 5 Best Bring-Your-Own Lunches). It’s a clever site written by obviously clever people!

Posted in 1 | No Comments »

Nora’s hen party

April 19th, 2011

Nora came to The Breakfast Club a few months ago and wrote a lovely review (thanks!). Then a few weeks later she emailed me to ask if I would hold a private Breakfast Club for her hen party, err yes! Not only do I get to go full on pretty with the decorations, but I don’t have to worry about filling seats, she came with 13 other hungry mouths!

Luckily for Nora, her hen party fell on the hottest day of the year so far and we got to hold it outside on the roof terrace.

We planned a decadent menu of some of my favourites from the Breakfast Club. It made me laugh when one of the guests asked me if I made the cake myself. (For the record, I make everything myself, even the bread!)

Elderflower strawberries and pistachio yoghurt
~
Sweetcorn fritters and spiced butter, with bacon, avocado salsa, roast tomatoes and soured cream
~
Carrot and pecan cake

and a take home treat of strawberry and mascarpone macaroons and cardamom and white chocolate macaroons.

Tags: Breakfast, Cake recipes, macaroon
Posted in The Breakfast Club | 1 Comment »

Food shopping in Brixton

April 14th, 2011

It’s taken me a long time (and a lot of trial and error) to figure out my favourite places to buy food in Brixton. I started off with the shops on the edge, that looked the least intimidating, but I quickly discovered that the places to be are a little more hidden (like the tiny entrance to Nour Cash and Carry).

I’ve shared some of my recommendations over on Brixton Blog. A lot of the places I only discovered through doing a little digging for this blog post and even when I walk around the market now, I keep noticing places that I must pop in and have a look around (like the butcher by Franco Manca selling British beef and lamb).

These are just my favourites, but there are already a few comments and recommendations from other people. Have a quick read, try something new in Brixton, and post your own favourites.

Brixton’s Best Food Shops

Posted in 1 | 1 Comment »

Carrot and mung bean salad

April 6th, 2011

This salad has so many things going for it. It’s healthy (natch), cheap (carrots and dried beans) and surprisingly quick to make. Not only that, but it keeps like a dream.

Inspired by an Ottolenghi dish from Nopi, this works in the same way as most of his cooking i.e. it’s best as part of spread. Try it with a simple salad, some hummus and flatbread or throw in some protein in the shape of haloumi, grilled mackerel or roast chicken.

Tags: carrots
Posted in Salad recipes | No Comments »

White Russian cupcakes

March 28th, 2011

I’ve had the idea of a white Russian cake swimming around my head for while (thankfully, it’s part of my job description to think about recipes all day) and I decided to make these as a little take-home treat for The Breakfast Club. I gave one to a friend of mine and she text me saying ‘Now I wonder why anyone would ever NOT put booze in their baked goods!’

I wanted them to have a real kick (what’s the point of a cocktail cupcake if you can’t taste the booze?) so they were doused in kahlua at every opportunity. The advantage of this is that they will keep for longer than your average cupcake too.

Tags: cupcake
Posted in Cake recipes, The Breakfast Club | 5 Comments »

Recently...