Nov7

Soft Amaretti

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Soft Amaretti

I’ve recently been experimenting with making my own ice cream, which uses loads of egg yolks. So what to do with all the whites? ……..Amaretti thats what!

Here is a great recipe that produces crunchy and chewy soft amaretti biscuits. Those of you who attended that last supper club will have tasted them, as I served them as one of the petite fours.

 

 

1 Tbsp Plain flour

1 Tbsp cornflour

1 Tsp ground cinnamon

145g caster sugar

1Tsp finely grated lemon zest

100g gound almonds

2egg whites

30g icing sugar

- line two baking trays with baking paper

-sift the flours, cinnamon and half the caster sugar into a lg bowl. Add the lemon zest and ground almonds

- Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining caster sugar to the egg whites, beating constantly until the mixture is thick and glossy and all the sugar is dissolved.

- carefully fold into the dry ingredients

- using two teaspoons scoop and form small round balls and place on the baking tray – allowing room for spreading when baking.

- set aside, uncovered for 1hr.

-preheat oven 180C (Gas4)

-sift the icing sugar liberally over the biscuits. Bake for 10-12 mins, or until crizp and lightly browned.

-leave to cool. served dusted with extra icing sugar. even better with a expresso!

Sep30

First rooftop supper

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First rooftop supper

All the key elements fell into place: good weather, long enough ladder and a nice bottle of Riesling from John at Scatchyards round the corner. Tom got the wood burner going to toast some take away Koftas from Broughs butchers, I made a crunchy coleslaw and popped a few pre-baked pitta I made earlier in the day on the fire. Then we pumped up the deep fat fryer, making our first batch of proper chips: Twice cooked 

With our meal plated up we ascended the ladder propped up to the velux window in the kitchen (slightly precariously) and set up on the south wall. Absolutely perfect ending to a crumby day, just catching the last of the sunshine before it faded over the silhouette of Birkenhead. Fortunately the balmy air ment we quite happily stayed there for a good hour…. Great view from up there!

Sep24

This will change your life…

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This will change your life…

Rapid Rostini (Inspired by Nigella Lawson)
Fry a bag of gnocchi in a large pan with some oil for about four minutes each side until golden brown.
Pour onto kitchen paper when finished to blot up any extra oil.
This is so simple to make, but you’ll never look back. I made them to accompany steak and salad and it was an incredible combination.

Apologies for the blurred image. I was clearly too impatient to wait for the focus to kick in...