Mushroom Risotto
Recipe for an autumnal oven-baked mushroom risotto, portioned for a moderate 2 person meal, saving space for a dessert.
I like to save all my risotto eating for autumn, when it feels right. This one makes the most of another autumn flavour - mushroom - which can be further enhanced with a bit of truffle oil (shaved truffle if you’re fancy) and a non-traditional addition of a bit of mustard used as a seasoning. I add this to almost all my risotto recipes for a bit of piquancy, and it is always in the fridge, so an easy addition.
My recipe below is derived and modified from an original by Betty’s of Yorkshire.
PORTION SIZE
Makes 2 moderate portions (about 375g per person)INGREDIENTS
Risotto
8-10g dried mushrooms (wild, porcini, morelles etc.)
280ml boiling water
1 shallot or small onion
1 garlic clove
140g mushrooms
30g unsalted butter
100g Arborio rice
75ml Madeira (or Marsala)
50g finely grated Parmesan
Handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds
Salt & pepper for seasoning
1 tsp Dijon (or any) mustard
To Garnish
A drizzle of truffle oil (optional)
Ratios
50g risotto rice per person
1:3 risotto rice to liquid
METHOD
Heat oven & hydrate the dried mushrooms. Preheat the oven to 150° Fan, 170° Regular. Soak the mushrooms in the boiling water for 15 minutes.
Prep the vegetables. While the mushrooms are soaking, finely dice the shallot/onion, the garlic and cut the mushrooms into 1cm chunks.
Sweat the veg. Melt the butter in an ovenproof pan (that has a lid, can go in the oven and will fit all your ingredients) over a moderate heat. Add the shallot/onion and cook until they are soft but not forming any colour. Add the garlic and fresh mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes.
Add dried mushrooms & rice. Drain the porcini mushrooms through a sieve, reserving the liquor. Finely dice the porcini and add to the pan. Add the rice and stir until all the grains are coated in butter. Pour in the alcohol and the mushroom liquor and stir. Season with salt & pepper. Careful! Go easy on the salt. You are adding Parmesan later, so this can end up being too salty.
Bake. Cover the pan with the lid and place in the oven for 20 minutes.
Season & finish. Remove and stir in the parsley, pine nuts, parmesan, mustard and seasoning. TASTE HERE! Add any seasoning you think it needs to suit your tastes. Drizzle over the truffle oil if using.
SERVE!
STORAGE & REHEATING
I find risotto does not keep – make just enough to serve and eat it all.
Choc-Chip Cookies
Recipe for choc-chip cookies, using a blend of dark and milk choc chips, and three types of sugar for optimum mix of crunch and chew.
BATCH SIZE
Makes about 15 cookies. You can bake all right away, or keep some dough in the fridge for baking a few at at timeTOOLS
Other than the typical kitchen equipment, to make these, you need:
a flat baking sheet for baking
INGREDIENTS
180g strong white bread flour
½ tsp baking powder (not bicarb of soda)
¼ tsp fine salt
115g unsalted butter, softened
75g caster sugar
40g light soft brown or light Muscovado sugar
35g demerara sugar
1 large egg (about 65g)
Seeds of 1/2 vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla extract/paste
170g Guittard chocolate chips (half dark, half milk is nice)
Zest of 1 large orange (optional)
SUBSTITUTING!
Flour - you can easily substitute plain flour for bread flour here. The bread flour just has a higher protein content, adding that touch more ‘chew’ to the finished result, but you will still get a great cookie with plain flour too.
Butter - I often replace the unsalted butter with salted butter, and when I do, I omit the salt. To make it dairy-free, Stork or any other vegan block fat can work too, though it does change the flavour a bit.
Sugar - the combination of different sugars is the result of my experimenting, giving a result between crunchy shell and gooey interior, but its not a big deal if you only have one or two of them. Just keep to the overall quantity of sugar in the recipe, and substitute for other sugars to use what you have.
METHOD
Weigh out dry ingredients - Weigh and sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
Cream butter & sugar - Cream the butter and all sugars together until light and fluffy – this will take about 5 minutes with an electric whisk on high speed.
Add wet ingredients and flavourings - With the whisk on slow, add the egg and vanilla extract. Zest the orange directly over the mixture if you are using it. Fold in the flour and chocolate chips with a metal spoon, then your hands. By the end you should end up with quite a soft and tacky dough that will be tricky to handle.
Form & chill dough - Flour the surface with no more than 1 tbsp flour and turn the dough onto it, forming into a log, about 25cm x 5cm. Then either wrap in clingfilm or place in an airtight container and chill for at least 2 hours until firm.
*************** WAIT 2 HOURS **************
Cut cookie dough - Using a serrated bread knife and a ruler, make slices from the log that are about 1-1.3cm wide - the below timing is calibrated for this size of cookie. Space them about 1 cm apart on the trays – they don’t really spread much.
NOTE! It may seem pedantic to measure out the cookie dough but it is the best way of matching the size to what I intend, and therefore the below timing should produce the correct result. Cookies are so small that even 10g less and 1 minute longer can change the end result quite a lot.
Bake - Bake at the bottom of the oven for:
12-13 minutes for a soft-bake cookie (they should look very lightly browned at the edges, but overall, still quite pale)
14-16 minutes for a cookie with a distinctly crispy shell, and firmer interior (they should look browned all over)
They will still seem a bit puffed up and somewhat soft when you take them out, but they will firm up quite a lot as they cool, and also deflate slightly, which I think gives that classic ‘look’ of a soft-bake cookie.
Cool - Remove them from the oven. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool, at least a little, before eating. They are absolutely delicious warm, when they will be at their softest, and they will firm up as they cool, though they should retain the gooey interior for up to 1 day after baking.
STORAGE & FREEZING
Like most biscuits, once baked, these will keep very well in an airtight container (with a few sugar cubes for company but never a cake) for about 4-5 days. Not as fresh or gooey as right after baking, but still delish.
These also freeze excellently once baked.
You can store the raw cookie dough log in the fridge for about a week, just slicing off as many as you want to bake.
If you can bear to wait, try refrigerating the raw cookie dough for 24-48 hours before baking. During this time, some of the starches in the flour will begin to break down into sugars. The result will be cookies that are chewier, more deeply coloured and with a toffee taste.
Shortbread
Recipe for plain buttery shortbread, topped with crunchy sugar. Tips for that ‘short’ crumbly texture you are aiming for.
Shortbread is easy. So easy. Anyone can make shortbread and there is absolutely no need to buy the ready-made stuff, which tastes not even half as good. It is so easy that I frequently make it while I’m cooking and waiting for something to finish.
Two tips.
One - use a food processor to cut in the butter. This is both faster than rubbing in with your hands, and produces a better, ‘shorter’ texture. Removing the heat of your finger tips keeps the butter as cold as it can be, which is the main factor for that ‘short’ crumbly texture you are aiming for.
Two - replace regular caster sugar with vanilla sugar, for a subtle extra bit of flavour. Vanilla sugar is an easy USU for spent vanilla pods.
PORTION SIZE
Makes about 20-24 small shortbread biscuits
TOOLS
Other than the typical kitchen equipment, to make these, you need:
a food processor
20x20cm square cake tin with loose base, 6cm deep
a cooling rack
INGREDIENTS
200g plain flour
¼ tsp fine salt
40g ground rice
75g vanilla sugar or caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
175g unsalted butter, chilled
METHOD
Blend ingredients - Weigh all the ingredients straight into a food processor. Blend until you have a texture of wet sand.
Prep dough for baking - Line the bottom of a square 20cm x 20cm cake tin. Tip the shortbread mix straight into the tin and press down with your hands – it will be very crumbly but should merge together with the weight of pressing it. Gently smooth the top with the back of a spoon so you have a fairly even depth throughout. Chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.
**************** WAIT 1 HOUR ****************
Prep oven - Heat the oven to 140°C fan, 160°C regular.
Bake - Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes. It should be lightly tinged gold when done.
Finish - Remove from the oven and right away, run a knife around the edge and cut into equal sizes using a sharp knife and cutting all the way through to the bottom. Dust liberally with caster sugar and leave to cool before removing
**************** WAIT 30 MINS TO 1 HOUR ****************
STORAGE
Store the shortbreads in a cool, airtight place, but not in the fridge. They keep well for a few weeks.
The shortbread can also be frozen for up to 3 months. They will defost in 10-30 mins.
Chokoladbiskvier
Recipe for Chokoladbiskvier, or Swedish Chocolate Buttercream Macaroons. Alcohol optional. Ideal for making at any time of the year.
Swedish Chocolate Buttercream Macaroons
When we visited Sweden, we took a marvellous hike-with-outdoor-cooking with Anders, just outside of Halmstad. Part of the spread Anders brought included some mini baked treats, which were utterly delicious, and he told me they had been baked by his wife, Viktoria.
I was quizzing him with all sorts of questions about the baking and assume he must have decided that I needed to hear it from the horse’s mouth, and a few days after our hike, completely unexpectedly, they very kindly invited us for fika at their home in Halmstad.
The day was balmy. We sat outside under a tree, at a small table covered with a white tablecloth with the corners held down by clip-on cloth weights in the shape of a Dalarna Horse, and Viktoria served 6 types of bitesize fika, all baked by her own hands.
The classic Biskvi was my favourite of Viktoria’s treats, and she was further kind enough to share the recipe with me, which is what I have used to make these.
I’d say they are pretty close to what we had that day, though I would advise anyone to do a test run in your oven with a few of the bases at a time, to check your own oven’s bake time - these can easily overbake.
PORTION SIZE
Makes about 25-28 macaroons
TOOLS
Other than the typical kitchen equipment, to make these, you need:
a blender or food processor
an electric whisk
a baking sheet or a shallow roasting tin, 3-4cm deep
a cooling rack
INGREDIENTS
Base
275g skinless almonds or ground almonds
135g caster sugar
2 large egg whites (about 80g)
Buttercream
250g salted butter, softened (or half salted & half unsalted)
135g caster, vanilla or icing sugar
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp rum, cognac or brandy (about 60ml - optional)
Chocolate enrobing
150g semi-sweet dark chocolate (45-60% cocoa solids)
20g coconut oil
METHOD
Prep almonds - If you are using whole skinless almonds, finely grind them in a food processor first. Transfer the ground almonds with the sugar to a large bowl and whisk to fully combine.
Make dough for bases - In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, and then mix in the dry ingredients. You should have a very thick paste, almost like marzipan.
Prep bases for baking - Line a baking sheet with reusable paper. Weight out 17-18g of the mixture, roll into a ball between palms and then flatten slightly into a disc, approx. 4cm in diameter. Space about 4cm apart on the baking sheet – they don’t spread at all during baking. Let them stand for about 30 minutes at room temperature.
**************** WAIT 30 MINS ****************
Prep oven - Heat the oven to 160°C fan, 180°C regular.
Bake - Bake in the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes. They should be lightly tinged gold just at the edges when done (if bronzed all over, you have gone too far.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet before loosening them and transferring to a wire rack.
Make buttercream filling - While they are cooling, whisk the butter and sugar into a fluffy batter. Add the egg yolks one at a time, then add the (optional) alcohol, and whisk to combine.
Top bases with buttercream - Work quickly here as the buttercream can start to get a bit melty. Spread the buttercream on the underside of the macaroon taking it right up to the edges. Shape with a knife or spatula into a soft round dome or peaked teepee – the peaked is traditional Swedish and what you tend to see in bakeries. Do your best, but don’t worry if you can’t make a perfect dome or teepee – smooth as best you can.
Chill - Lower the fridge temperature as much as you dare and refrigerate for about 1 hour, or in the freezer for 30 minutes so that they get really cold. You may leave them overnight at this point.
**************** WAIT 30 MINS TO OVERNIGHT ****************
Prep chocolate - Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl over a pan of simmering water on the hob, or in the microwave at full power for 1-2 minutes.
Enrobe with chocolate - Gripping the edge of the base, dip the buttercream side of the macaroons in the chocolate briefly, to coat up to the edge but leaving the base uncoated. Allow the chocolate harden, then briefly dip it again.
**************** WAIT 30 MINS TO OVERNIGHT ****************
STORAGE
Store the macaroons in a cool place, but preferably not in the fridge, as the chocolate surface can become dull.
The macaroons can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost them slowly in the fridge
Swedish Kokosrulad (coconut roll cake)
Recipe for Swedish Kokosrulad, a coconut roll cake filled with a custard buttercream.
Not too sweet, soft texture, moist middle and very delicately flavoured.
Aside from the taste (one of my absolute favourites), I love that this cake keeps well in the fridge and I find it delightful served chilled. Due to this, it’s a great option to make ahead of time and conveniently store ready for later devouring, and is an absolute delight on a hot summer’s day.
The sponge relies on getting the eggs and sugar whisked up to ribbon stage, which takes a good 10 minutes on high speed - a stand mixer helps a lot here as you can get on with other tasks while it is labouring away. Otherwise, a handheld electric whisk will do the job equally well, but whatever you do, don’t get impatient and attempt to shorten this task. It really makes a difference to the lightness of the final sponge.
My recipe below is derived and modified from an original in the excellent guide to Swedish baking, Fika - The Swedish Way, published by Norstedts.
PORTION SIZE
Makes 12-14 moderate slicesTOOLS
a blender or food processor
a stand mixer or handheld electric whisk
a 30cmx40cm shallow roasting tin with sides, 3-4cm deep
INGREDIENTS
Cake
120g desiccated coconut
60g (3 tbsp) potato starch or potato flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
3 large eggs (about 160g out of shells)
180g caster sugar
Caster sugar, for sprinkling
Custard buttercream
75g unsalted softened butter
100g caster sugar
150g ready-made custard or homemade crème pâtissière, at room temperature
OPTIONAL For the crème pâtissière
25g plain flour
25g cornflour
300ml whole milk
1 ½ tsp vanilla paste or seeds from 1 vanilla pod
2 large eggs
50g caster sugar
METHOD
OPTIONAL – For crème pâtissière
Make a paste - Weigh the two flours into a small bowl and weigh in about 50ml of the cold milk, working it all into a paste with the back of a spoon or a small whisk. Make sure there are no lumps; set aside.
Warm the milk - Weigh the rest of the milk and the vanilla into a small saucepan and place over a low-medium heat until scalded.
Mix eggs and sugar to ribbon stage - Weigh the eggs and sugar into a medium bowl (having the ingredients form some depth in a smaller bowl helps with the whisking) and use an electric whisk on high to mix until pale and fluffy – expect about 4-5 minutes to reach the volume. You are aiming for the ribbon stage, which it is very pale and fluffy, about 5 times the original volume, and the mixture leaves a trail (a ribbon) when the whisk is lifted.
Heat to thicken - Add the flour-milk paste and whisk to combine. Pour over the hot milk and whisk again. Pour everything back into the pan and cook over a low-medium heat until thickened.
I alternate between letting it sit on the heat to thicken, and stirring, switching between a balloon whisk and a spatula to work out the foamy bubbles on the top and the thicker sections as they form on the bottom. I find this whole process can take 10-15 minutes – don’t be tempted to crank the heat up.
You can choose how much to thicken it, but it is ready once it easily coats the back of a spoon and leaves an open trail if you run a finger across it. You can take it thicker if you wish, until it is decidedly thick like the consistency of extra thick double cream, which I think is better for this recipe.
Chill - Pour into a glass bowl and cover with the clingfilm touching the top. Chill fully.
For the roulade
Prep oven and baking sheet - Preheat the oven to 200°C fan, 220°C regular. Line the bottom of the roasting tin with reusable or greaseproof paper.
Mix eggs and sugar to ribbon stage - Weigh the eggs and sugar into a large bowl or the stand mixer. Whisk for at least 10 minutes on high speed – it really does take this long to get the right volume. You are aiming for the ribbon stage, which it is very pale and fluffy and about 5 times the original volume.
If you are using a stand mixer, you are free to continue with other tasks.
Combine & fold in dry ingredients - Weigh the desiccated coconut, potato starch and baking powder into a bowl and use a balloon whisk to combine these dry ingredients together evenly. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg-sugar mixture in a few goes. The mixture should be very light and fluffy, almost like a meringue.
Pour batter into baking tin - Pour the cake mixture into the tin, level the top and use a cranked spatula to encourage it into a rectangle but do not push it all the way to the edge of the paper – it will continue to spread a little during baking and you don’t want it too thin as it is delicate once baked and can easily tear. Tap once to release air bubbles.
Bake - Bake in the middle of the oven for 5-7 minutes. It is done when golden on the top, probably with some huge bubbles, and springy to touch. Bring out the oven and complete all the next steps immediately, with the cake still warm.
Sprinkle with sugar and remove from tin - First, use a spatula to loosen the edges and make sure you can lift the reusable paper all the way round the edge. Next sprinkle the top with caster sugar, then lay a sheet of greaseproof paper and then a sturdy clean tea towel over the top of the tin. For extra precaution, put two elastic bands around all this at each short end. In one quick and decisive motion, flip over so that the sugared sponge top drops onto the greaseproof. Hold the edges tightly – you don’t want this to slide out of the side.
Roll up and cool - Carefully peel off the reusable paper that was on the bottom, then roll up loosely with the greaseproof paper inside. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
*************** WAIT 1 HOUR **************
Finish the custard buttercream - Beat the sugar and caster sugar together until fluffy, then add the custard/crème pat in two or three sessions and beat to combine.
Fill and roll up - Once everything is cooled, gently unfurl the rolled cake and spread the buttercream right to the edges, then roll up fairly tightly, aiming for no gaps.
Chill - chill for at least 30 minutes before serving
*************** WAIT 30 MINUTES **************
SERVE!
Cut into slices 2-3cm wide.
STORAGE
Store in an air-tight container in the fridge; stored well for about 3-4 days.
I also really like this chilled, and served cold from the fridge.
An excellent candidate for freezing and fika, simply slice up and store in airtight bags in the freezer for up to 3 months. A slice only needs about 15 minutes to defrost.