STUFF(face)

Right, this one is a tad out there but bear with me on it. Working on the assumption that pork goes well with fennel and aniseedy flavours, I decided to try something a bit more off the wall. This loin of pork is flavoured with liquorice (which is from a similar family of flavours to fennel, but is normally eaten as a sweet).

In Whitby, Yorkshire there is a shop called the Shepherd's Purse, which sells some fairly esoteric ingredients - including raw liquorice root. I grated around a desert spoon of the root into a mortar and crushed it up with a pinch of fennel seed, a little chilli, some salt and a splash of olive oil. I then rubbed this into the meat, apart from the fat, which just had a salting so that it would crisp into crackling) and left it for 5 hours.

Ok, so its a student food blog, which this post is violating for two reasons- one, I'm on holiday and thus not a student, and two, this is definitely not food for students. But, I shall post occasionally in the holidays anyway, as life is boring without enthusing pointlessly over edibles.

To celebrate breaking up for the summer, I cooked my girlfriend (and myself) a four course meal, mainly to see just because I wanted to do some fancier food and needed an excuse.

For the starter I experimented with a savoury goat's cheese panna cotta, served in quinelles on a caramelised red onion purée with a tomato and beetroot salsa. Goat's cheese and red onion is one of my family's most over used starters, so I wanted to do something new and interesting with it, which this certainly counts as. Just as with a normal panna cotta, I heated cream and added gelatine, but also melted in a hard, salty goat's cheese.

The fish course took the form of king scallops served on lime and coriander chutney. Of all of these recipes, this was the only one that I had ever made before in full- the chutney is lip-bendingly tangy and compliments the scallops beautifully. 

For the main, a herb crusted rack of lamb with minted pea purée,  braised shallots and new potatoes in a red wine jus. Now looking at it, you may think it is a little on the red side of rare, but apparently my girlfriend likes her meat served in such a fashion that a good vet could have it back on its feet.

And finally, a lavender infused cream and raspberry millefeuille (a layered pastry dessert), with lemon and raspberry coolis drizzles. If you've never tried cooking with lavender before I recommend that you do, it lends a wonderful perfume to fruit  dishes and scones, and can even be used on lamb.

I really love a good burger. They're one of my favourite things in the world to eat. I don't mean McDonalds or Burger King rubbish,  they're just too thin. A decent burger should be as thick and as far around as your palm if you really want to sink your teeth into it. I'm also of the opinion that it shouldn't have anything in it other than beef mince and salt (and occasionally chilli) although some people bind theirs with egg, and my mum serves hers with onion in the burger. 

 Ice cream is one of those things that its more convenient to buy from a shop than make yourself, but just occasionally its nice to make your own, even if it is rather labour intensive. The following is a recipe for cookie dough ice cream, based on the custard method, in the style of the king of all Ben and Jerry's flavours (don't even talk to me about brownie or phish food).

Cookie Dough Ice-Cream

Makes a lot.

1 pint milk

1 pint double cream

120g caster sugar

7-8 egg yolks (depending upon size)

2 tsp vanilla essence 

100g flour

100g brown sugar

50g butter

50ml milk

1tsp salt

100g chocolate, chipped

Mix the milk and cream in a pan and heat slowly until just boiling. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla in a separate bowl. Pour the hot liquid into the egg mixture, whisking all the time, then return to the pan. Heat and stir slowly until thickened slightly. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, mix together the  second lot of sugar and butter in another bowl, then add the flour and milk, and mix well. Shape into a log, wrap in cling film and freeze for an hour.

When the custard is room temperature, tip it into a large bowl. Cut the dough into chunks, and mix into the custard along with the chocolate chips.

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and place in the freezer. Every twenty minutes for the next two hours, stir the mixture well to ensure that ice crystals do not form, and to evenly distribute the cookie dough.

I got some stick from some of my friends for the apricot tart picture that looked deceptively like pizza. This led to cries of 'Marshy make us pizza'. Well we had an Avengers party (best idea) the other day, so I made some pizzas for everyone. I know I've already included one recipe for pizza, but this one is here for taste rather than speed. I use sourdough in mine, as it produces a fuller flavour, but I'm also including the measurements for ordinary fast-acting sachet yeast. If you have skills/ don’t mind flour everywhere you can even try spinning it with your hands- get it right and you’ll look awesome. If you drop it you’ve wasted a lot of flour.

Slow Roast Tomato Pizza

Makes 2 large pizzas (be nice and share)

8 tomatoes

Olive oil

1 tsp dried basil

Salt and pepper

500g white bread-flour

300ml warm water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 sachet of yeast/ scant cup of starter

1 ball mozzarella, sliced

300g grated cheddar (to taste)

A nice, simple dish from when I was over at my girlfriend's. Basically a potato salad with a little lemon, fennel and smoked salmon (fish and aniseedy fennel make a wonderful combination, they just work brilliantly).

Chris and I were in the flat. We were both drunk. It was four in the morning. We invented this.

Meatballs, spiced and stuffed with cheddar cheese, with salsa and salad. In a tortilla wrap.

Occasionally you want a dessert after your meal, or a snack at three AM, but unfortuately all you have in the fridge is a small piece of cheddar, half a jar of mayo, and a pepper that looks slightly furry. If this sounds like you then you are following the right blog; here is a recipe for a brownie that can be made in a mug in the microwave in about two minutes. Not my invention, but important knowledge for any sweet-toothed student.

Microwave Brownie

Ingrediants:

2 tablespoons of flour (self raising flour will make cakey brownie, plain will make fudgey brownie)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 or 2 tablespoons water (depending upon how wet the mixture looks)

Pinch of salt

Put everything in a mug and mix well.

Microwave on full power for around one and a half minutes (for a slightly gooey brownie). Give it a poke to check consistency and microwave again as necessary in 30 second bursts.

It looks quiet and unassuming, but do not be fooled by its rather beige exterior. The Stromboli is and Italian-American dish of the highest order, consisting of a folded parcel or pizza dough encasing a melty cascade of spicy tomato sauce, meat and mozzarella. It's much like a calzone really, but has the sauce inside it instead of poured over the top.