marasca fizz

this drink is the cover picture of a wonderful book, tiny bubbles, which were given a few years ago and is, i think, the book which got david and i into making and drinking cocktails at home. it focuses on cocktails made using sparkling wine – champagne, cava, prosecco etc. – and was a lovely gift.

this is a great drink – the delicate flavour of the kirschwasser is at the fore but complements the champagne well and is surprisingly refreshing given the amount of sugar and sweet cherries involved. lovely for summer.

place a little loose sugar on a plate. wipe 1 maraschino cherry along the rim of the chilled champagne glass  then dip in the sugar - if you do this while the glass is upside down you will make less mess (don’t turn it the right way up until the glass has been dipped in the sugar). put 2 sugar cubes in each glass and add 3 dashes of angostura bitters, 30ml kirschwasser or other cherry brandy (we used my homemade kirsch) and 2-3 maraschino cherries (the recipe suggests 4 but i think 2 is ample) plus a dash of the sugar syrup they came with. top slowly with chilled bubbly and stir carefully.

ofm top twenty: chicken with potatoes

 

this ofm top twenty chicken with potatoes recipe from jill dupliex, which calls for poussin, rather than a bigger bird, was a convenient one-dish supper for one. however, given that, in the spirit of this recipe challenge, i had to actually follow the recipe as written it was less satisfying to make than my usual home-alone ventures - i was particularly itching to add some lemon to the mix of chicken, tomatoes, red onions and potatoes. i also would have swapped the potatoes (which i’m not particularly keen on) for something more appealing, such as fennel or squash. however, i restrained myself and did as i was told.

so how did i get on?

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strawberry ricotta pancakes with salted caramel sauce

 

these were fabulous! they do use quite a few bowls and implements in the making and you need to be careful as you flip them to avoid breakages, but i think they are worth the effort – light fluffy pancakes, rich salted caramel sauce plus fruit and yoghurt to lighten everything up and create an illusion of healthiness! i think a raspberry version will be on the cards in this house at some point (very) soon.

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baked ricotta with bee pollen

i was admonished by a friend recently – she came for supper "aaaages ago" and i promised i’d blog the starter we had – anna hansen’s baked ricotta and bee pollen cakes with honey and lemon dressing – but haven’t. so this post comes with an air of guilt, both for making julia wait but also because it’s an interesting and delicious dish and well worth trying if, like me, you’re curious about bee pollen.

the only trickiness with this recipe was tracking down bee pollen – a couple health food shops seem to sell a powdered version but the granules i saw in the picture in the modern pantry cookery book were more elusive. in the end i managed to get them from wholefoods (the piccadilly store in london).

i’d never had bee pollen before and it’s an interesting flavour – much greater depth than honey, an initial sweetness but then a floral and slightly spicy flavour. the jar recommends sprinkling it on muesli or honey on toast. apparently there are also great health benefits associated with bee pollen.

as for anna hansen’s recipe, it was delicious - creamy and light, slightly crunchy from the pollen, and lifted by the dressing and contrasting bitterness of the chicory and olives. it also kept well – i had a few leftover portions which i baked a couple of days later and they were just as good.

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ofm top twenty: tarta de santiago

 

i love almond cakes and so i was delighted to see claudia roden’s tarta de santiago as part of the ofm top twenty.  according to roden, “this is a splendid cake which is normally made in a wide cake or tart tin and comes out low, but it is equally good as a thicker cake. i have eaten almond cakes in other parts of spain but this one is special. pilgrims and tourists who visit the great cathedral of santiago de compostela in galicia, where the relics of the apostle saint james are believed to be buried, see the cake in all the windows of every pastry shop and restaurant, decorated with the shape of the cross of the order of santiago.”

so, how did i get on?

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