Golden Sugar Magic

Keeley & Mat came for dinner last weekend & it was my job to make dessert. I made Sticky Date Pudding from a recipe in the Essential Vegetarian Cookbook. The recipe was really close to being the same as the one in Stephanie Alexander's book which surprised me, but perhaps its a recipe thats been perfected & doesn't need much work?

What we did differently though was use our beloved muffin tin to make individual serves. It worked really well & I'd highly recommend it. Instead of cooking for 55 mins, this way it took just under 20 mins & its really easy to serve them with delicious vanilla ice cream.

Jonathan told me he wanted to try something he'd seen on Poh's Kitchen that morning and set himself up in the kitchen with aluminium foil & a pastry brush while I entertained the guests (ie/ made vodka cocktails and laughed heartily at my own jokes).

Meanwhile, Jonathan heated four parts sugar in one part water over a good heat and stirred it until the sugar dissolved and the liquid was clear. Then he stopped stirring and let the water bubble. He had some cold water & a pastry brush on hand to wipe the sides of the pot so no sugar would stick to the sides & burn.

At this stage you need to keep a careful eye on the sugar mix as it will eventually & quite quickly turn golden. It's important now to take it off the heat before it gets to the colour you want as it will continue to darken. Put the pot in cold water to stop the sugar cooking. The sugar is now molten hot so be really careful around it!

Jonathan then got two forks & crossed the tines over & dipped them in the sugar mix once it had cooled down to a gooey consistency. Next, from a great height, he kind of tossed the forks in the air over the aluminium foil as though he was 'painting a fence really fast, up and down.'

The sugar goes everywhere so you need a big space with aluminium foil on it. The sugar will then harden like toffee and you can break it off and put it on your dessert. The higher you can throw the sugar mix, the more likely you are to be able to make a kind of sugar net.

I'm not sure I would have even attempted this culinary feat, but I'm considering removing the kitchen cupboards above the bench just to see how high Jonathan can work that sugar magic.

Asparagus & black sesame tarts - no tomato sauce allowed

Another take on the mini frittatas - this time by Jonathan. He went off into the kitchen one night and came back with these fabulous creations. Mushroom, cheese & asparagus tarts with truffle oil, caramelised onion & broccolini, topped with black sesame seeds. The rocket salad was delicious: marinated artichokes & pine nuts with a white balsamic dressing.

The craziest thing was these puff pastry triangles that accompanied it. So yummy & great decoration. He baked them in the oven & drizzled them with olive oil. There's something about puff pastry that always makes me want to reach for the tomato sauce - but to do so this night would have been a sin punishable by sentence of a lifetime of sausage rolls, so I resisted the urge.

Mmmm, mushrooms & brie

Roasting field mushrooms is a great idea for dinner - but sometimes they can go a bit tough in the oven. Jonathan's latest method is to do them in a pan with a glass lid on. That way they get fried in their own juices and retain their moisture.

I think these ones were done in the oven, to get the brie nice & melty. I've mentioned before how much I like roasted broccolini - although it too can go a bit dry in the oven.

A way around this is to put cherry tomatoes on the broccolini - give the tomatoes a squeeze before doing so. This way the juice can escape and keep the greens moist.

Just in case you think I lie around drinking vodka cocktails while Jonathan does all the hard work, I grew those little cherry tomatoes in pots on our balcony this summer. Amazing what one can achieve with a trowel in one hand & vodka cocktail in the other!

From Italian class- a phrase to live by

"Modestamente, oltre a essere un' amante straordinaria, sono anche una cuoca eccezionale!"

"Modestly speaking, as well as being an extraordinary lover, I'm also an exceptional cook!"