Paul Hollywoods Focaccia

If you have been glued to the Great British bake off as I have, you will have seen Paul Hollywood's focaccia made. I love bread, especially Italian bread and when I've made it before, it's been the typical dough you would make for most bread. According to Mr Hollywood, this is not how an authentic focaccia is made, so I decided to take the challenge.
The photo really doesn't do justice to this fantastic recipe. It took three tries to make it, mainly because I didn't realise I had the wrong type of yeast! It is a very messy and sticky dough due to the large amount of water added and takes a bit of practice and any sort of scraper to help handle this difficult dough!

Once you have mastered it though you will make it again and again. It is a perfect bread for accompanying a meal or even to have on its own, with maybe a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in. I'm now going to try adding olives and sun dried tomatoes to add other flavour dimensions but it is still amazing with simply salt and rosemary as I've added to mine.

The recipe can be found here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/focaccia_08389

The Great British Bake Off book is excellent too so here it is if you fancy an early Christmas present!

Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets (Great British Bake Off TV Tie)

Good luck!

Smoked Pancetta wrapped Scallops with broad beans and toasted ciabatta

This is the final recipe I made with the scallops. It's a really simple dish that can be a mid week treat as it's so quick to make. Smoked pancetta goes really well with the scallops and the crunch of the ciabatta gives a good contrast in texture.

Ingredients

Serves 2

Half a ciabatta loaf

two large handfuls of fresh salad leaves (watercress and rocket works well)

16 fresh queen scallops

a couple of handfuls of podded broad beans

8 rashers of smoked or ordinary pancetta

a tbsp of grated parmesan and parmesan shavings to garnish

A bay leaf

tbsp olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil 

Walnut oil (optional)

Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the broad beans in a pan of unsalted water and add the bay leaf. Bring to the boil and cook for about 20 minutes until tender. Immediately refresh under cold water to keep their colour, then slip them out of their skins. Cut the ciabatta into 1 inch chunks, put in a bowl with salt and pepper, tbsp of grated parmesan and tbsp of olive oil and mix to combine. Spread out on a baking sheet and put in the oven for five to ten minutes to go golden and crispy. Place the scallops in a bowl and season lightly and dress with a little olive oil. Take each rasher of pancetta and tear in half then wrap each scallop in a piece of pancetta and place on a baking sheet. Cook for about eight minutes until the pancettta is starting to crisp slightly. While the scallops are cooking, dress the salad leaves and broad beans with a little extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Take the ciabatta and scallops out of the oven. Place a handful of salad and broad beans on each plate then add the scallops and the ciabatta and drizzle with a little walnut oil and garnish with parmesan shavings. 

 

Scallop Triumph

I have made three dishes in all with my scallops now and have one more to go. I made a fish pie last night with some of them which was really tasty but the meal I did tonight was so simple and absolutely delicious I had to share it with you first. I think this one might be a contender for entering the competition in the Isle of Man Queenie festival. This scallop dish was lovingly created thanks to the generous donation from Island seafare Ltd.



Serves 2

Ingredients

For the skewers:

24 fresh queenie scallops

zest of one lime

olive oil

tsp of paprika

tsp cayenne pepper

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

For the Guacamole:

1 ripe avocado, cut into bite size chunks

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

3 or 4 small vine ripened tomatoes, deseeded and cut into bite size chunks

zest and juice of 1 lime

a spring onion halved and cut into small chunks

salt and freshly ground black pepper

a small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley chopped

a drizzle of olive oil

 

For the flatbreads: 

255g self raising flour

1 tsbp of greek yoghurt

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

water

Begin by making the flatbreads. Put the flour, spices and seasoning into a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yoghurt, olive oil and a tbsp of water and begin to bring together. Keep adding water a little at a time until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for about five minutes on a floured surface until it becomes soft and elastic. Leave to one side. 

In a bowl add the scallops, lime zest and juice, paprika, cayenne pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and seasoning and mix to combine. Leave to marinade. 

To make the guacamole simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl.

Light your BBQ and when the coals are glowing white and there is no flame left they are ready to use. Thread the scallops on to skewers.

Divide the dough into three and roll each bit out very thinly on a floured surface. Set each flatbread on the BBQ and allow to bubble up and brown lightly on each side, this should take about two or three minutes.



Set to one side and then place the scallops on the BBQ. Cook until nicely coloured all over and cooked through, then remove.



Immediately serve on the flatbreads with a spoonful of the guacamole and a little lightly dressed salad. And to drink, a chilled Pimms and lemonade. Lovely.

My first freebie

When Nick Pledger from Island Seafare Ltd said he would like to send me some Queenie scallops to try I was very excited. It was all in aid of the up and coming Isle of Man queenie scallop festival and marine day which is taking place for the first time to celebrate the well loved local seafood. There is also a competition to enter your best queenie scallop recipe, with the prize being that the Hairy Bikers will cook your recipe on marine day and you will receive a personalised trophy and £100 worth of seafood. 

While waiting for my exciting delivery I wracked my brains as how best to capture their subtle soft flavour and came up with a few ideas but since he very kindly sent me 1 Kilo of the little beauties I could try them all.  The first one I wanted to try was a saffron risotto but I didn't want to mix the scallops into it, I wanted to showcase them round the edge of a risotto-y mound and have some sort of butter melting over them. The presentation is a little pretentious but I think it looks good and it shows off the most important part of the dish. The taste was really good too, even if I do say so myself.

Ingredients

12 Queenie scallops

200g risotto rice

750ml of fish, vegetable or chicken stock

half a wine glass of white wine or vermouth

a very large pinch of saffron

a tblsp of olive oil

a stick of celery, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

zest of an orange

40g butter

a handful of pine nuts, toasted

salt and freshly ground black pepper

smoked Maldon sea salt (optional)

extra virgin olive oil to serve.

Begin by making the butter. Coarsely chop the toasted pine nuts, place them in a bowl with the orange zest, a little seasoning and the butter and mash together with a fork. Leave to one side. Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the onion and celery and cook for about five minutes to soften. Stir in the rice to coat it with the oil and cook for a minute then add the vermouth or white wine and stir until it is all absorbed. Bring the stock up to simmering point and add the saffron. Start adding ladles of the stock into the rice and stir continuously until it is absorbed. Repeat the process until the rice become soft, but still retains a very slight bite. Once cooked, take the risotto off the heat, dollop half the butter on top and cover with a lid for about 10 minutes.

Take your scallops, remove the coral and toss them both separately in olive oil. Heat a frying pan over a medium to high heat and add the corals. Cook for a couple minutes until nicely coloured then stir into the risotto. Season the risotto to taste then place a mound of the risotto in the middle of a warmed plate. Take the scallops, add them to the pan and cook for about a minute on each side. Dot the rest of the butter on the top of each scallop and allow to melt. Remove from the pan and arrange around the plate, drizzling with the buttery juices from the pan and a little extra virgin olive oil. Finally crumble a few crystals of the smoked sea salt on top of each scallop and serve immediately.

Courgette and chilli pasta

I was busy as usual trying to find cheap and quick meals for my food order for the week and this one jumped off the page. It looked tasty, easy, healthy and had only a few ingredients so ticked all the appropriate boxes. I fiddled with the recipe a bit as I usually do because I'm incapable of leaving things alone (as my other half always tell me). I added a little finely grated lemon zest and a bit of grated parmesan in the sauce as well as on top which did give it a bit more depth ( I felt I had to replace some of calories lost with cheese as I used low fat creme fraiche!) It turned out really well, so well done to Good Food magazine this month for making my week of food so tasty. 

Serves 2

200g linguini

1 tbsp olive oil

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic

2 courgettes, grated

2 tbsp creme fraiche

2 tsp lemon zest

grated parmesan to serve

Put a large saucepan of salted water on to boil and cook the pasta according to instructions. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat and add the chilli and garlic and stir but don't allow it to brown. Turn up the heat and add the courgette and stir for a few minutes to cook and allow any water to evaporate. Stir in the creme fraiche, lemon zest and season well. Drain the pasta and coat in the sauce adding some grated parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to finish.