Oxford's Kitchen

Welcome to my colourful kitchen. This is where I write about and photograph the delicious food that I’m cooking at home when I’m not catering for the masses. Oxford Nielsen

[oxfordskitchen]

Delicious Carrot Cake

   This is the last word in carrot cakes. A moist crumbly sponge flavored with cinnamon and orange zest, and given fantastic texture by raw grated carrots, nectarine flesh and broken walnuts, all topped off with a delicious cream cheese icing.

For the Sponge:

1 cup of Flour

1 tsp. of Bicarbonate Soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

100g ground Almonds

100g broken Walnuts

4 Eggs

1 cup Light Muscovado Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

1 cup of grated Carrot

1/3 cup pulped Nectarine or Pineapple

125ml Vegetable Oil

First preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 20cm round tins with greaseproof paper. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl, and then stir in the ground almonds and broken walnut pieces. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the grated carrot, nectarine and oil.

Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and beat briefly until combined. Divide the mixture equally between the 2 baking tins and place in the middle shelf for 35 – 40 minutes. Once cooked allow to cool in their tins.

For the Icing:

¼ cup Butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ½ cups cream cheese

1 ½ cups Icing-Sugar

Once the cakes have completely cooled you can prep the icing. First beat the room temperature butter and vanilla together until light and whipped. Into this beat the cream cheese, and then a little at a time beat in the icing sugar. Dollop a large amount in the middle of one of the sponges and using a warm spatula spread it evenly over. Place the other sponge on top and then cover the cake and its sides with more icing. Leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

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Sadie Frost’s 50th Birthday Moroccan Afternoon Tea

Last month my catering business The Shoreditch Catering Company created a Moroccan inspired Afternoon Tea for the 50th Birthday of the beautiful Sadie Frost. We took inspiration from the North African country and created dishes with a twist such as Tabbouleh with Alexander leaves, Roasted Beetroot with Orangeblossom and three Carrot salad with Chickpeas and Almonds. The weather held off and it was a beautiful afternoon with all Sadie’s friends and family in the garden of her Primrose Hill home. 

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A simple Breakfast 

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Moroccan Minted Lamb Meatballs

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Aunty Ruth’s Breakfast Pie

My Great Aunt, a grand old lady who lived on the top of a hill in Cornwall, used to make this as part of her traditional English Afternoon Luncheon that she would make for us all after we’d spent the morning on the beach. Every afternoon we would trundle up from Readymoney beach on the edge of Fowey, to the top of the hill where a sumptuous spread would be waiting for us. The walk seemed to go on for hours, but it was all made worth it when we had a slice of this lip smackingly good pie.

There’s something so wonderfully old fashioned about this, probably because it’s a meat pie and these are in such danger of fading out as we become more obsessed by words such as ‘health’ and ‘nutrition’ and ‘clean living’. This represents a completely different generation of cooks; a generation of bread and butter, a lump of white sugar in tea and cream cakes on a Sunday afternoons, all without two hoots given about fat content or calories. 

My aunt would serve this as part of a cold buffet of salads, cold cut meats, pickles, and chutneys. She was a women of great taste and style. I on the other hand have discovered that this pie goes phenomenally well with baked beans and a mug of tea. Brown Sauce is a must. 

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I’ve been introduced to this tasty ingredient by the great Skye Gyngell. Sea Kale, is like a cross between Asparagus and Celery. Its picked young to avoid bitterness and is bet blanched and then sautéed with butter. Here i have fried it with Bacon, Peas, and Parmesan and garnished with seeds for a quick and tasty lunch. 

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Risotto Bolognese Arancini

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Greek Salad with Blueberries and Basil

This Greek Salad has the additions of sweet crisp blueberries and peppery basil. These simply add another layer of flavour to what is usually quite a salty dish due to the olives and feta. A lovely spring/summer dish to serve at BBQ’s and picnics. 

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Ultimate lemon meringue pie

Check out my cousin, Angela Nilsen’s, Ultimate Lemon Meringue Pie recipe on BBC Good Food. It really is the best, buttery crust, zesty lemon filling with a cloud of light crispy meringue to finish - perfection. This would make a perfect Easter Sunday Dessert, colourful, sweet and spring-like. 

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Lemon Meringue Tartlets with Raspberries

Simple, classic, and always delicious, Lemon Meringue Tarts are always a favourite for Sunday Lunches and afternoon teas. Stay tuned for the perfect Lemon Meringue recipe.

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Smokey BBQ Baked Beans with Sausages - brilliant food for feeding a crowd, eating on a hung-over Saturday morning or eating by a campfire - soul food at its best. 

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Instant Oreo Ice Cream

Ice-cream essentially falls into two categories, it’s either the proper stuff from a Gelateria, creamy and whipped, or trashy, filled with biscuit, cookie dough, chocolate pieces and sauces. This recipe definitely falls into the latter category. This is trashy, Friday night ice cream intended for big kids and film nights on the sofa. Its superbly easy to make, and results in a creamy, light and sweet vanilla ice, filled with an Oreo biscuit rubble.

600ml Double Cream

200ml Sweetened Condensed Milk*

1tsp. Vanilla extract

5 - 10 Oreos

Simply whip together the vanilla, condensed milk and double cream until think peaks form, chop and crumble the Oreo biscuits, the amount you use is totally down to personal preference, I like a lot. Fold them in to the cream. Spoon into a sealable tub or little molds and freeze for at least 4 hours.

*Chocolate condensed milk is also great; it makes an indulgent chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla.

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My short taster video of the youtube channel that i'll be launching very soon.

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Review: El Ganso, London Fields

I go for the low-key option for Valentines. For me, a big showy date seems a little too much like ‘planned romance’, which is a little like ‘organised fun’, in other words, no fun at all. So this year I will be heading to a local Spanish Tapas restaurant on Broadway Market, ideal for relaxed dates.It’s the perfect place to take someone you’ve recently met and don’t want to make a big deal out of February 14th or just for casual dining when you’ve been together for years.

When you walk in to El Ganso you are automatically at ease; this is a very tastefully and simply designed restaurant. The interior is tinted a calming shade of blue from the chairs to the Moorish tiles, element bulbs throw light on the situation and at one end hang legs of cured Spanish Serrano ham (an excellent place to start on the menu). The waiting staff are warm, welcoming and continental of course. Tables are small and intimately close, edge-to-edge in fact, eliminating any chance of private conversation, creating a communal feel and echoing the idea of Tapas and sharing plates. These tables provide the perfect platform for a steady trickle of dishes from the kitchen - El Ganso operates an unofficial policy of ‘its ready when it ready’, so tantalizingly, one doesn’t know what’s coming out next.

 The food matches the restaurant’s aesthetic, very good quality and simply but refreshingly presented, this is not regenerated, reinvented or fusion Spanish food – it is traditional Spanish Tapas done really bloody well. The Pork shoulder Paella is deliciously flavoured, and the meat is meltingly fatty and tender, the Scallops are rich and buttery, and they do the best Patatas Bravas you'll ever have. Also be sure to have the squid ink Risotto - a jet-black pool of Al dente rice swimming with tender suckered tentacles.

 Dessert was a pan Atlantic affair, with traditional creamy and voluptuous Spanish Crema Catalana (Crème Brûlée), as well as Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream. The Brownie had a superb texture, cracked on the outside with a rich chocolate interior, without being rib-sticking and cakey; making it one of the most divine brownies I’ve eaten. The Vanilla ice-cream it came with was creeping scarily close to the boarders of tastelessness, however this is a reassuring reminder that everything, down to the ice-cream is prepared on site, in the kitchen, giving a slightly different experience with each visit – no one is ordering the chocolate brownie for the ball of vanilla ice-cream anyway.

 In essence El Ganso is a fresh restaurant with a modern Spanish outlook, creating wonderfully presented, delicious tapas dishes. This combined with outstanding service and attention to each customer makes it the perfect Valentines restaurant, beautiful food in an unpretentious and relaxed environment, letting the excellent food and wine do all the work.

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Smoked Garlic Bruschetta with Burrata, Wild Heather Honeycomb, Fresh Figs and Olive Oil

Having woken up ravenous late Saturday morning, i took a stroll across the park to Broadway Market to indulge in eye wateringly expensive ingredients for my lunch. This delightful little number is the product of that stroll: Smoked Garlic Bruschetta with Burrata, Wild Heather Honeycomb, Fresh Figs and Olive Oil, which i devoured quietly, and greedily on my own in the kitchen. 

The combination of rich thick creamy Burrata with intensly sweet, crystallised an waxy Honeycomb, lightly perfumed Figs and peppery Olive oil is one of those perfect contrasting combinations which shouldn't go, but really does. This is essentially an assembly job, but the top tip is go for the best ingredients, there are only a handful so make sure each one is great quality. 

Simply cut an individual Ciabatta roll in half and drench with extra virgin Olive oil, and place under a grill to lightly crisp, but not completely toast. Remove from the oven and rub generously rub all over with a cut (smoked) garlic clove, and season with a little salt. Then simply apart the Burrata and lay it on the warm Bruschetta. Cut two generous slices of oozing Honeycomb and place onto the cheese, then garnish with with torn Figs, Olive oil and Pepper. Such stuff as dreams are made on!

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"Trekstock charity Ambassador Oxford Nielsen dishes up his take on a Chicken Noodle Soup"

Trekstock is a wonderful charity that raises money to support young people fighting cancer. Recently i was honoured to become an ambassador for their #dinexdonate fundraising scheme. Heres a quick video of me dishing up my super easy and nutritious Chicken Noodle Soup, perfect nourishing soul food for cold winter days. 

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Ingredient of the week: Smoked Garlic

I love smoke. Whether its a rack of Baby Back Ribs smothered in a smokey BBQ bourbon sauce or just a smoked cheese sausage i find I'm always trying new ways of getting it into my food.

Smoked garlic is my current obsession, its smell is intoxicating and the patchy charred roped bulbs look particularly beautiful nailed to my kitchen wall.  You can use it in anything you want to give a smokey edge too, cut it open and rub it on stale bread before grilling for Bruschetta, bake whole bulbs of it until sticky and sweet and then toss it with penne, extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil, or add a distinctly barbecue edge to French Onion Soup by sautéing it with the onions. Although its not easy to come across on the high street it is readily available online, even Amazon stocks it! Check back this week for my Potato, Rosemary and Smoked Garlic Bread.