Big Phillionaire's Kitchen

A tale of the things created in my home, predominantly food but not always

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Ombre Roasted Rhubarb and Hazelnut Tart

I celebrated the purchase of new, rectangular tart tin and some homegrown Devon rhubarb by making a delicious roasted rhubarb and hazelnut tart. As a new convert to rhubarb, I was keen to try some new rhubarb recipes and this one is absolutely delicious. Soft, slightly tart rhubarb with hints of star anise and cinnamon with creamy vanilla creme patisserie and crisp, buttery hazelnut pastry.…

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Ok so it was actually four for tea but it could so easily have just been two.

         On Sunday afternoon I threw an afternoon tea party for my friend Rosie as it was her birthday because now that we have reached the grand old age of 28 we’re all sophisticated. Or something like that. I had established that Rosie had no plans for her birthday so I decided to make some for her and invited some of our friends over to join us. She didn’t know they were coming. It was great. Got to love a surprise.

I felt briefly like Bilbo Baggins where I had several people turn up simultaneously; Emma followed by Ellie (expected guests), my brother’s flatmate (had locked himself out of their flat and needed to borrow my key) and then finally the birthday girl. I have to say that I was most disappointed that my brother’s flatmate declined the offer to be our stripper for the party… But anyway, Rosie arrived and I ushered her into the front room, she tried to head to the kitchen but I blocked her path and forced her in and there were Ellie and Emma waiting for her. Turns out she didn’t know that anyone was invited. That was fun.

On Rosie’s birthday afternoon tea menu there were the following items:

Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches

Cheddar and sage scones

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Sticky toffee cakes with salted caramel icing

Sharing lemon meringue pies

Mini Earl Grey panna cottas with blackberry compote

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A selection of teas

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Chapel Down Brut Reserve

Knowing that I was going out to a party on Saturday evening, I spent Saturday afternoon preparing items for the tea. I started by making my Earl Grey panna cottas (I used decaffeinated tea bags as one of my friends can’t have caffeine) which were served in little glasses that my mother picked up for me many moons ago now in a charity shop. Then I made the pastry for what I had envisaged being mini lemon meringue pies but to be honest, they couldn’t really be considered mini, merely ‘individual’ pies if you were to be eating them as a dessert so they ended up being ‘sharing’ pies. I also made the lemon curd filling for the pies but not the meringue which was made on Sunday morning. The sponge for the sticky toffee pudding cakes and the cheddar and sage scones were also made. This still left lemon meringue pie assembling, cucumber and cream cheese sandwich making, the blackberry compote for the panna cottas and the salted caramel icing for the sticky toffee cakes on Sunday morning. Links to some of the recipes I used can be found at the bottom of the page.

I didn’t get up quite as early as I had intended to on Sunday morning having got back from East Dulwich somewhat later than I had planned so I was incredibly relieved that I had made most items for the tea the day before because otherwise I’m not sure that it would have been much of an afternoon tea!

I had such fun creating the different items for the afternoon tea and it was a wonderful excuse to use all my pretty bits and pieces of china, in particular my owl sugar bowl from Anthropolgie, which usually just sit in the cupboard crying gently to themselves about how unloved they feel. One thing I did realise however, is that I definitely need more teapots. I only have one and yet three different types of tea were served (two types were served in cafetieres! Well, adopt, adapt and improve).

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Recipe links:

Cheddar and sage scones

Lemon meringue pie

Sticky toffee cakes

Earl Grey panna cotta

Just tea for two, And two for tea Ok so it was actually four for tea but it could so easily have just been two.

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Renovate

Time flies when you’re having fun. Or something like that. The latter part of 2014 passed in a whirlwind of Christmas hampers and baking; everything from Danish pastries for breakfast on Christmas Day (yes family, that is how much I love you) to vanilla bean fudge and pineapple, date and ginger chutney which is actually amazing with cheese.

But what does 2015 hold? Well, to an extent it’s too…

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One way or another, the latter part of August and the whole of September were busy months with work, socialising, competitions, knitting and trips back home. I have therefore, decided that the best way to round up the last 6 weeks is with a photo gallery. Enjoy!

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#gallery-0-5-slideshow .slideshow-slide img { max-height: 410px; /* Emulate max-height in IE 6 */ _height: expression(this.scrollHeight >= 410 ? '410px' : 'auto'); } One way or another One way or another, the latter part of August and the whole of September were busy months with work, socialising, competitions, knitting and trips back home.

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Quick suppers with friends

Quick suppers with friends

Wow. It’s been quite a while since I sat down to write anything and probably because I haven’t had a huge amount to say. There’s been quite a lot of change in my world again and six weeks ago I started a new job but I think that I’m starting to find my feet. (Hopefully anyway!).

Strangely one of the aspects of my role that I have been finding most difficult to adjust to is the sociable hours. I…

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Naked cakes that is. Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to once more attend a fabulous masterclass hosted by Pinterest UK. The masterclass this time was in conjunction with Flowers of Liberty, the gorgeous Lilli Vanilli and the Cake and Bake Show and this time it was all about naked cakes.

I have a bit of thing a about naked cakes anyway and my current thinking is that if I ever find someone who actually wants to marry me then I will have a naked wedding cake. However, things and trends change so this might not prove to be the case. But what I do I love about? Firstly, I’m not a massive fan of tons of icing and as far as I’m concerned, marzipan is the work of the devil so that’s part of the answer. I also love them because they are so beautiful and I think that if you decorate your cake with flowers and fresh fruit then they have a greater impact on a naked cake.

Once again, I was greeted with a glass of prosecco (always a good start) at a cookery school in central London and entered a room full of like-minded people. 30 minutes to mingle and then Lilli took us through the principles of decorating a naked cake.

As you might imagine, it’s relatively straight forward but the hardest thing is definitely leveling the sponges… I can’t cut straight, it’s a well known fact in my family and something that I am greatly mocked for. But once you’ve done that, pipe some buttercream inbetweeen the different layers, stack the sponges on top of one another, pipe some more onto the top and then start positioning fresh flowers (edible and inedible ones, you would be surprised at how many you can actually eat) and fruit!

We decorated the cakes in groups and the variation in design was astonishing and all the cakes were stunning. We got to take the cakes the home as well as an amazing goodie bag from Liberty filled with beautiful Liberty print items: a tea towel, an oven mitt, a pendent necklace, and some sweets. So once again, thank you to Pinterest UK for another wonderful evening!

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#gallery-0-5-slideshow .slideshow-slide img { max-height: 410px; /* Emulate max-height in IE 6 */ _height: expression(this.scrollHeight >= 410 ? '410px' : 'auto'); } Naked time Naked cakes that is. Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to once more attend a fabulous masterclass hosted by Pinterest UK.

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I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while but things like starting a new job have been getting in the way somewhat. Although perhaps given how long things were in the planning stages for, perhaps it’s inevitable that it has taken me time to get round to this.

About a fortnight ago, I held a little dinner party that I like to call Mexican Madness. Why? Because the menu was vaguely Mexican and I had vaguely Mexican decorations. And I wore a brightly coloured Aztec print dress.

In total, I probably spent about four months planning this dinner party and no, it wasn’t for 100 guests, in the end just four (five including myself) as I had a last minute drop out. And I agree that is an excessive amount of planning and no, it wasn’t by design but by accident and because it took so long to find a date that everyone could make; except of course that not everyone could make it.

I knew that I wanted to have a dinner with a Mexican menu because I really enjoy the flavours of Mexican food and thought it could be fun theme. I turned to both Pinterest and my Mexican Made Simple cook book by Thomasina Miers for inspiration. Pinterest helped me with the decorations, the arrival cocktail and the dessert, Thomasina with the canapes, starter and salsas. And google helped me to find the main course.

And what was on that menu I hear you ask well:

Tostados with avocado and Parma ham accompanied by Paloma cocktails ~

Seabass Mexico City ceviche accompanied by Macon-Villages ‘Les Roches Blanches’ 2012/2013

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Slow roasted shoulder of lamb with Mexican green rice, salsa verde and fresh tomato salsa accompanied by Portillo Malbec 2013

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Potted chocolate mint puddings

The problem with planning a dinner party for so many months is that it gets more and more elaborate. Or at least in my world that’s what happens. Once the menu was decided, all there was for me to do was to focus on the decoration. The planning went on for so long that my mother was even able to source an amazing sleeping Mexican Jersey Pottery, not a vase exactly but vase from ebay for the event.

In the end there were streamers in my kitchen, a unicorn pinata hanging in my garden, cacti and succulents on my table as well as flowers, a homemade table runner, brightly coloured napkins from Zara Home and beautiful turquoise plates from anthropologie. I would say that it was the most complete dinner party theme that I ever created and one of the best table displays that I have put together. Oh and in case you’re wondering, the answer is yes, I did spray paint a pineapple gold. And what’s more, I would do it again.

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#gallery-0-4-slideshow .slideshow-slide img { max-height: 410px; /* Emulate max-height in IE 6 */ _height: expression(this.scrollHeight >= 410 ? '410px' : 'auto'); } Fiesta like there’s no manana I've been meaning to write about this for a while but things like starting a new job have been getting in the way somewhat.

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Two words that fill me with fear. It’s the same predicament that I face on his birthday, at Christmas and of course, on Father’s Day. Just what on earth do I get for the man who essentially has everything that he wants and anything that might be missing from his life I can’t afford to buy for him.

He is not a man with a huge amount of hobbies and those that he does have are not sufficiently interesting (to me) for me to have the requisite knowledge to purchase something related to it. He is not into gardening although he does seem to take pleasure, as a lot of men do, in mowing the lawn. He is also equally fond of chopping things down, my mother, not so much with the chopping down and it leads to amusing exchanges for observers.

My brother has already shotgunned whiskey and that’s probably fair enough seeing as I don’t drink it and wouldn’t really know which one to buy for him. So what do I get him? I have decided to make him something. And that something is vanilla bean fudge.

My daddy loves fudge; at Easter we went to the beach at Minehead one evening to have fish, chips and champagne on the sea wall and afterwards he decided that what he really wanted was some fudge. Unfortunately at this time of the day (and believe, it wasn’t particularly late) there was no one to oblige in Minehead meaning that we went home without any.

Although it’s not the most exciting gift in the world, I think that he will be very pleased with it because I have taken the time to make it for him. The best gifts I always think, are those that demonstrate how well you know a person. They don’t have to be expensive but they show thought and care.

I did some research into fudge recipes online (Pinterest, BBC Good Food etc.) to find a suitable recipe. I have made fudge before it wasn’t the best fudge in the world, it was too close to toffee and whilst it tasted good, it didn’t have the soft squidgy texture that proper Devon fudge has.

I used a recipe from the BBC Good Food website for vintage vanilla fudge and it seems to have worked like a charm although the current hot weather is impacting on the setting time for it. However, I appear to have produced a delicious, soft, buttery, vanilla fudge that he will be delighted with. Here’s hoping anyway.

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#gallery-0-5-slideshow .slideshow-slide img { max-height: 410px; /* Emulate max-height in IE 6 */ _height: expression(this.scrollHeight >= 410 ? '410px' : 'auto'); } Father’s Day Two words that fill me with fear. It's the same predicament that I face on his birthday, at Christmas and of course, on Father's Day.

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No, that’s actually a lie. Last night was anything other than a standard Tuesday night. I had the opportunity to attend a masterclass with Tom Aikens at L’Atelier des Chefs on Wigmore Street. And I grabbed it with both hands and I’m so pleased that I did.

As I always am, I was a bit apprehensive about going by myself but I’m getting over that. I’ve even been to the ballet by myself so I’m practically a pro. However, it was one of those lovely occasions where it felt like everyone was expecting me, even though no one knew me. That was everyone from the guy who works for L’Aterlier and told me where I needed to go the moment that arrived to the lady from Pinterest waiting downstairs who went to get me a glass of champagne while I put coat and bag away. It just makes it so much easier. And any evening that starts with a glass of champagne is starting the right way in my opinion.

So after talking to a lovely lady called Sarah who writes a blog called ‘Taming Twins’ and sipping champagne, we were invited through into the kitchen where we would be working in groups of 5. I would say that I lucked out with my group; I met some great people who I felt an instant connection with so hopefully I’ve made some new friends as well as learnt some new recipes.

All of the recipes were fish recipes which is brilliant because I love fish. It made me feel a bit like being back at school and I’m definitely not to used to cooking with other people but it worked well. I also definitely like to take charge. I don’t even mean to, it just seems to happen. It might be from a reluctance of other people to come forward but someone’s got do it right?!?

The format of the class was that you made a dish as a group and then you ate it accompanied by a rather splendid glass of Chablis. It would perhaps have been nice to be able to take the wine into the kitchen with you as I do like to cook with a glass of wine in hand but then again it’s probably a good thing that you couldn’t from both a consumption and a finger retention point of view. The knives were definitely sharper than the ones in my kitchen despite my best efforts. And yes, it does make a difference.

So apart from Chablis, what was on the menu last night? First up was beetroot marinated salmon, beet dressing and pickled baby beets. It was totally delicious and I was converted to the marinated salmon which previously I haven’t enjoyed raw. The texture was lovely and the balance of flavours a delight. I did shy away from shaving the salmon into wafer thin slices. I know where my skills lie and it’s not this.

The second dish was baked scallops with sauce vierge. Now I will confess to picking out the green olives because I’m sorry, I just don’t like olives. I’ve tried them enough times to know that I don’t like them. With the exception of the olives I loved the dish but seeing as scallops are one of my favourite things we were also going to be onto a winner with this one really. It’s also a beautiful looking dish.

The third and final dish was seabass with herbs, peashoots and orange, a dish that combines another two of my favourite things, seabass and peashoots. I think that Charlotte and I probably ate more peas than we cooked but fresh peas are just so good. Another winning dish in my opinion that, like the other two, is achievable in your own home and kitchen as they don’t require any specialist equipment.

So all in all, a rather fabulous evening hosted by the really rather lovely Tom Aikens. If I have the opportunity to go any more events like this then I will definitely be signing up because I thoroughly enjoyed myself last night.

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    Just a standard Tuesday evening No, that's actually a lie. Last night was anything other than a standard Tuesday night. I had the opportunity to attend a masterclass with Tom Aikens at L'Atelier des Chefs on Wigmore Street.

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Set your table A simple table setting of white candles, glass tealight holders and fresh herbs - lovely

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Adding to my repetoire

Adding to my repetoire

At the moment I’m trying to develop my range of slightly more wholesome bakes that will be suitable for those of my friends who follow strict diets or who have dietary requirements meaning that they often miss out on some of the delicious things that come out of my kitchen.

Although it is by no means impossible to purchase gluten free or paleo treats, I think that it’s quite hard to find treats…

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I’m heading home to the West Country for Easter and what’s more, I’m taking one of my very best friends and I can’t wait! Long walks in the countryside, exploring the woodland behind the house, feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs, a trip to the seaside perhaps and plenty of lounging around and appreciating the view. It’s going to be great. And before we get down there, a marathon sing-a-long session in the car!

In preparation for the trip, I have been making a few treats to take home to my parents. Namely, glittery raspberry macaroons filled with white chocolate and passion fruit ganache (I’m going through a macaroon phase, I made vanilla macaroons with a mocha ganache and a cocoa nib garnish), cucumber pickle (I know, crazy), a jar of walnut pesto and a jar of sundried tomato pesto.

I might make up a spinach pesto for them as well if I have time tomorrow as I have some spinach lurking in the bottom of my fridge. Fingers crossed they enjoy it all!

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#gallery-0-5-slideshow .slideshow-slide img { max-height: 410px; /* Emulate max-height in IE 6 */ _height: expression(this.scrollHeight >= 410 ? '410px' : 'auto'); } Easter treats I'm heading home to the West Country for Easter and what's more, I'm taking one of my very best friends and I can't wait!

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Taking on the Easter Bunny

Taking on the Easter Bunny

Easter eggs have definitely come on a long way since I was a child when you had a choice of a Cadbury or a Nestle chocolate egg and there are a whole host of amazing eggs available from the likes of Hotel Chocolat, Rococo and Prestat to name but a few. These eggs are beautiful and appealing to adults but what is there for those of us who don’t want a chocolate egg?

Well ladies and gentlemen, I…

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I was recently asked to bake the cakes for a first birthday party with an enchanted forest theme; I was very excited and more than happy to accept the challenge.

The brief was to create 100 cupcakes, 30 mini cupcakes and a white chocolate gateau with an enchanted forest theme. Specifically, the cakes needed to look like an enchanted tree. So I turned to Pinterest for inspiration and knowing that the cakes would be displayed on a tiered cake stand, I decided that the cakes would be decorated to look like grass, toadstools and flowers, and that the white chocolate gateau would be made to look like a tree trunk by covering it with flakes.

After consulting with my client, I made four different flavours of cupcakes, vanilla, chocolate, lemon and orange and poppy seed. Something for the adults, something for the kids. Something for those with a sweet tooth and something for those who prefer something with a bit more bite.

I was very pleased with the finished article. It was a lot of work and there were times when I thought that maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew but I think that I met the brief and I hope that you agree.

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  An Enchanted Forest I was recently asked to bake the cakes for a first birthday party with an enchanted forest theme; I was very excited and more than happy to accept the challenge.

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A trio of homemade pestos: parsley pesto, rocket pesto and spinach pesto

I’ve been making a bit of pesto lately and it would be fair to say that I have rediscovered my love for it. Mostly when you think of pesto, you think of the traditional basil pesto but I’ve been making pesto with spinach, rocket and parsley, and it is my intention to move onto coriander pesto and sundried tomato pesto. Of the pestos that I have made so far, my favourite is the spinach pesto. I spent a very pleasant evening last night with my friend Olivia, sat on her terrace eating spinach pesto spread on oat cakes (I highly recommend) and drinking Prosecco. Perfect.

Homemade pesto is so much better than pesto that you buy in the shops; the depth of flavour is so much greater and it’s very quick and easy to do. I’m thinking of starting my own range so hands up who would like to buy a jar?

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Spinach Pesto

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of spinach

3/4 cup of basil

1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup of parmesan

4 cloves of garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

1tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup of olive oil

Method

Place ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Put into jars and store in the fridge.

Pesto Passion I've been making a bit of pesto lately and it would be fair to say that I have rediscovered my love for it.

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Canapés for 90 people

Now I’m not a caterer but I do apparently have some of the requisite skills. On Monday I produced, along with my mummy, canapés for 90 people. Until now, the most people that I have ever produced food for is 30 people so that’s quite an uplift. I’ve done cakes and puddings for more than 30 people but I have never attempted canapés for that many.

Canapés are awesome but they are so fiddly and time consuming and nearly everything has to be done right before serving so I knew that I was going to have be strategic to pull this one off. Add to this the limitations of the venue that the event was taking place in, (nowhere to heat anything, no fridge space and as turns out, no running water in the prep room which is actually a meeting room). I knew that the key to success was going to be having a varied menu that could largely be made in advance. Not easy.

I was asked to provide a mixture of substantial savoury and sweet canapés and I devised the following menu:

Savoury canapés

Fennel marinated feta skewers with olive and cucumber

Spinach and ricotta tortellini with sun-dried tomatoes

Roasted tomato and basil mini quiches

Roasted red pepper, feta and mint dip shots with crudités 

Quiche Lorraine bites

Spinach and smoked salmon roulade

Dill scones with horseradish cream and smoked trout

Thai coconut curried chicken skewers

Honey and sesame cocktail sausages

Parmesan and black olive thins with pesto parsley and goats cheese

Potato and onion broad bean tortilla with parmesan 

Sweet canapés

Shortbread

Brownie bites with mascarpone and raspberries

Mini lemon cakes with lemon frosting

If I’m to be entirely honest then next time I would have fewer savoury canapés options but I would keep the same number of sweet options. I really enjoyed myself and can’t help but wonder what else I might be capable of. However, there isn’t a shadow of a doubt that I could have pulled it off without the help of my wonderful mummy, who I did make work all through mothers’ day… feel a bit bad about that one.

Recipe

Spinach and smoked salmon roulade and dill scones with horseradish cream and smoked trout

Dill scones with horseradish cream and smoked trout

Makes 10 scones (20 canapés)

Ingredients

For the scones:

175g (6oz) plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

45g (1 1/2 oz) butter, diced

1 tbsp finely chopped dill

1 egg, beaten

60 ml (2 floz) double cream

Milk

For the horseradish cream:

125 ml (4 floz) sour cream

1 tbsp horseradish sauce

For the topping:

150g (5oz) smoked trout slices

Black pepper

20 tiny dill sprigs

Method

You will need a 1 1/2 inch fluted pastry cutter and a baking tray

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Crumble the butter into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Stir in the dill and then using a fork, stir in the egg and cream to form a soft dough. If the mixture is a bit dry then add a drop more cream.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until smooth.

Gently role out to 2.5cm (1 inch) thick and stamp out 10 rounds using the pastry cutter.

Place the rounds on a greased and floured baking sheet. Brush with milk and bake until firm and golden, about 8-10 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack covered with a cloth.

To assemble (upto 45 minutes prior to serving)

Cut each scone in half.

Combine horseradish sauce and sour cream (do this earlier in the day and keep covered in the fridge until needed) and top each scone with an equal amount of the mixture.

Cut the smoked trout into strips approximately 1 inch wide and top each scone half with a trout strip, some black pepper and a sprig of dill. You can also prepare the trout strips in advance so that the scones are quicker to assemble.

Recipe credit: Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford-Snell

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#gallery-0-5-slideshow .slideshow-slide img { max-height: 410px; /* Emulate max-height in IE 6 */ _height: expression(this.scrollHeight >= 410 ? '410px' : 'auto'); } Delicious morsels Now I'm not a caterer but I do apparently have some of the requisite skills. On Monday I produced, along with my mummy, canapés for 90 people.

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I've got layers, just like an onion

I’ve got layers, just like an onion

Roasted onions with thyme

Roasted onions, one of my new favourite things. I first ate it at the amazing Harwood Arms in Fulham where I had the second best meal of my life and have now cooked them at home twice. And I think that you should too so here’s what you need and how you do it.

Roasted onions

Ingredients Medium – large white onions (I recommend allowing at least a whole medium onion per…

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