Cupcake Crazy

It's National Cupcake Week and to celebrate I thought I would share with you my favourite 'party piece' cupcake recipe. Cupcakes are incredibly versatile from a child's birthday to a decadent dinner party dessert, they're perfect. I'm a big fan of the old favourites, lemon and chocolate but the flavour combinations you find these days are endless! I've gone for one of my favourite flavour pairings, cherries and chocolate, Black Forest Gateau cupcakes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/black_forest_cupcakes_02412

Some think the gateau is a bit dated, but 70s classic or not it keeps reinventing itself and cupcake form is an excellent way to sample it. For a twist on this recipe I made a pistachio cream frosting with chopped pistachio nuts and icing sugar to taste. Pistachio, cherry and chocolate is one of those killer combinations you must try.

Happy baking people!

Small Cook xx

Felin Fach Griffin- A Critique

The Felin Fach Griffin lies nestled between the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons, with such gorgeous countryside you'll be happy to know the food lives up to the scenery. I guess you might describe the Felin Fach as a Gastro-pub, with it's relaxed atmosphere supplemented with fine dining, however, I'd prefer to describe it as a good food done well, minus the pretension. 

Inside lies sumptuous sofas and comfortable dining spaces, the warm rooms with intriquing art works and furniture give an unique and quirky atmosphere. One of the most refreshing things about this restaurant is that the food is sourced with sustainability and seasonality in mind. The menus change from day to day, which is one of the best gifts you can give a customer who is likely to return again. 

My menu was as follows:
                                           Oak Roast Salmon Fishcake with Garlic Aioli 

                         Cornish Hake Fillet with a Clam butter, New Potatoes and spinach 

                                           Creme Brulee with Homemade Shortbread

The highlight of the meal for me was the Hake fillet, the delicate flavour of the fish was complimented by a sweet butter sauce and the clams were delicious. It's the first time I've ever tried them but I will definitely be doing so again. I often find Creme Brulee to be hit and miss at most restaurants I visit, either being to sweet or to eggy. I have to be honest and say this was spot on, rich and smooth, the custard held its own but was not too firm, the topping was light and caramalised well allowing for that characteristic and satisfying crunch when you tuck in. The homemade Shortbread was delightful adder extra, rich in butter and perfect in crunch.

All in all I really couldn't fault it, the dining was homely and comfortable and you were warmly welcomed. The chef had clearly thought about the menus, which I think really makes a difference, to know that the produce has been carefully considered before its put on the plate. The Felin Fach Griffins website describes itself as enveloping you in a big cuddle and sending you to bed with a smile on your face, it did just that, I'll be back again. 

Small Cook x

Mmmmmm chocolate

So this is the cake my sister and I made for my mums birthday...... How did we come up with the idea you ask?  Well, we thought what does our mum like and basically, she likes chocolate.  Sooooo, how did we do it? With chocolate everywhere and a whole bottle of dye!!

My sister came to my house with three loaf size slabs of chocolate cake - kinda like a dense, fudgey cake (actually was really nice and not too rich, so the cake overall wasn't too sickly sweet with all the icing).  We went to tesco to get the decoration food.  Now, I am slightly ashamed to admit it and it was my sisters idea, but we bought the icing (or should I say frosting...).  I was all up for making some chocolate ganache, but for ease, I was persuaded to buy aunt crockers chocolate frosting and I tells you I'm not regretting it (I'm now having the odd spoon full when I come back from work... or 2... or 3.... and I'm putting it on my strawberries and cream.... mmmmmmm, yum!) 

We covered the cake in the frosting and stuck two of them together. We then stuck a slab of chocolate on the end.  Next, the tenuous bit.  Here's a tip.... If you buy lilac dye, just tip the whole bottle in!  We started by just putting in a couple drops, then a few more, then mixed it up, then a few more drops, then mixed it, then more drops, then mixed it, then added a bit of icing sugar to stop it being so runny from all the dye, then more dye, then mix, then dye, icing sugar, dye, mix, dye, icing sugar........ you get the picture...... We had to leave it a bit to dry out before we rolled it - it just fell apart when it was rolled out and lifted up.  Next the 4 handed difficult bit.  One of us layered the icing on the cake and the other sprayed the silver spray on the other side making sure it didn't go on the rest of the cake.... it's a good job this isn't really a recipe book, because I just don't know how would actually explain this without drawing a diagram or something. Then chop some squares from the final cake, ice them, put them on the board (without dropping one upside down like I did) and put some squares of chocolate on it!  Simples! The writing on the top is just skill..... ;-)

Happy Baking! xxx

 (WARNING: remember when putting the candles in that they don't go through chocolate...... otherwise you end up with wonky candles and lots of holes where you tried to put the candle in the cake......)

Easy Peasy Green Salad

How can something so delicious be so slimming?


This was my first thought after tasting this delightful summer salad recipe. We are currently enjoying pea season and I'm a big believer in buying veg in season, the taste is unparalleled at a time when sun ripened fruit and veg are crammed full of flavour. 


Recipe:
Head and tail a bag of sugar snap peas and pod a generous amount of garden peas, this will form the base of your salad. Toss these in a saucepan of boiling salted water, the water only need just cover the peas, add a knob of butter. The key in cooking fresh green veg is to lock in flavour. These only need stay in the pan for 3-4 mins till just cooked, this method almost steams the veg and gives a buttery taste without loosing to much to the water, whilst the peas retain a slight crunch. 


Once cooked plunge these into ice water to stop the cooking process. Mean while toss some rocket in a bowl containing a table spoon of pesto, a squeeze of lemon juice and a little extra olive oil to give a more dressing like consistency. If you're feeling fancy you can use fresh pea shoots we see at all the top restaurants delicately placed on minute servings of salmon... at least you'll carry on the theme. I however, love the peppery flavour off rocket. 


Add the peas to this and mix well, season to taste. For an extra flourish you can add torn pieces of mozzarella and a few cashew nuts for crunch. There we have it, Easy Peasy Green Salad, all the flavour of a summer garden squeezed into a light salad. Perfect for hot summer days, BBQs and times when you just feel like a light meal. 


Enjoy! 


Small Cook xx

What we will be eating in 20 years time.....

So check this link out.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18813075

Mmmmmm - I could definitively eat a bug burger.  I wonder if I could find one somewhere - I can't imagine it would be too juicy though.  I'll have to go looking in the garden for some grasshoppers. This article just confirms that I really want, no, need to go to Heston Blumenthal's restaurant.

Gloucester, oysters and juicy beef

Today, I went to Gloucester food festival! The sun was shining, the food was cooking and my mouth was watering.....


Now, this is not to say I don't love chutneys, oils and vinegar's, but it just seems that every other stall is one of the above! You do spot something a bit unusual, which is nice, but when you've had one garlic oil and made the right noises to the stall holder "mmmm, how nice" and "oh yes, this would go lovely in a bit of mash potato" you've pretty much had them all. Although, sometimes you do discover an unusual gem like blueberry and vanilla balsamic vinegar, which was really nice and would totally go with some strawberries.


There was some fantastic beef cooking on a grill (kinda South American styleeee) which was sliced and put in a bun - melt in the mouth, with a really cowy, juicy, smokey flavour! YUM! (my boyfriend did actually have to rip the bun out of my mouth as it was actually his, but I just couldn't help having a bit of a gnaw).


I had a couple of oysters which were delicious! I compared and contrasted a Jersey Rock Oyster and a West Mersea Rock Oyster. The first was slightly more plump and seemed to be slightly sweeter. It was hard to concentrate my oyster eating comparing though, as eating an oyster seemed to cause some commotion! A lady came over and was making sick like noises and others were wincing around me. I did find it quite rude and I felt very sorry for the guy on the stall. I seemed to be one of his few customers, but I'm not surprised when people react like they did around me today. For years I didn't like them, but that was when I swallowed them down without actually tasting them. I think if they were slightly better looking, this whole "oysters are minging" attitude wouldn't exist!


I purchased some macaroons - chocolate and mint, tiraimisu, cherry and almond, pistachio and passion fruit. Hopefully eating these will help me improve my macaroon making! I think I am due my next attempt at making them - I'll keep you posted! 


All in all, a good days eating and a good day of discovering! Best, most unusual stuff I saw: Green, fresh coconuts being served with rum, jerk chicken bbq, the oysters and unusually for Gloucester, very few chavs!

First Post!

Bonjour, Gutentag, Ciao, Nǐ hǎo, Konnichiwa, Olá, Howdy and Good Day sirs! Enter the mind palace of Tall Cook and Small Cook, a place of food, adventure and exploration. Join the culinary journey beyond and to the inner most depths of Food, Cuisine and Culture. 

A Tall Cook and a Small Cook.... Two Ladies born to cook, love to eat and live to explore, find, smell, dream, touch, talk and think about FOOD!!

Although we both have our own opinions on food, our unwavering passion for anything edible brings us together. We like different things (well, Tall cook will eat anything, literally anything) and have experienced different foodish escapades. So come food lovers, come all as we attempt to relay our trials and tribulations of the immortal ambrosia.

Allow us to nourish your minds whilst we nourish our bodies!...

Tall Cook, Small Cook xx

LET'S EAT!