Vintage Tea Party with the Marmalade Cookery School

Food Styling & Photography by Jon Lewin.

Valentines Macarons available from the Marmalade Cookery School..

Food Styling & Photography by Jon Lewin.

Croissants made by the Marmalade Cookery School.

Food Styling & Photography by Jon Lewin.

Write up is on its way…

Filhóses or Velhóses according to the region in Portugal where they are made are sweet pastries made during the holiday season.  Aesthetically they are fantastic and they taste good too.

Ingredients

500g plain flour
2 juicy oranges
50g lard
1tsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of sugar
0.5dl of aguardente (if you don’t have it, use white rum)
2 eggs
50g aniseed (whole)
125g plain flour extra
oil for frying
500g white granulated sugar for the syrup

To Make
Boil the aniseed with 1.25dl of water, once it’s starts boiling drain the aniseed. Sieve the flour to a wide bowl and push it to the side, in that space pour the sieved orange juice and the melted, but cold, lard, the sugar, the olive oil, the aguardente, the beaten eggs and bit of the aniseed tea.
Pull the flour towards the remaining ingredients and start to combine them a bit at the time, keep your hands wet with the aniseed tea while you do this.
Leave it to rest under a towel. The dough will be ready when it starts producing some bubbles which takes about an hour. Once that happens sprinkle the dough with some flour to help it dry.
With the help of some flour, roll out the dough until it’s really fine. Cut into strips of about 7 x20 cm and place on a towel that has been sprinkled with flour.
Heat up the oil.
Pick one of the ends of the strip with your hand and the other end with a fork. Dip the fork end in the hot oil and drop the remaining dough in wrapping it around the fork. Fry until its nice and golden.
Boil sugar with a bit of water until it reaches 110°C. Dip your fried swirls into this syrup and place them on a non sticking baking paper to dry off.

Arroz Doce is a traditional Portuguese rice pudding. Traditionally, the decorative effect on the top is done by sprinkling cinnamon through a lace doily. This design was done by Tatiana using small pinches of the sweet spice.

Ingredients:

• 5/8 pint milk
• 2 inch piece of vanilla pod
• 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 6 pieces lemon rind, each about 1 ½ inches long and ½ inch wide
• 1/8 tsp. plus ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 ½ pints water
• 6 ½ – 7 oz. raw medium, long or short grain rice
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 ½ oz. sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Bring the milk, vanilla pod, cinnamon stick, pieces of lemon rind and 1/8 tsp. of the salt to the boil over a moderate heat in a small saucepan. Cover the pan tightly, remove it from the heat and let the seasonings steep for 20 – 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, bring 2 ½ pints of water to the boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Pour in the rice in a slow stream, stirring constantly, so that the water continues to boil.

3. Add the remaining salt, reduce the heat to moderate, and boil the rice uncovered for about 15 – 20 minutes until tender. Drain the rice in a colander, turning it about with a fork to separate the grains, then spread it out on a double thickness of kitchen paper.

4. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together with a whisk or rotary beater in a large bowl until light and lemon coloured. Pour in the milk in a thin stream, beating constantly. Then return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over a low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a fork.

5. Pour the pudding into a baking dish about 12 by 8 inches and no more than ½ inch deep. Cool to room temperature and just before serving, sprinkle the top lightly with cinnamon.

This is a truly traditional Portuguese bread which is called broa de milho meaning Corn bread. It tends to be eaten mostly during the festive season. Traditionally it is baked in a wood oven and the dough placed on top of a cabbage leaf. It tastes great dunked in soup and when dry it is delicious crumbled  as a crust on top of roasted bream or other seafood…

Butchering venison with Andy at Dryad Bushcraft – www.dryadbushcraft.co.uk

This flint handaxe is one of a few items left by the first humans and was part of the tool kit used by Neanderthals. They are thought to have been used primarily for butchering animals but they can also be used as a scraper for cleaning animal hides for clothes. The venison below was butchered entirely with the flint axe.

A truly amazing prehistoric tool…

Another day of macarons with the Marmalade Cookery School. Food Styling and Photography by Jon Lewin

Simple steps for perfect Raspberry Macarons!

Ingredients

For the Shells:
200g icing sugar
200g ground almonds
80 ml of water
200g of caster sugar
2 X 80g of egg whites
1 to 2 tsp of deep pink food colouring

For the Raspberry Filling:
80g caster sugar
300g raspberries
30g pectin

Make the Filling
The filling should be made the day before as it needs to set before filling the macarons.
Dissolve the sugar in a little water over a low heat. Add the raspberries and leave to cook for about 2 – 3 minutes. Add the pectin, mix well and put in the fridge.

Make the Macarons Shells
Step 1 – The base
Mix the icing sugar and ground almonds thoroughly until you have a fine, even powder. Sieve and set aside.
Step 2 – The syrup
In a saucepan, bring the water and the caster sugar to the boil . Use a Thermometer to ensure that the temperature of the syrup does not exceed 110 °c (230 °F). This is quite important.
Step 3 – The egg whites
Whisk half the egg whites until they form soft peaks – not too stiff.
Step 4 – The meringue
Decrease the speed of the whisk, then still whisking, pour the sugar syrup over the egg whites in a thin line. Continue whisking until the mixture has almost cooled, this should take a while.
Step 5 – The almond paste
Mix the other half of the egg whites (unbeaten) with the sugar and almond base to get a thick paste.
Step 6 – The colouring
At this point add your pink food colouring to your almond/sugar paste.
Step 7 – The macaroon mix
Add a little of the meringue to the almond paste with a flexible spatula and stir in with regular motions from the bottom towards the top and from the edges towards the centre of the bowl. Add the rest of the meringue in one go and mix gently. This is a crucial step: it is the art of making macaroons. The consistency of the macaroon mix should be smooth, even and runny.
Step 8 – Piping
Fill the piping bag with macaroon mix and pipe small even discs of mix on a tray covered with greaseproof paper, lightly tap the bottom of the tray on your work surface. Put the tray aside to rest for 30 minutes to allow the meringue to dry.
Step 9 – Baking
Bake your shells in a pre-heated oven at 145 °c ( 125 °c Fan oven / gas mark 1 1/2) for 15 minutes.
Remove the Macarons from the oven and allow them to cool down before removing from the greaseproof paper and filling them with the raspberry jam.
Step 10 – Filing your shells
Grab one of the shells and with the aid of a teaspoon pour a bit of the raspberry mix in the centre. Place another shell on top, repeat with your remaining shells.
Arrange in a plate, decorate and serve at room temperature.