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This simple but tasty salad has become a regular weeknight dinner option in my house.  It uses two ingredients that are a little unusual – merguez sausages and moghrabieh.   Merguez is a heavily spiced mutton- or beef-based fresh sausage in North African cuisine.   It is also popular in [...]]]>

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This simple but tasty salad has become a regular weeknight dinner option in my house.  It uses two ingredients that are a little unusual – merguez sausages and moghrabieh.   Merguez is a heavily spiced mutton- or beef-based fresh sausage in North African cuisine.   It is also popular in the Middle East,  and Europe.   Its flavor and colour come from chilli pepper,  harissa,  sumac,  fennel and garlic.  Moghrabieh is a giant couscous originating from Lebanon.    They are cooked and used in a similar way to pasta,  maintain a chewy consistency and absorb a lot of flavour from the ingredients they are cooked with.   With a little bit of hunting,  both of these ingredients are available in Melbourne.

Here’s what you need:

4 merguez sausages,  removed from casing and broken into small pieces

½ small head caulifliower cut into even small florets

1 cup moghrabieh

½ cup chopped mint

1 cup chopped parsley

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp hot paprika

1 long red chilli de-seeded and julienned

Cook the moghrabieh in boiling water for about 25 minutes.   You want them soft but not mushy.   Once you have them underway you can move onto the rest of the salad.

Over a medium heat in a large,  deep frying pan saute the cauliflower in a little olive oil for about 5-7 minutes.   I go very easy on the oil so that the florets get a little bit of charring.   To the pan,  add the dry spices and stir through.   Once thoroughly combined,  add the merguez sausage meat and the chilli.   Continue to stir the mixture occasionally until the sausage is cooked through and the cauliflower is tender.

Add the moghrabieh and turn up the heat for about a minute while you mix it through.   Turn off the heat and toss through the chopped herbs.

Place mixture on individual plates or a large flat platter and drizzle with a little olive oil.   On this occasion,  I dressed some rocket with olive oil and put it under the salad as I was in the mood for some extra greens.

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Welcome to another International Incident Party!  This time we head to Mexico and celebrate with with what is usually most people’s introduction to Mexican food – the taco.

But what exactly is a taco?  When a tortilla is filled and folded in two, it is a called a taco.  [...]]]>

Welcome to another International Incident Party!  This time we head to Mexico and celebrate with with what is usually most people’s introduction to Mexican food – the taco.

But what exactly is a taco?  When a tortilla is filled and folded in two, it is a called a taco.  The corn tortilla has been around since before the conquest of Mexico. It formed an important part of the daily diet of both kings and workers in pre-hispanic Mexico.  Today wheat tortillas are nearly as common as corn ones and the taco is a well known and loved street food.

To many people, a taco is a corn tortilla bent in half to form a deep U shape, then fried crisp and stuffed to overflowing with minced beef, shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced tomato, and grated cheese.   You’ve seen them in Tex-Mex fast food franchises like Taco Bell and in the pre-packaged kits in the supermarket.  Throughout Mexico, however the simple taco consumed by millions of people daily is a fresh, hot, often soft tortilla rolled or folded around some slow cooked shredded meat or mashed beans or seafood and liberally doused with any one of the endless variety of sauces for which Mexico is justly famed, but which are sadly misrepresented in favour of the Tex-Mex variety.  Tacos are usually eaten as a snack between meals, in the evening with a bowl of soup for supper, or as an entrée before the main meal of the day.  I have steered away from the Tex-Mex style and gone for two fillings that have a Baja California influence.

Prawn tacos with jicama slaw

Tacos

32  green medium king prawns, peeled and cleaned
1 tsp  each ground cumin, ground allspice and chilli powder
2 tbsp  vegetable oil
1  small red onion, finely chopped
2  cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2  vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1  lime, juiced
¼ cup  coarsely chopped coriander
To serve: tortillas (I used wheat but corn would be fine), avocado sliced into wedges, limes and sour cream

Jicama slaw

1 (285gm)  jicama, peeled and cut into julienne
1  baby cos, finely shredded
1  fresh green serrano or other long green chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
1/3 cup  finely chopped coriander
1  lime, juiced
¼ cup  vegetable oil
¼ tsp  chilli powder

Place prawns, cumin, allspice, ½ tsp chilli powder and 2 tbsp oil in a glass bowl, season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

For jicama slaw, place jicama, cos, green chilli and coriander in a bowl, season to taste and stir to combine. Add dressing to jicama mixture and toss gently.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan, add onion, garlic, tomatoes, lime juice and remaining chilli powder and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until soft, then season to taste.

Barbecue or char-grill prawns for 4-5 minutes or until cooked through, then transfer to tomato mixture, add coriander and stir to combine. Barbecue or char-grill tortillas, for 30 seconds on each side or until just warm and lightly golden, then transfer to a plate and cover with a tea towel to keep warm.

Serve warm tortillas, prawn and tomato mixture, jicama slaw, avocado, lime halves and sour cream separately for everyone to assemble their own tacos.

Shredded Beef Tacos

800 gm  beef brisket or chuck, cut into 5cm pieces
1  onion, thinly sliced
3  cloves of garlic
¼ cup  lard or vegetable oil
480 gm (about 3)  vine-ripened tomatoes, roasted, peeled and chopped
2  green onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp  chilli powder
1  long green chilli, thinly sliced

Place beef in a large saucepan, add enought water to cover, add 1 tsp sea salt and bring to the boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, skimming scum from surface. Add half the onion and half a clove of garlic to pan, partially cover and simmer for 3 hours or until meat is tender. Remove meat from broth, reserving broth, and finely shred using two forks.

Finely chop remaining garlic and set aside. Heat lard over medium heat in a large heavy-based frying pan, add beef and remaining onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until onion is soft and beef browns slightly. Add garlic, tomato, green onion, chilli powder and green chilli and cook for 2 minutes or until tomato softens. Add 180ml of reserved broth and cook for 10-15 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve spooned into warm tortillas.

Wheat Tortillas

Makes 20
3 cups bread flour
120 gm  lard

Place flour in a large bowl, add lard and, using fingertips, rub until combined, then make a well in the centre.  Combine 1 tsp sea salt with 1 cup water, pour into well and mix until combined.  Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, cover with plastic wrap and stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Heat a hotplate or large heavy-based frying pan over low heat. Roll tablespoons of dough into 1mm-2mm-thick, 15cm-diameter circles and cook, in batches, for 1-2 minutes each side or until just coloured.  Cover with a tea towel to keep warm.

Don’t forget to check out what the rest of the crew has made:

Remember the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland singing, “I’m late, I’m late.  For a very important date”?  Well, that’s me.

Terribly late to the latest International Incident Party hosted by the most affable Jeroxie. This time its a Noodle party!  A horrible head cold has deprived me of my senses [...]]]>

Remember the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland singing, “I’m late, I’m late.  For a very important date”?  Well, that’s me.

Terribly late to the latest International Incident Party hosted by the most affable Jeroxie. This time its a Noodle party!  A horrible head cold has deprived me of my senses of taste and smell for several days now, as well as keeping me out of the kitchen.  Given my condition, I probably should have brought Chicken Noodle Soup to the Noodle party, but for some reason I couldn’t get noodle kugels out of my head, so I have made them instead.

The word kugel comes from the German word for ball.  It is an Eastern Eurpoean Jewish dish, much loved and interpreted but traditionally a round, baked sweet or savory pudding or casserole made of noodles or potatoes.  The first kugels were made from bread and flour and were savory rather than sweet.   Then, about 800 years ago, cooks in Germany replaced bread mixtures with noodles. Eventually eggs were incorporated and sour cream to help with binding the ingredients and to provide flavour and creaminess.   Savoury kugels are often served as a side dish with hearty slow cooked meat dishes.  The addition of cottage cheese and milk created a custard-like consistency which is common in today’s dessert dishes.   In today’s adaptations you might find the addition of raisins, cinnamon and sweet farmer’s cheese to noodle kugel recipes.   In an article in the New York Times around 18 different types were mentioned including the Jerusalem kugel which combines caramelized sugar and black pepper,  also an apple-noodle kugel, salt and pepper kugel, broccoli kugel, and a modern “designer” three-layer kugel with sweet potato, broccoli and cauliflower.

I have gone for a plain savoury kugel and served it with a Hungarian dish, Lamb Paprikash.  You can used dried spaghettini or make your own.  I always use the ratio 1 egg to 100gm of “00″ flour when making pasta.  Never seems to fail.  Simply mix together until it is a silky smooth dough,  cover in plastic wrap and leave in the fridge to rest for about an hour.  Roll it out with a pasta machine then cut into spaghetti with the appropriate attachment.

Fresh noodles

150g spaghettini (noodles)

100g sour cream

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 onion, grated

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

Paprika, to dust

Preheat oven to 180°C.   Grease six 8cm wide, 1/2 cup (125ml) ramekins and place on a tray.

Noodle Kugels

Cook spaghettini until just al dente.   Drain and rinse in cold water, then drain again.   Place in a bowl with sour cream, egg, onion, garlic and parsley, then season and stir to combine.   Divide mixture among ramekins and bake for 20 minutes or until tops start to crisp and turn golden.

Run a knife around inside of moulds, turn out and serve (in this instance with lamb paprikash).  Not very challenging I admit, but it was the best I could muster in the circumstances.

Noodle Kugel with Lamb Paprikash

Don’t forget to check out what the rest of the International Incident Crew made:

Penny – Jeroxie (Addictive & Consuming) – Homemade ban mian with minced pork and mushrooms

Christine – Christine’s Recipes – Spicy Pork Mince and Noodles in Crisp Lettuce Cups

Mardi – Eat, Live, Travel, Write – Ginger scallion & Butter noodles

Trix – Tasty Trix – Summer ‘Noodles’ with yellow and green zuchinni with cool basil oil tomato sauce

Shirley – Enriching your kid – Vermicilli Biryani with Tahini

Natasha – 5 Star Foodie – Homemade Soba Noodles

Anges – Off the spork – Handpulled noodles at home

Cherry – Sweet Cherry Pie – Coconut noodles with honey glazed pork belly

Tracey - Tangled Noodle – Fork in the Road: North Platte Noodles

Evelyne - Cheap Ethnic Eatz – Incidental Noodles

Ms Baklover - Footscray Food Blog – Zha Jiang Mian

Casey – Eating, Gardening & Living in Bulgari

Tamar – Koreanfornian Cooking – Tteokbokki

Billy – Half-Eaten – Pumpkin Miso Noodles in Shitake Dashi Broth

Nina – Consumed Food Love – Vietnamese Noodle Salad

Suresh – 3 hungry tummies – Twice cooked pork with rice noodles

Anh – A food Lover’s Journey – Taco Soba Noodle

Lori – Wannabe Gourmand – Nonya Curry Laksa

Malou – Skip to Malou – Fried Noodle Dish

Just to prove that things other than the (alternative) World Cup are happening here in my world, I thought I would return to regular programming for a while.

It has been cold in Melbourne of late.  The kind of cold that means you only leave the house with a scarf, [...]]]>

Cornish Pasty

Just to prove that things other than the (alternative) World Cup are happening here in my world, I thought I would return to regular programming for a while.

It has been cold in Melbourne of late.  The kind of cold that means you only leave the house with a scarf, you have a second cup of coffee just to keep your hands warm and you are in love with comfort food.  My Mum has always been good at comfort food dishes – my childhood was full of wonderfully warming and hearty dishes during winter.  A weekend favourite was Cornish Pasties.  Mum used to make a big one that sort of “plaited” the pastry over the top of the filling making it look like lattice.  It always looked very impressive and tasted even better.  This is my version of her dish but I have gone for a more different shaping of the pasty (but not the genuine one as you will see).  Next time I will do her version so you can see what I mean about the plaiting.

First references to the pasty can be dated back to the 13th century  however evidence of it as a traditional Cornish food is found in records from the 1860s that show children took pasties with them as part of their crib or croust (local dialect for snack or lunch).  By the end of the 18th century it was the staple diet of working men across Cornwall.  Miners and farm workers took this portable and easy to eat convenience food with them to work because it was so well suited to the purpose. Its size and shape made it easy to carry, its pastry case insulated the contents and was durable enough to survive, while its wholesome ingredients provided enough sustenance to see the workers through their long and arduous working days.  Some versions of that era had a savoury filling at one end and a jam filling at the other – essentially a two course meal.  There are hundreds of stories about the evolution of the pasty’s shape, with the most popular being that the D-shape enabled tin miners to re-heat them underground as well as eat them safely.  The crust (crimped edge) was used as a handle which was then discarded.  A good thing for miners whose hands were more than likely dirty and, if in a tin mine, containing traces of arsenic.

But what makes a ‘genuine’ Cornish pasty?  It must have the distinctive ‘D’ shape and should be crimped on one side, never on top.  I read that young girls were often made to practice crimping techniques using plasticine before being allowed to work with pastry.  The texture of the filling for the pasty is chunky, made up of uncooked minced or roughly cut chunks of beef, swede or turnip, potato and onion and a light peppery seasoning.  The pastry casing is golden in colour, savoury, glazed with milk or egg and robust enough to retain its shape throughout the cooking and cooling process without splitting or cracking.   The whole pasty is slow-baked to ensure that flavours from the raw ingredients are maximised.

My recipe is neither traditional nor genuine but I like it.  It pre-cooks the ingredients to allow for a faster cooking time and has grated rather than chunky fillings.

Ingredients

500gm mince beef
2 large potatoes (I like waxy potatoes such as Nicola for this as they hold their shape when cooked)
1 large carrot
1 medium swede
1 medium turnip
½ small sweet potato
1 large brown onion
10 green beans, chopped into 5mm bits
fresh thyme
worchestershire sauce
beef stock
salt & pepper
6 store bought puff pastry sheets
egg – for glazing pastry

Method

Preheat oven to 220C and take the pastry out of the freezer to thaw.

Peel then grate all of the vegetables.  A food processor will make this task tidy and easy, but you can hand grate if you like.

Grated vegetables for filling

In a deep frypan brown your mince and onion over a medium high heat.  Then add your grated vegetables, stir through and cook for 2-3 minutes.  To this mix add the worchestershire sauce, fresh thyme and about half the stock.  Season with salt and pepper, reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 3 minutes or until the liquid is all but gone.  Add the remaining stock and green beans, stir thoroughly and cook for a further 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and allow mixture to cool.

Cut each sheet of pastry into 4.  Spoon a generous amount of filling into the centre of each square.

Pasty production line

Fold diagonally to make a triangle and seal the edge flat.  Now sit the pasty on the long side of the triangle so that the sealed sides are pointing up.  Starting on one end, roll/crimp the pastry together.  Repeat for remaining pastry squares, then put the uncooked pasties into the fridge to chill the pastry for 10-15 minutes.

Not my best effort at crimping!

Lightly whisk the egg and brush each pasty with the egg wash.  Cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

Pasties - hot from the oven

I like them with just a green salad to provide an alternate texture and some freshness, but you could add a homemade tomato sauce or chutney if you really wanted.  Smaller pasties make great party food and larger ones a completely satisfying meal.  They can also be frozen and reheated.

My kind of comfort food

The recipe for this dish comes from a book called Apples for Jam.  It’s a gorgeous book, the photography in it is inspiring.  However it is not about jam,  it is about life and recipes for life.  It has a unique approach, dividing the chapters not into ingredients or courses, or cuisines, but [...]]]>

The recipe for this dish comes from a book called Apples for Jam.  It’s a gorgeous book, the photography in it is inspiring.  However it is not about jam,  it is about life and recipes for life.  It has a unique approach, dividing the chapters not into ingredients or courses, or cuisines, but into colours.  For each chapter there is a cherished memory or whimsical childhood anecdote that relates to the colour, they are thoughtful and heartwarming and I couldn’t think of a better source of inspiration for this theme.

Green is my favourite colour and, for this week at least, beans are my favourite vegetable, possibly because they are so good here in Melbourne at the moment.  Combine them with slow cooked lamb for a warming casserole and you have pretty much won me over.  So here it is.

Theme:  Green

Cookbook:  Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros

Recipe:  Lamb & green bean casserole

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
600gm diced leg or shoulder of lamb
1 red onion finely chopped
20gm butter
2 garlic cloves chopped
300gm tin tomatoes
1 small piece cassia bark (or cinnamon)
400gm green beans topped (leave the tails on, unless you are me who removed them without realising)
200gm feta, cut into small chunks

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Heat the oil in a heavy based casserole over high heat.  When it is almost smoking, brown the meat in batches, making sure you get all sides.

Add the onion to the casserole with a little extra oil if needed and sauté until it starts to soften.  Just as it starts to brown add the butter and garlic and return the meat to the dish and stir through well.  When the garlic becomes aromatic add the tomatoes, the cassia bark and season with salt.  Add two cups of water and bring to the boil.  Put the lid on the casserole and pop it in to the oven.

Cook for 45 minutes, then add the beans.  Check for seasoning and add more water if needed.  Mix well and return to oven.

It is at this point that I deviated from the recipe.  It suggests that you leave it in the oven for another hour covered.  Then remove the lid and back in for 15 minutes, then turn off the oven, put the lid back on and leave it in there for yet another hour.  The aim is to get the meat to be soft and melting which is not a bad goal.  The dish can then be warmed up on the stovetop when you want it.

I started the dish later than expected and thought that the meat was doing pretty well, so I elected to return it to the oven for 20 minutes with the lid on.  In hindsight I should have done at least 10 with the lid off to reduce the liquid a bit, but it was still very flavoursome and not insipid.

Here’s the bit I forgot – you are supposed to crumble feta over the hot servings so that it melts slightly.  How good would that have been?  Alas the feta sat on the kitchen bench until after I had mopped up the last dribble of sauce with some nice crusty bread.  I served the casserole with a celeriac puree, but you could just as easily add some chunks of potato to the casserole.  When I have more time I will do the dish the long way for comparison – and I will try not to forget the feta!

]]> http://secondhelping.com.au/feastonthis/the-cookbook-challenge-week-26-green/feed/ 5 http://secondhelping.com.au/feastonthis/the-cookbook-challenge-week-25-silky/ http://secondhelping.com.au/feastonthis/the-cookbook-challenge-week-25-silky/#comments Sun, 23 May 2010 08:41:29 +0000 appetite http://secondhelping.com.au/feastonthis/?p=1791 my new toy

I was very excited about making this recipe.  For a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I was going to christen my shiny new Kitchen Aid, and secondly, you may want to sit down for this part, I was voluntarily [...]]]>

Theme:  Silky

Cookbook: Gourmet Traveller May 2010

Recipe: Apple and Mascarpone Torta

my new toy

I was very excited about making this recipe.  For a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I was going to christen my shiny new Kitchen Aid, and secondly, you may want to sit down for this part, I was voluntarily making a sweet dish.

Picked yourself up now?  Ready to read on?  Yes, she who claims to be completely bereft of skill or desire when it comes to catering for the sweet tooth was looking forward to getting out the scales, weighing the ingredients (hate the precision required of a good pastry chef) and mixing, whipping and blending my little heart out.  The dish was chosen by The Beloved who saw it in the latest Italian edition of Gourmet Traveller and said he wanted it.  Who I am to deny?

Ingredients

70 gm  softened butter
110 gm  (½ cup) raw caster sugar
Finely  grated rind of 1 lemon
1  egg
90 gm  self-raising flour
50 gm  (1/3 cup) plain flour
175 ml  milk
150 gm  mascarpone

Mascarpone filling
350 gm  mascarpone
40 gm  raw caster sugar
½  egg, lightly beaten
Finely  grated rind of 1 lemon

Apple topping
1  small Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced widthways
Juice  of ½ lemon
For brushing:  melted butter
For scattering:  demerara sugar
For dusting:  icing sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 170C.  Beat butter, caster sugar and lemon rind in your brand spanking new KitchenAid until pale and fluffy (this will take about 2-3 minutes), scrape down sides of bowl and beat in egg. Sift in flours, fold to combine, stir in milk and mascarpone, spoon into a 23cm-diameter springform tin, buttered and dusted with flour, smooth top.

For mascarpone filling, whisk ingredients in your shiny KitchenAid until smooth, then spoon over cake batter and smooth top.  Now I thought that putting the mascarpone directly on the uncooked batter was weird and had no idea how it was going to turn out, but I decided to trust the recipe and followed the instructions to the letter.

For apple topping, toss apple slices in lemon juice and arrange, overlapping slightly, on top of mascarpone mix. Brush with melted butter, scatter with demerara sugar, bake until golden and risen (50 minutes-1 hour). Cool in tin for 20 minutes, then run a sharp knife around sides of tin to loosen cake, remove sides of tin, cool cake to room temperature and dust with icing sugar.
Torta will keep stored in an airtight container for 2 days unless you have my family over then there will be nothing but a few crumbs left to keep.

Here’s where I make my confession.  The torta?  It turned out spectacularly.  Seriously.  I had no dramas, no mishaps, no anxious moments and it tasted…

Well, it tasted sublime.  The mascarpone was so silky and gave such a wondrous mouthfeel that I actually finished a whole piece.  The Beloved was most disappointed.  He had already scoffed his and was hoping to score the rest of mine!  So where’s the problem?  Well, in my eagerness to show off the masterpiece that I had just baked to my family (parents, aunt, brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews and niece) who had come over for afternoon tea I committed the food blogger’s cardinal sin and sort of forgot to take a photo.  So all I can do is point to the one from Gourmet Traveller (below) and beg you to believe it looked the same.  Which it did, nearly.  I had so much fun doing this I might have to reconsider the whole sweet thing.

I should be cooking for this week’s theme – Insect, but yet again I’ve managed to have a backlog to write up and post.  So expect a bit of a deluge as I churn them out in an effort to catch up.

As regular readers will know, [...]]]>

I should be cooking for this week’s theme – Insect, but yet again I’ve managed to have a backlog to write up and post.  So expect a bit of a deluge as I churn them out in an effort to catch up.

As regular readers will know, I am not much of a dessert person.  So each time The Cookbook Challenge throws up a theme that leans toward needing to make sweet things I shudder and hide under the doona.  Don’t get me wrong, I like chocolate as much as the next person, but my idea of enjoying it is slowing savouring a single piece of the best stuff I can get my hands on, not cooking with it.

To fight the inbuilt urge not to cook sweet stuff and try and work out to make for this theme, I commenced my research with my usual approach.  Sitting cross legged (glass of wine in hand) on the floor in front of the shelves holding my cookbooks and going through them systematically.  I start by ignoring the books I have already used in other themes.  I am hoping to make it more interesting for cook and reader alike by getting through as many cookbooks as I can.  Then I try and match the books to the theme if possible.  This one got chosen from a book that was tucked away at the back and I had all but forgotten about.

Theme:   Chocolate
Book:     2009 Melbourne Food and Wine festival Masterclass Recipe Book.
Recipe:   Chocolate with bread ~ Pan con chocolate by Frank Camorra

Pan con chocolate

Ingredients
300g dark chocolate (at least 50% cocoa solids), chopped (I used Kennedy & Wilson)
4 eggs, separated
100g soft unsalted butter
2 tbs caster sugar
200g firm 2 day old white bread high tin loaf, crusts removed. sliced 2 mm thick x 80mm x 20 mm.
Good quality sea salt crystals , to sprinkle
olive oil, to drizzle , hojiblanca variety (I didn’t have this Spanish oil & used a cold pressed olive oil from L’Oliveraie in Beechworth north-east Victoria)

Method

First of all, preheat the oven to 180C.
Gently melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally – as always with a water bath make sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.  Remove from the heat, then whisk in the egg yolks.  I did them one at a time so that they were fully combined. Then add the butter and stir until all the butter has melted.

In another bowl, make your meringue by whisking the egg whites until soft peaks form, then, still whisking continuously, gradually add the sugar. Do not over beat.  Mix one third of the meringue into the chocolate mixture until nearly combined, then gently fold through the remaining meringue.  Pour the mixture into a greased and baking paper lined 10x25cm loaf tin, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, until just set, should be served not too cold and just set, so it’s important to make this very close to the time required.

Place the bread slices in a single layer over a large oven tray, then cover with another oven tray the same size and bake for 15 minutes until crisp, then remove and cool.

To serve, invert the chocolate onto a chopping board and cut into slices. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with a tiny pinch of salt crystals, serve with bread.

This is a dessert that I could do again.  Not at all difficult to make and, despite its chocolately goodness, not too sweet. The olive oil and salt at the end really bring it together.

Chocolate with bread