La Différence

La Différence
A passion for food

Sunday 15 November 2015

Bubble & Squeak







A great way of using left over vegetables and meat but the meat is optional.  Mashed potatoes are essential for my version but any vegetables can be added. I love them most with brussell sprouts mixed in....I'm not sure why....perhaps its just because we always seemed to have Bubble & Squeak on Boxing Day when we had so many vegetables to use up especially the sprouts.

One tip....make sure the mash potato is not at all sloppy...it must be firm....I don't add a lot of butter to mine and it makes it so much easier to work with.



You can see what leftovers I used from the photo....   mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, cauliflower with a little chopped spring onion and ham. They are also great with left over chicken or beef.....we love them made with corned beef.
You will need egg to bind everything together, seasoned flour, and a little oil to fry them in. I used rapeseed, but sunflower or olive oil will do nicely.

Chop all the veg up into small dice,  add any meat if using, add the mash potato and 1 whole egg.  Season well and combine everything together



Shape into patties.....about 1" deep and 3" across
cover a dinner plate with flour and roll each patty with it, turning to make sure they are completely coated.
Place them on a tray and refrigerate for around 30mins or until you're ready to cook them



Preheat your oven to 200c/400f

Add enough oil to a frying pan for shallow frying, on a medium flame until heated through
Fry in batches.....3 or 4 at a time...  (don't overload the pan) for around 3 minutes each side. They should be golden brown by this stage
Place these on a oven tray and pop in the oven for around 5 minutes until piping hot
While they are in the oven, fry or poach how ever many eggs required.



They are great served with some grilled meat....chicken or pork chops would be great 

serve while piping hot.

If you would like more posts like this then please help &  leave me a comment below 





Chocolate Truffle Dessert Cake - Gluten-free






Chocolate Truffle Dessert Cake -Gluten-Free



Like so many of us I have friends and relatives who are Gluten intolerant so I'm always on the look at for recipes that are wheat-free, sometimes experimenting with flour alternatives.  Rice flour works well with sponge cakes but my favourite alternative has to be Almond Flour (ground almonds) as I just love anything nutty..I really don't think that I'm having to compromise at all, in fact it's a real luxury making the dessert rich & delicious.

This dessert is really rich & decadent, it should serve 8-10 people easily as a little goes a long way.  A perfect end to any dinner party.
Serve up with strawberries or raspberries & a dollop of creme fraiche would be a perfect

I always weigh my ingredients but if you prefer to measure here's a handy link Conversion Chart

Grease & line a 22cm Springform tin with parchment paper.
Set to oven to 170c/325f

Ingredients

160gms Ground Almonds
125g unsalted butter
375g 70% dark chocolate
175g muscovado sugar (dark sugar)
2 tbsp double cream  (half and half)
5 eggs
cocoa powder to finish

Method

Break up the chocolate in small pieces and place into a large heatproof bowl
Chop up the butter and to the chocolate along with the cream
Place over a pan of simmering water and gently melt
remove as soon as everything is melted and leave to cool for a few minutes
Add the eggs to the chocolate mix one at a time beating well with each addition
Add the sugar and ground almonds & mix well

Put the mixture in the prepared tin
Top the cake with either some foil or parchment paper, carefully so as not to touch the batter and bake in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven, take off the foil/parchment from the top of the cake  and leave to cool completely in the baking tin.
When cool place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before attempting to turn it out.
I left mine overnight.

Carefully remove the paper, turn it upside down to make a nice flat surface onto a plate and dust over liberally with cocoa powder.



If you would like more posts like this then please help &  leave me a comment below