French Cannelés...

3 weeks at college, 3 nights in a proper restaurant style kitchen and finally I've regained my mojo.
A lot can be said for jumping head first out of your comfort zone...

Several months ago now I promised a recipe for French Cannelés and its been sat in my draft box since they came out of the oven.

I think its about time I let them out of the box, don't you?

So "what are Cannelés?" I hear you ask! Well my friends, I shall tell you. They originate from Bordeaux in France and are one of the best known sweet treats of the region. The recipe resembles that of a crêpe, but the finished items are pure perfection. Typically they have a rich caramel coloured exterior with a beautifully fluffy interior.

You will need:

500ml Full fat milk.
50g unsalted butter.
1 vanilla pod worth of beans. (Or cheat like I did and you paste)
100g plain white flour.
250g icing sugar.
1stp salt.
2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks.
60ml of rum.

To start, Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan with the
vanilla (pod and beans or the paste if you too are a cheater...). Bring to the boil over a medium heat. Once its boiling remove from the heat and allow to cool a tad.

Next place the flour, icing sugar and salt into a large bowl and then lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl.

Once the milk has had time to cool slightly, add it along with the eggs to the dry mixture (Remove the pod before hand if you used one). Stir gently until it all comes together, but don't worry to much about lumps at this stage. Grab your trusty sieve and strain the mixture into a clean bowl, pushing the lumps through until you have a smoothing mixture. At this stage, its party time. Add the rum, give it a stir and then cover with cling film and pop it into the fridge. (You can add the pod back in at this point if you used one for added flavour)

This is where the difficulty starts... You have to use will power and leave it there...

...For 2 days...Minimum...!!!

Doing this not only allows the flavours to get to know each other but it also allows the gluten to relax causing a fluffier interior.

One key point though, give it a stir every now and then to allow the flavours to really get to know each other.

Now, there are several different pieces of bake ware you can use to bake these. But which ever piece you choose to use, you need to get it preheated before you add the mixture. This helps to create that crisp exterior.

Preheat the oven to 240°C and when the pan/silicone has preheated (This should only take a few minutes) pour the mixture into each hole roughly three quarters of the way up.

Place into the hot oven for 15 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 190°C and continue baking for another hour.

When the hour is up, remove from the moulds and allow to cool on a wire rack.

As they begin to cool the exterior will being to develop a crisp caramel coloured exterior, with a pale and fluffy interior.

These sweet little treats really have the wow factor and are beautiful paired with a freshly brewed pot of coffee.

So go on...treat yourself this weekend!

One year on...

...where the frick did that year go?

The Broke Boy is back in business! Lots of things have happened since my last post. If you followed the blog before hand you may remember that I got a new job which meant I would be traveling around the country, getting a company car etc....

Well that lasted all of a month before they closed the project down and sent everyone back to their old positions. For me it went a little differently and I was deployed to Bristol, which is a 30-45 minute commute without traffic. Oh...and they never gave me the company car and I was told I had to pay for travel and everything.

Needless to say this was not part of the deal when I signed up for the new job. Eventually I was transferred back to my old place of work and within a week managed to secure a new job within the company at a brand new store.

To start with I was taken on as a member of the recruitment team, which in itself was quite a fun task. That took me up until the end of October which is when we had the grand opening.

Since then I've been doing lots of different things, but this has also meant I simply haven't had the time to stop, think, cook or even more devastatingly... BAKE!

Over the past few months I've taken some steps, to some they may seem small, but to me they have been fantastic.

I recently purchased my first brand spanking new car. Her name is Scarlet and she is a sexy bitch.

Another thing that's been going through my head is that I'm not getting any younger and if I want to grab my dreams I had better get started.

So....The exciting news is that tomorrow I have an interview at a local college to join a course in Professional Cookery. This has been a massive dream of mine since school. I should have listened to my gut back at school and gone down this path straight away, rather than wasting 11 years on something that now I can never see myself using.

With this in mind I feel that its an appropriate time to restart The Broke Boy and continue the mission that I set out on back in 2013. Prepare to have your screen filled with glorious Food Porn!

Starting with this!


Lemon and Saffron Chicken!

Over the last 3 weeks my whole family have been trying really hard to stick to a healthy diet. We have done really well, losing a combined total of roughly 22lb. I've never been one to stick to a diet, but this time it seems to be working.

I've made this recipe once before, its by the very talented Sabrina Ghayour. Its such a simple dish but the end result is delicious. Its from her book Persiana.

This was our Sunday night treat, and you can make it to!

You will need:

4 onions.
5 lemons, the juice of.
4tbsp of olive oil.
1tsp ground turmeric.
400g of Greek style yogurt (I used the fat free one).
3tbsp crushed sea salt.
A good pinch of Saffron threads.
3tbsp of boiling water.
6 large chicken breasts, skin and boneless.

 

Now I know what you are thinking...That's a lot of onions and lemons but trust me, its totally worth it. The end result really packs a punch.

Start by slicing the onions into half moons. You want them to be quite thin so that they cook quickly and get a slight charred effect when cooked.

Once that's done add the juice of the 5 lemons.

Next add the olive oil and then the turmeric.

Give it all a good stir so that the onions are covered with the oily lemony goodness. Then add the Greek yogurt and the salt.

Put the Saffron into a Mortar and pestle and grind to dust, then cover with the boiling water and allow it to infuse for 5 minutes or so.

Slice the chicken into 5cm chunks and throw it in with the onions.

After 5 minutes or so, add the Saffron liquid to the chicken and onions. Give it a good mix around so everything is slicked with yellow.

Cover with cling film and pop in the fridge. Allow the mixture to marinate for one hour, or if you have the patients over night.

Once your patients has worn off, fish the chicken out and place it onto a oven proof baking dish lined with baking paper.
Pop into a preheated oven (highest maximum temperature) and cook for 18-20 minutes. Now as usual, you know your own oven so do what you think is best. The aim is to char them slightly.

Now I wanted to serve this dish with something delicious and filling. I decided to slice up some Aubergine and sprayed with a little olive oil. I then popped them onto the BBQ over a medium heat, turning occasionally to get some good grill lines.

Once you are happy that the chicken is cooked and suitably charred take it out of the oven and get ready to dine!

I served mine with a side salad, some brown rice and the aubergines...

 

And if you are feeling really naughty...a little blob of Greek yogurt.

The lemon cuts through the onion and gives the chicken a lovely Zing.. lovely for a summers evening!

I hope that you enjoyed this post guys, its great to be back!

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Comments on what you think below!