Blog | Joanna Simon

Dec 18, 2018

The Festive Sweet, Sticky and Fortified Guide 2018

SWEET WINE Domaine Cady Coteaux du Layon Saint-Aubin Les Varennes 2015, France Old-vine Chenin made from botrytis (aka noble rot) affected grapes. Lovely intensity and depth of honeyed peach, apricot and spice flavours allied to riveting freshness. Those with willpower could cellar it for a decade. Those without could drink it with a wide variety of puddings (but ideally not chocolate) and cheeses, or instead of them. 12%. for 75cl: £17, The Wine Society Château Roumieu Saute

Dec 31, 2016

Chestnuts: Chestnut Chocolate Cake

Definitely a chestnut cake with chocolate, rather than the other way round, but if you want it to be more chocolaty use 240g chocolate. You can also, of course, use purée made from freshly roast chestnuts. This is quite a rich cake, so if you’ve already had two or three courses, half quantities will serve six people, given a good dollop of double cream with it - and you can eat it hot, warm, cold or semi-frozen. Serves 8 or more 435g tin unsweetened chestnut purée 120g unsal

Oct 23, 2016

Chestnuts: Introduction, tips & quick ideas

There are few smells more evocative than the waft of roasting chestnuts and few more perfect ways of spending a Sunday afternoon than sitting by a blazing fire roasting and eating chestnuts you’ve gathered yourself. But when time is at a premium, standing in a hot kitchen cutting the shells to stop them bursting, then burning your hands trying to peel them, is about as therapeutic as being in the slowest supermarket checkout queue. This is where ready peeled vacuum-packed che

Aug 1, 2016

Blackcurrants: Tips and Extras

Ending off this blackcurrant series with, as always, some tips and extra ideas of what to do with all the blackcurrants I know you've bought to try out these recipes - or, more ways to use up trade volumes of frozen blackcurrants bought in order to write recipes for blackcurrants not in July. Blackcurrant Jelly Less sweet and even easier to make than jam. Try it stirred into Greek yoghurt for breakfast or pudding (or both) and use it as a glaze for open fruit tarts. Makes 2 j

Jul 13, 2016

Blackcurrants: Blackcurrant Ice Cream

I don’t know of a more flamboyant coloured ice cream. Come to think of it I don’t know of many better flavoured ice creams. And it’s a doddle to make - no custard-base: just currants, sugar and cream. Makes about 1.25 litres 500g blackcurrants 160g caster sugar 300ml whipping cream 300ml double cream 4 tbsp crème de cassis (optional) Put the fruit and sugar in a saucepan and stir in 3 tablespoons of water. Cook over a gentle heat until the blackcurrants are soft (about 20 min

Jul 9, 2016

Blackcurrants: Summer Pudding

If you use a mixture of berries in a summer pudding, you have to go easy on the blackcurrants because they have a habit of overwhelming everything else, but on their own they give a brilliantly intense result. Serves 8 1kg of blackcurrants 200g caster sugar 10-12 1cm-thick slices of 1-2 day old white bread, crusts removed Put the fruit in a heavy-based pan and stir in the sugar. Bring to the boil on a moderate heat and then simmer for 2 minutes to melt the sugar and release a

Jun 1, 2016

Ice Creams: Variations & Sauces

Rounding up my ice cream series with variations on a theme, and two sauces. This is also a good place to point out my favourite way of using up the leftover egg whites - not meringues but rather my Dark Chocolate Orange Mousse. Variations Omit the bay leaves from my bay leaf ice cream and flavour the basic mix with one of the following: • a pinch of saffron threads, which you have dry fried for 30 seconds. • with 4 lg egg yolks: 6 heads of lavender, or 4 heads of lavender an

May 21, 2016

Ice Creams: Coffee Ice Cream

The accepted wisdom with coffee ice cream is that you should either use instant coffee or strain out the fresh grounds, but I like coffee flavours strong, so I leave the coffee in. I don’t find the texture of the grounds remotely obtrusive and the speckly appearance is more enticing than monotone beige. It’s your choice – but, just to let you know, I haven’t had any complaints. Or leftovers. The amount of coffee depends on the type and strength, so I’ve given an average below

May 18, 2016

Ice Creams: Lime Ice Cream

You can make this with lemon instead, but lime, with its spicy note, is sensational. It’s very intense in flavour, so will overpower a milder ice cream and fight with some others, such as coffee. I like it plain, just with some shortbread and each serving decorated with a mint leaf. As with the mango, it’s a recipe - slightly adjusted - from Stephanie Alexander’s book. You will need an electric mixer of some sort. Serves 6 500g whipping cream 80ml fresh lime juice (about 3 li

May 15, 2016

Ice Creams: Very Chocolatey Ice Cream

Every ice-cream cook has to have a chocolate recipe. This is mine. It was after making this and a seed-speckled vanilla that I turned my back on bought ice cream for good. Why stand in a queue at the supermarket when you can be at home making this? By the way, don’t even think about skimping on the quality of the chocolate or the cocoa (there’s plenty of choice nowadays, including Green & Blacks, The Chocolate Society, Valrhona or Lindt Excellence). This is the same basic met

May 12, 2016

Ice Creams: Mango Ice Cream

Here is proof that you don’t have to have eggs and custard to make quick, easy, exotic-tasting ice cream. If it’s not eaten within 12 hours, it starts to become icy, but I doubt you’ll have a chance to put that to the test. You can use the basic recipe, excluding the lime, for soft fruits such as strawberries and raspberries: use 450-500g of berries; sieve after puréeing them and taste for sweetness. The mango idea is from Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion, a 1100-pa

May 4, 2016

Ice Creams: Bay Leaf Ice Cream

It may not feel all that summery right now, but we are promised warmer weather this weekend so why not make some ice cream in preparation? This recipe series was originally published in The Sunday Times in June 2005. Don’t tell me. You think life is too short to stuff a mushroom and to make your own ice cream, especially when the shops are full of tempting looking tubs. Well, I agree about the mushrooms (small ones anyway), but no bought ice cream ever quite matches up to som

Mar 27, 2016

Chocolate: Tips and Extras

Happy Easter! To celebrate, I'm rounding off my chocolate recipe series with some tips and extras, including the all-important question of what to drink with it, although there is more on this in my blog Wines to Pair with Chocolate, posted on 23 March. Chocolate’s savoury side There is a tradition of using dark chocolate in savoury stews and casseroles in Mexico, Spain (especially Catalonia) and Italy. But caution is the word. Just a small amount – rarely more than 10–25g

Mar 24, 2016

Chocolate: Hot Chocolate Puddings

A rich lava-like centre underneath a crisp crust, and a dark, brooding chocolate flavour - quintessential winter comfort, but a taste too grown-up to count as nursery food. What more can I say, except go, make, eat, snuggle up. Serves 6 100g soft unsalted butter 300g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids 120g caster sugar 4 lg eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 50g plain flour, and a little extra for dusting Put a baking sheet in the oven and preheat the oven

Mar 19, 2016

Chocolate: Pressed Chocolate Cake

This is a River Café Cookbook recipe. Over the years, I have tried varying it by adding chopped crystallised and stem ginger, rum-soaked raisins, lime zest, vanilla extract, cardamom, and coffee instead of some of the cocoa, but I always come back to the original, which I’ve now decided I can’t improve on. Pressing it makes it particularly rich and dense, but I once forgot and it was still delicious. Serve it warm or cold with crème fraiche. Serves 6 200g dark chocolate, 70%

Mar 13, 2016

Chocolate: Spiced Chocolate Nut Terrine

This needs a couple of hours to chill, but apart from that it’s a doddle to prepare and is not cooked. It works equally well with hazelnuts and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use pecans, macadamias, whole blanched almonds or brazil nuts – and no reason why you shouldn’t vary the spices. What about some ground ginger or cloves? Serve it in 1cm slices or slim wedges brought back to just below room temperature Serves 8 340g walnuts, shelled and halved 400g dark chocolate, 7

Mar 7, 2016

Chocolate: Chocolate Chip Biscuits

These light-textured shortbread-like biscuits go down well with everyone from tinies through to nineties, probably because they are less solid and sickly than brownies and cookies (no, I’m sure yours aren’t sickly). The chocolate flavour comes principally from the cocoa powder, so it’s essential to use a top-quality brand. As for the chocolate, white looks and tastes good, but it doesn’t have to be white; and if you can get good chocolate chips, use them, but I always chip aw

Mar 1, 2016

Chocolate: Dark Chocolate Orange Mousse

This may lack sophistication as a strategy, but experience has shown that there are two surefire ways to success when giving a lunch or dinner party. The first goes without saying: decent wine in generous quantities. The second is a chocolate pudding. You can overcook the pheasant, undercook the veg and curdle the sauce, but all will be forgiven and forgotten by the time the chocolate has been administered. If anyone doubts this approach, I should point out that the health-po

Feb 21, 2016

Boozy Food with Spirits: Petits Pots de Chocolate

Aka irresistible chocolate mousse with rum. It's another simple classic that we could all be making instead of more elaborate cakes. And it doesn’t have to be rum, although there is an affinity with chocolate. Almost any liqueur forgotten at the back of the cupboard can be brought out of retirement, as can brandy and whisky, although you may need to add some sugar to the melted chocolate. Serves 8 generously 340g dark chocolate (preferably 70% cocoa solids) 6 large eggs, sepa

Feb 10, 2016

Boozy Food with Spirits: Syllabub

Why aren’t we all eating syllabub? It’s a breeze to make and delicious. This one, based on Elizabeth David’s classic Everlasting Syllabub, doesn’t separate, so can be made in advance, and it doesn’t demand a whole bottle of wine. In fact, it doesn’t demand any and you can swap the sherry for dry white vermouth and the brandy for Grand Marnier or Cointreau. But whatever alcohol you use it must be drinkable, because, uncooked, the flavours come through loud and clear. Serves 6-