Steak au Poivre and Bananas Foster

There are recipes all over the web, and I don't have a favorite website to link to, but the basic run down (if you don't know) goes like this:

Steak:

Steak (they say Filet, but I use a NY Strip on the regular. Coat liberally in cracked black pepper. Heat pan. HOT! Add gracious amount of butter. Add steak. Sear. Flip and repeat. Remove steak. Add Brandy. Deglaze. Ignite Brandy (WOOSH!). Add heavy cream. Stir till thick. return steak, flip to coat. Ready.

Bananas Foster:

Peel and cut bananans lengthwise, then on the bias widthise into 1-2" pieces. Place a bunch of butter and brown sugar in a skillet and heat till liquidy caramel forms. Add banans, toss to coat. Add some rum (vanilla or banana flavored works well). Ignite (WOOSH!) Burn off alcohol. Spoon bananas over vanilla ice cream. Serve. Like I said, that's from memory, but recipes are basically the same. They are seriously so easy, I don't even measure anything anymore. And they are always a hit (especially with my lady friend). You make the steak, maybe some garlic mashed and steamed broccoli on the side. Then after dinner, you chat with her/him from the kitchen while you whip up the Fosters (which takes abotu 8 minutes, start to finish) and bring out a bowl of that? They will be unable to resist you. Have fun cookin'

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

From Joy the Baker Makes: one 9x5x3-inch loaf For the Dough: 2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 ounces unsalted butter 1/3 cup whole milk 1/4 cup water 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract For the Filling: 1 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned In a large mixing bowl (I used just the bowl of my stand mixer) whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Set aside. Whisk together eggs and set aside. In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted. Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract. Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees F. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together. Keep stirring. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be sticky. That’s just right. Place the dough is a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour. *The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning. If you’re using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below. While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling. Set aside. Melt 2 ounces of butter until browned. Set aside. Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Set that aside too. Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long. If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay. Just roll it as large as the dough will go. Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. It might seem like a lot of sugar. Seriously? Just go for it. Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. You’ll have six stacks of six squares. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book. Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown. The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw. A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto a clean board. Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it’s right side up. Serve warm with coffee or tea. I think this bread is best served the day it’s made, but it can also we wrapped and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Black pudding scotch eggs

After scoffing some great black pudding scotch eggs at Sheffield's 40th ale festival, I thought I'd try and make my own. I read seven or eight different recipes, and settled on something based on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's basic scotch egg recipe. After this, I collected black pudding from a local butcher and also in sausage form from a delicatessen. The sausage form black pudding wasn't nearly as good; it's been sealed and boiled for durability, and this really impacted flavour - the butcher's square pudding was redder, squidgier, and had a much more rounded and noticeable flavour.

I made seven or eight eggs, measuring the ratio of meat in the mixture each time. There were at least four tasters, including me, James Walmesley, Steven Turner, Matthew Wintle. We settled on the recipe below.

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Scotch eggs are the sort of thing you might not consider making yourself, but they're really not difficult. DIY means you can use a good, organic sausagemeat, and season it the way you like. Kids will love making these, though a grown-up should do the deep frying. Serves four.

• 5 large tasty eggs, not from caged birds, something with flavour
• 320g organic pork sausagemeat, or fresh minced shoulder
• A few sage leaves, finely chopped, or failing that, half a spring onion (again finely chopped)
• A good pinch of ground mace or nutmeg
• 3 teaspoons Cayenne pepper (very important; give up if you don't have this)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• A mixture of 1 part peanut oil, 2 parts sunflower oil for deep frying. Chinese supermarket is good for extra-cheap peanut oil.
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 100g white breadcrumbs (at least a day old, or you can buy them pre-made)
• 160g fresh, unboiled unskinned black pudding - or the closest to this you can get

Make sure the eggs are at room temperature. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, lower in four eggs and simmer for ten minutes after you've reached a good boil; we want very cooked eggs! Take them out of the water when they're done. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel them.

Add to the sausagemeat the sage, mace and cayenne, along with plenty of salt and pepper, and mix well with your hands. Break up the black pudding over this mixture and keep kneading it in, bit by bit. Then, divide the mixture into eight equal pieces (about 60 grams each) and shape each piece into a flat patty.

Take two patties and use to encase one egg, moulding the meat smoothly around the egg and making sure it's sealed all over. Make sure you really mix up the joins - any seams will split when you're cooking. Repeat with the others.

Pour the oil mixture into a deep pan (10cm / 4 inches at least) pan to a depth of at least 7cm and bring up to 170C (or until a cube of white bread, when dropped in, turns light golden brown in about one minute).

Spread the flour on a plate. Beat the remaining egg in a shallow dish. Spread the breadcrumbs on another plate. When the oil is up to temperature, dust each sausagemeat-encased egg in a little flour, then dip it in beaten egg and roll it in breadcrumbs. Lower one by one into the hot oil and fry for eight to 10 minutes, turning from time to time, until deep golden brown all over. If you don't turn them, they won't cook evenly, and they'll split.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot! If you plan a larger batch, be sure to change the oil every so often.

Here's a picture of a really meaty and delicious plain scotch egg from the above recipe, to get you motivated!

Marshmallows

Ingredients:

• 9 sheets sheets leaf gelatine, 
• 450g Sugar
• 1 tbsp liquid glucose
• 200 ml water, 
• 2 large egg whites, 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• icing sugar
• cornflour
• Strawberries, to serve

Recipe

1. Lightly oil a shallow baking tray, about 30 x 20cm and dust it with sieved icing sugar and cornflour.
2. Soak the gelatine in 140ml cold water. 
3. Put the sugar, glucose and water into a heavy-based pan. Bring to the boil and continue cooking for about 12-15 minutes until the mixture reaches 127C on a sugar thermometer. 
4. When the syrup is up to temperature, carefully slide in the softened gelatine sheets and their soaking water. The syrup will bubble up so take care not to burn yourself. Pour the syrup into a metal jug. 
5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, preferably with an electric whisk in a mixing bowl. Continue whisking while pouring in the hot syrup from the jug. The mixture will become shiny and start to thicken. Add the vanilla extract and continue whisking for about 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is stiff and thick enough to hold its shape on the whisk. 
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth with a wet palette knife if necessary. 
7. Leave for at least 1 hour to set. 
8. Dust the work surface with icing sugar and cornflour. Loosen the marshmallow around the sides of the tray with a palette knife, and then turn it out on to the dusted surface. Cut into squares and roll in the sugar and cornflour. Leave to dry a little on a wire rack. 
9. To serve: carefully place the marshmallows onto skewers, alternating with hulled strawberries. 
10. Store the marshmallows in an airtight container. 

Della Rocca

This three-milk cheese was particularly good (ewe, goat and cow)

Crunchy bread with artichokes

Simply top with peppers, pate, olives and artichoke slices, using olive oil to stick it all together.

Æbleskiver

Danish aebleskiver with currant jelly