Gold Kiwi & Pineapple Jam

It's the end of the season for Gold Kiwis which are very distinct from green kiwis. The Gold kiwi has a golden, bronzy flesh and two particularities which in my opinion puts it above its green counterpart: The taste, it's very sweet and has a hint of pineapple and mango and its skin is smooth, hairless paper-thin skin with an emphasis on hairless.

We all have irrational dislikes, one of mine is the hair on kiwis. I tend not to buy them as I ate peeling them. Not that it's difficult to remove the thin skin just that fingers brushing again little bristles make me think of rats and mice. Told you that was not very rational.

Not all is peachy in the kiwi world. Gold kiwis are imported from New Zealand which is definitely not very ecological. When it came to use my lot, I went for Kiwi and Pineapple Jam and it was absolutely delicious. So if you come across Gold Kiwis don't hesitate give them a try.

Gold Kiwi and Pineapple Jam

Ingredients

450g gold kiwifruit, peeled and thinly sliced

450g sugar

1 can crushed pineapple undrained

Method
weight the flesh of the kiwi and match it in sugar. The amount in the ingredient list is to give you an idea.

Place all the fruits in a saucepan and let it simmer gently for 5 minutes then add the sugar

Stir until all the sugar has dissolved and bring to boil until setting point has been reached

Now days I use a thermometer, jams reach setting point between 104 and 105.5 C

Pour into sterilized hot pots and seal down

I adapted this recipe from the late Marguerite Patten's recipe.

I love the idea of A to Z challenge and I caught The lovely ABC Alphabakes just in time. It's the brain child of The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes, this month hosted by the former.

Give-Away #31 A SuperFast Thermapen® 4 Cooks Thermometer- worth £60.00

When I first saw the Thermopen used on the GBBO, I was curious to what it was so I did a bit of digging and here is what I found:

It has a range of -49.9 to 299.9 °C.
It's super fast. The true temperature of a product can be tested in just three seconds. and doesn't lock-in, so if your cake gets hotter it will show
it's 360° self-rotating display automatically turns so the user can read the thermometer in any position — in either hand, left or right.
It knows when it's dark and turns on the backlight for you, making it easy to read in poorly lit kitchen areas or for night-time barbecues.
The motion-sensing sleep mode automatically turns the Thermapen 4 on or off when the user picks it up or puts it down, maximising battery life.
It's waterproof
Available in ten vibrant colours

A very clever gizmo indeed. Thermapen is offering one Pebble Soup's reader the opportunity to win a thermometer. The winner will be able to choose a colour among a selection, how good is that?
Closes on the 24th September

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Faire Monter la Mayo

In French, there is an expression which defines when one succeed to do something delicate and of course it's related to food: "faire monter la mayo".

How true the correlation is. A mayonnaise should be an easy sauce to prepare, after all it's simply a matter of combining three ingredients: egg-yolk, olive oil and a teaspoon of mustard. However at Pebble Soup HQ, far too often it looks like so:

A mayonnaise which is a little more liquid than intended. So what is the trick? in my opinion there is not one trick but several factors "qui font monter la mayo".

If all the ingredients are at room temperature, it will help.

Recipes will tell you to use a whisk, I find the food processor far more efficient.

start with a teaspoon of mustard, one egg yolk and A DROP of olive oil. When this mixture has thicken then it's ready for the rest of the oil, a constant dribble will do. How much olive oil is entirely up to how much mayonnaise is required. Season last.

The result: "Oh la belle mayo"

and here is one of my favourite dish: potato salad with capers and mayo

Eagle-eyed readers will have notice that the mayonnaise has a slight green tinge. Olive oil colour variation is common when using a good oil. Here I have used Pomora olive oil. This is an interesting new service offering Italian olive oils delivered direct from Sicily to your home on a quarterly base. More over the scheme includes an olive tree adoption which in turn supports Antonia in Campania and Carmelo whose families have been producing top quality olive oil for generations. Check Pomora out, next time you have a minute

Camber Sands

With Trip Reporter, I had the opportunity to visit The Gallivant Hotel on Camber Sands, 5 miles of sandy beach, near Rye. Here is the story.

Gratin Dauphinois an Inheritance Recipe

Margot of Coffee 'n Vanilla hosts this month #Inheritance Recipes challenge. The theme is Back to School. Here is the link: Inheritance Recipes Challenge is "back to school".

If I have to look the past in the eye, back to school never brought a lot of excitement. As a kid, it meant the end of perfect days: reading and day dreaming. In my teaching days, September brought a sense of panic and the default mode was work 24/7, not much time to think about "what's for dinner?"

When food becomes sustenance only, some turn to sandwiches or grab the first thing they see in the fridge. I make Smash, we all have a little vice. This one comes from my younger days, leaving with an invisible dad and an omnipresent mother who could not boil water without letting it burn but she had perfected instant mash potato.

Though when my dad made an appearance at the week-end, he cooked a few dishes extremely well: his infamous Tarte Tatin and a mean Gratin Dauphinois and when I think back to the Septembers of my childhood, that's the dish I associate them with.

It's a decadent dish which is slightly more complicated than it looks. So here are a few tips

The technics

The potatoes needs to be sliced really thinly, dad used a food processor. It takes a long time to cook. Start it at 210C for 15 minutes and reduce the oven to 180C for another 40 minutes.

The sauce

It has got to be cream, may be not a litre of liquid cream as my father insisted on using, probably 200gr of thick cream fraiche cut with milk will suffice, double cream works well too.

The flavouring

In my view a good gratin Dauphinois is one which will keep the horror of going back to work or school and the vampires away. Wipe the side and the base of the baking plate with garlic gloves and press some more garlic in between the layers

Don't hold back the pepper either.

My mum in her strange cooking ways, pre-cooks hers long in advance, uses gruyere between the layers and re-heats it. I am certain that she never read the Larousse Gastronomique but that the way it recommends with a layer at the top and one at the bottom.

Gratin Dauphinois

ingredients:

4 large potatoes

2 cloves of garlic

250g of cream

1 small glass of milk

salt and a little more pepper than your usual

method: serves 4

peel and slice the potatoes, the trick is to slice them with the food-processor so that the slices are very very thin and you can see through
rub garlic on the bottom of the oven-proof dish and its side
place a layer of slices in dish, top with cream and a little milk salt, pepper, crushed garlic
renew the operation until you run out of slices, every couple of layers add the garlic

A Coffee 'n Vanilla and Pebble Soup Challenge

Inheritance Recipes - August Round up -

A plate of food is often much more than that. With Inheritance Recipes we encouraged you to tell us stories. We never expected so much support on our first month challenge, you've tweeted, re-tweeted adding Inheritance Recipes to all sorts of social media and we thank you all for this.

Now it's time to round up all the recipes and to announce the winner chosen by Janice as in Farmer's Girl. Janice faced a difficult choice did a sterling job. She told us "I loved so many of the recipes but wanted to make sure that the one I chose really met the criteria".

The theme this month was summery/cool/easy recipes and here is the round up:

Starting at the beginning (for once) with

Fresh ideas for picnics and family parties:

From Margot who worked tirelessly behind the scene of the challenge, 2 recipes from here native Poland, Polish Quick Eating Salted Dill cucumber in Brine and a

Raspeberry Beer

In keeping with the liquid theme from the Hedge Combers a Royal Barley Water Recipe

De tout Coeur Limousin sneaked in a little dose of liquid in her smoky charred aubergine, pepper & tequila salsa and added sorrel and mint to her Labneh

Diana as in Little Sunny Kitchen joined the party with her Spinach Pastries (Fatyer Sabanekh)

Cool and Easy to prepare mains:

I brought my grand-dad's Shashuka and Jen's food added a dish she remembers from her childhood an easy baked Smoked Sausage Pasta

Sweet things:

To kick off the sweet batch Foodie Quine with her Gran Ma Monearn's shortbread

Choclette as in Tin and Thyme made us want to go foraging to bake her Chocolate Blackcurrant Buckle

A very seasonal Gooseberry Jam by our very own friendly Judge which will never thank enough Janice as in Farmer's Girl

Quick and fun Honey Joy from Green Gourmet Giraffe and Raspberry Lemonade truffles by Play Dough and Popsicle

An amazing no-bake Oreo Icebox Cake by Little Sunny Kitchen

and the winner is:

Our warmest congratulations to the Made in Pink who picked the strawberries in her local farm with her little one and baked a the "super duper easy to make" Strawberry Pie . Your Lakeland set of cake pans is on its way, we are looking forward to see what you'll create next

Hope you'll join us for the September Challenge hosted by Margot at Coffee and Vanilla.

Vinothec Compass - Greenwich Peninsular -

'Vinothec Compas' is a new restaurant and wine cellar/bar/library attached to the Greenwich Peninsula Golf Range near the O2.

When we first moved to Greenwich, in the days prior the Dome, we were greeted by two neighbours who knocked on the door one evening, complete with a bottle of wine, large smiles and a couple of chairs. "It's a street tradition," we were told during a conversation which involved a lot of golf-talk.

Barbara had recently taken up golf, little by little, her enthusiasm spread and many more neighbours joined her at the local golf club. Needless to say that he and I stayed well away. Both thinking along the same lines, He: "This looks to much like sport, I don't do sport". I: "This is a sport of no interest since it doesn't involve water".

Therefore when last month, I told Barbara that we were going to the brand new Greenwich Peninsular 60 bays golf driving range, she almost fell off her chair. I had to quickly explain that we had kindly been invited to the launch party of Vinothec Compass, the restaurant attached to the golf driving range. Her balance was restored.

But on arrival, we couldn't help it, though optional, we grabbed a club each and under the expert eye of a puzzled coach, demonstrated that sports and moreover exercise on land will never ever be our forte. Though we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, especially since, by some kind of miracle, it didn't involve any casualty and was rewarded by a glass Pol Roger Champagne accompanied by artichokes amuse-bouches prepared in the open kitchen overseen by Michelin trained Chef Jordi Rovira Segovia and chef Daniel Rodriguez Navas.

Artichoke like salsify isn't a vegetable favoured by restaurateurs, rarely making an appearance on menus, therefore these unusual canapés bide well for the rest of the tasting menu. Indeed it was a gastronomic experience which I highly recommend if you are passing near the O2. It's well worth stopping at the Vinothec Compass. The baby squid was perfectly cooked (which is an art in itself), I can honestly say that it was the best I ever had. The suckling pig with piquillo peppers was a delight. Sweet things are not forgotten, the mini tarte Tatin produced on request was very nice too.

But food is not all, as this is a restaurant with a cave attached or vice-versa. One of the founder Arnaud Compass who introduced himself as Wine Raconteur has created a paradise for wine lovers. Over 600 wines will definitely attract more than golfers. The emphasis focuses on unusual wines from all over the world.

I didn't know that wine was produced in Morocco but the Tempranillo I tried made me regret this oversight. If Compass and team focus on small producers, they also offer the more familiar wines at a price starting at less than a fiver per glass to bottles costing over £100. The beer drinkers are not forgotten, Vinothec Compass has a range of craft beers too.

More to read:
Vinothec Compass including menu and story

Chris Osbourn's account of the evening: A stroke of genius

and from Foodaholic

Disclaimer: We would like to thank the Vinothec Compass team for inviting us we enjoyed an evening of golf and menu tasting as a guests of Vinothec Compass. I received no further remuneration to write this post. I was not expected to write a positive review – all views are my own. I retain full editorial control.

And The Cook Like Celebrity 2015 Champion is.......

#CookLikeCelebrity was a series of first. First time in a cooking context. First time on a cruise-ship. First time, I baked brownies. So what happened?.....

Let me introduce the other two contestants: at the top, next to Executive Chef, Paul Carroll is Urvashi Roe of Botanical Baker: Urvarshi bakes splendidly, she is a former contestant on Great British Bake Off. Her addition of botanical ingredients make her pictures instantaneously recognisable.

Andrea Soranidis as in The Petite Cook is a relative new-comer to the food-blogging scene. Something you wouldn't know by looking at her blog. It's neat, sleek and professional. Andrea is a natural.

Behind the scenes:

As I left home for Southampton cruise terminal, where the contest was going to take place, there was no doubt in my mind that Urvashi was going to win.

Though, we were about to compete against each other, the three of us were getting on well from the very first photo-shoot. Before being taken to the galley where the competition was to take place, we were given an VIP tour of the Celebrity Eclipse

Behind the scenes: I soon realise why going on board a cruise ship was a first for me. I am not sure that my itchy feet and backpack are made to cruise but at least now, I'd love to give it a go.

Too soon, we gathered in a lounge where we were told which signature recipe we were to recreate: 3 Chocolate Brownies. Judging by the large smiles on either side of me, I was the only one who had never baked a brownie.

Behind the scenes: I never had the opportunity to make a batch of brownies but I learnt a valuable lesson on the day: confidence is part of the winning process.

And, I had a special weapon up my sleeve, my mate Michelle as in Greedy Gourmet. Michelle once described brownies which she makes to perfection in these terms : "moist, soft and squidgy on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside." If the brownie is too dry, it's a cake, if it's too squidgy, it's a mess. Cooking time is essential.

Behind the scenes: There was a funny moment, in my panic, I forgot to integrate the flour and it's only on my way to the oven with the tray that I noticed the consistency. This could not be correct. A quick glance at Chef, a double take to the work-station and yes the flour was still there.

Have you ever wondered how these contests work? Candidates are given a recipe-sheet with the instructions, most of the ingredients are ready to use, weighed and lined up on the work-top. In our case, we were also offered a tray of decorations for the finishing touch.

And then it was time for the judges to decide which was the best. Not before we described why we had chosen to present the brownies in such a way. That took me slightly aback but if I am not the best baker in the world, I surely have ways with words. I only had to look at my effort and "deconstructed" sprung to mind which was as well as the brief was for Deconstructed 3 Chocolate Brownies.

I am very proud to say that I won the contest. It only sank in on the train back home. I am "Cook Like Celebrity" 2015 champion and this was my brownie

if you fancy trying the recipe at home, here it is:

Deconstructed 3 Chocolate Brownies

#‎CookLikeCelebrity was organised in partnership with Great British Chefs and Celebrity Cruises. It took place in the galleys onboard the Celebrity Eclipse