The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
CHICKEN, FETA AND KALE DUMPLINGS ESPRESSO MARTINI CHOCOLATE BUCKWHEAT TORTA CAPRESE
With Sicilian olives
The flavour of the olives infuses the tomato sauce during the low and slow cook, and yet this dish still feels light enough to serve with some simple greens or grains in summer, or in front of a fire with fresh, thick-cut fettuccine and a glass of red in winter. Regardless of the season, there are a few key things to note. Try to find young, fresh leaves of kale if you can; they are less bitter and you don’t have to worry about removing the stems before you chop. Secondly, visit a butcher for your meat – I always ask for my chicken to be freshly minced. I’ve found a 50:50 balance of breast and thigh works like a dream.
Serves four to six
INGREDIENTS
500g minced chicken 120g feta
1 red onion, finely chopped 1½ tsp sweet smoked paprika 2 garlic cloves, crushed 4 large flat-leaf kale leaves, very finely sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
175g Sicilian olives, pitted
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 310ml white wine
½ tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato purée
To serve
Flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Baby kale leaves or rocket, to scatter
METHOD
Add the chicken, feta, onion, paprika, garlic and kale to a bowl. Using your hands, work the mixture until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, then roll into large, golf ball-sized meatballs.
Set your slow cooker to the sauté function.
Add the oil and, once hot, gently add the meatballs and cook until lightly browned, turning occasionally.
Add the olives, tinned tomatoes, wine, brown sugar and tomato purée. Close the lid and cook on low for eight hours. Season generously with salt and pepper before serving.
Scatter with the chopped parsley and baby kale or rocket leaves to finish.
This is a dream: the coffee, the dark chocolate and the pure, luxurious mouthfeel of it all…
Serves eight to 10
INGREDIENTS
170g unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing 225g dark chocolate, roughly broken
½ tbsp vanilla bean paste 2 tbsp vodka
2 tbsp strong espresso 170g caster sugar
115g brown sugar 6 eggs
150g buckwheat flour 2 tbsp cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
To serve
Crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream (optional)
Dried orange slices (optional)
METHOD
h Grease and line a 22cm springform cake tin. Set your slow cooker to low. h Combine the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of gently simmering water. h Stir until melted and glossy, then remove from the heat and mix through the vanilla, vodka and espresso. Stir to combine, then set aside. h Add the sugars and eggs to the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer with whisk attachment and beat on high until pale, thick and creamy, about four minutes. h Stir through the buckwheat flour and cocoa powder. Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture and stir to combine, being careful not to overwork the batter. h Gently pour into the prepared tin. Cut yourself a length of baking paper about 30 x 15cm to act as handles underneath the cake tin. This will help you lower the tin into the cooker and get it out again. h Transfer the tin to the slow cooker then cover with a tea towel. This will prevent any moisture from the cooker dripping on to the torta. If your slow cooker has a removable lid, set it slightly ajar. If it is attached and twists closed, merely set it down but do not lock it into position as you want some steam to escape. hCook for two and a half hours, then check its progress. Touch the top: if it feels lightly set and tacky to the touch but firmer around the edges, remove the tea towel and the lid and cook for an additional hour (if not, check on it again at 10-minute intervals). h Turn the cooker off and, gently, using your handy handles, remove the tin from the bowl. This torta is quite delicate, so pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to set before slicing. h When ready to serve, dust with cocoa powder and slice. Allow to come to room temperature before serving. Top with crème fraîche and dried orange slices, if using.
Toast
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Rob Temple’s latest book, Born to be Mild: Adventures for the Anxious (Little, Brown) is out now. Follow him on Twitter: @SoVeryBritish
Being glad of the lack of visitors over the past year, if only because it means your toaster settings have gone completely un-fiddled with.
Convincing yourself you know better than the toaster by impatiently pinging it up too early. Mmmm! Floppy warm bread for breakfast again…
“There’s butter in the fridge.” Translation: either attempt to chisel a small chip from that solid, unspreadable slab, or microwave it for one second into an unappetising yellow liquid.
Finding a fingerprint in the butter dish and immediately making plans to end your relationship, sell your house and leave the country.
Hearing rumours of someone who likes to butter both sides of their toast – a clearly bonkers idea, but somehow not a completely unattractive one.
Making do with the last end piece of crust. After all, it fills a hole, albeit in a depressing and altogether wrong way.
Walking out the house with keys in hand and a bit of toast hanging out of your mouth, and feeling like you’re in a television advert.
“I actually don’t mind cold burnt toast, in fact that’s how I like it!” said the serial killer.
No matter how much consistent evidence is presented to you on a daily basis, simply refusing to concede that the Marmite jar is officially empty.
Letting your mind wander dreamily back to those halcyon days when you went to hotels that served toast in a toast rack.