Japanese Inks

Its taken a while for me to develop my stencil ideas. I've missed the deadline for my valentines shipment but it was worth it.  I was reluctant to take up the commission seeing as i have mixed feelings about valentines. Valentines is like cheese, a soft, gooey, pungent cheese. If you have the stomach, it tastes great. All of my initial ideas were the same old cliched cheesy shit. That was until i decided no words and no clear images. Some things are beyond words. I like the idea of using vague images which people will interpret differently.

In the cold

Its pretty cold outside but thats alright. I'm working on a sour cherry, dark chocolate, treacle biscuit to the warming sounds of Fur.

The Wise Man

I met a wise man today. He said "If you can cook you can eat like a king". I agreed.

The gingerbread man

A Frofo Toren collaboration - involving scalpel cut home templated gingerbread sheets glued together with a dry caramel and iced excessively.

Tinker Tailor

I've just seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a little late i know. I'm a fan of actors with interesting faces, and slow burning spy films, so this was a match made in heaven.

My order of stencil paper has just come through. Stencil paper has a rich yellow sheen and is waxed to make it waterproof. You can paint over your silhouettes without worrying about the integrity of the paper. I'm working on a book with a spy theme, i.e. shady men with briefcases and hats, newspaper and street lamps in the moonlight. Heres where i've got so far...

Leek Pie

I'm not going to lie leeks aren't my favourite ingredient. Up until now if you offered me the choice of a chicken pie or a leek pie it would be like offering a child chocolate or cauliflower, a sure thing. The thing is, leeks go really well with pastry. Add some serious seasoning ( i'm talking, lemon, salt, pepper, fresh thyme, nutmeg, parmesan and creme fresh) and you really can make something special. Needless to say now i choose the leek pie!

Ingredients

3 leeks

30g grated parmesan

4 heaped tbsp of creme fraiche

Squeeze of lemon

Fresh thyme leaves (taken from 5 sprigs)

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

500g short crust pastry (i use the Ottelenghi recipe)

Butter

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp salt and black pepper

Directions

* 1 *

Chop the leeks lengthways and then slice at an angle into 1cm strips. You don't want all of the dark green leaves as they are quite fibrous. Wash the leeks after they have been chopped as dirt often gets stuck between the leaves. Leave to drain.

* 2 *

Heat a pan to a medium heat and add 80g of butter. When the butter foams add half the leeks, some thyme and salt and saute for around 5-10 mins until the leeks soften. Saute the rest of the leeks and leave to cool.

* 3 *

Roll out half the pastry and lay over a 15 inch buttered tart case, keeping a little overhang. Roll out the top of the pastry and make a patter with slits to allow air to escape. Brush the bottom with a little egg yolk (waterproofing) to stop the pastry getting soggy. I keep the pastry as cool as possible and run a knife underneath the rolled dough to help lift it up.

* 4 *

Add the lemon, parmesan, black pepper, salt, nutmeg, parmesan and creme fraiche to the leeks and mix well. Spoon into the pastry case. Brush the edges of the pastry with egg yolk and place the pastry top on. Push down the pastry at the edges so that the overhang is removed. You can use a cookie cutter to make pastry shapes with any left over pastry. Finally brush the top with the remaining egg and bake for around 30 mins at 175 degrees centigrade. Eat warm and serve with sprouting broccoli or salad.

Kitchen Secrets

I have acquired a book of kitchen secrets.

Someone really didn't want to share.

Enclosed, directions to the forest of secret ingredients ...