RECIPES
RECIPES
Ottolenghi Hot charred cherry tomatoes with cold yoghurt-2

Charred tomatoes with cold yoghurt (Ottolenghi)

Ottolenghi's Hot charred tomatoes with cold yoghurt & hummus & flatbreads

This post has been updated as of September 2021

For the perfect end of summer meal, we recently made this charred tomato dish from Ottolenghi’s cookbook, Simple*.

We made flatbreads from my book and some hummus to have with the tomato dish & some grilled vegetables too.

If you’re familiar with Ottolenghi’s recipes, you know that sometimes they can sometimes contain quite a few ingredients and/or steps. His new book features recipes which are more pared back but still full of flavour – ideal for vegetarian weeknight meals and easy dinner-party dishes (many of which need little prep!).

In fact, when visiting my brother a few weeks ago, he cooked up 3 recipes from Simple, all of which he made within an hour. So easy!

How to make Bao

This post has been updated as of August 2021

Steamed gua bao buns in a bamboo steamer
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In light of recent racially-targeted attacks and hate crime against Asian people, I will be donating all ad revenue generated from this blog post (any previous ad revenue generated in 2021 as well as revenue from the remainder of 2021) to besea.n, a network for East and South East Asian people in the UK. They work to tackle negative stereotypes and provide resources to promote a positive representation of ESEA people in the UK media as well as other important work to increase equality for this marginalised group.

Over the past few years there has been an explosion of bao restaurants in London. These soft and fluffy steamed buns are incredibly delicious and usually not too pricey. BUT you can make them at home which can be a fun weekend ‘project’ to do (and you can freeze extras for weeknight dinners!). The idea of steaming bread can seem daunting so I’ve gone in deep here with as much detail as I can muster! I’ve made them quite a few times at home now so, although I’m definitely not an expert, I may have some tips from what I’ve learned.

Contents:

  1. Videos on rolling & shaping bao
  2. Bao recipe
  3. What is a bao bun?
  4. Where can I buy bao?
  5. Can I make vegan bao?
  6. How do you steam bao?
  7. Can you freeze bao & how do you reheat frozen bao?
  8. How do you keep steamed buns warm?
  9. Why are my bao not white?
  10. Can I make wholewheat bao?

How to make self-raising flour – Baking Basics

A bowl with homemade self-raising flour substitute, a sieve, some baking powder in a jar and a tub of plain flour

Self-raising flour (a.k.a. self-rising flour in the US) is a common ingredient in English baking recipes, typically used for scones, pancakes and Victoria sponge cakes. It is simply a pre-mixed combination of raising agents and flour so that you don’t need to add baking powder or bicarbonate of soda to your recipe.

Here I’ve provided an alternative to shop-bought self-raising flour which you can make using 2 simple ingredients: plain flour and baking powder

Hands adding gooseberries to an unbaked brown butter tart

Brown Butter Gooseberry Tart

This post has been updated as of July 2021

Gooseberries are such a funny fruit, often covered in fine hairs with a translucent green (or pink!) colour and COME ON, that NAME! My boyfriend and I keep calling them geese because… we are incredibly easy to entertain.

The berries are pretty sour by themselves with small seeds inside, they cook down into a soft, squishy compote. Their sour nature means you basically have to have them cooked in a dessert as the sugar is essential. This brown butter gooseberry tart is SO good, it’s incredibly easy to make because of a melt & mix press-in crust which means that all you pastry-making haters out there can rejoice. The filling is also a doddle to make and results in a custardy, creamy texture bursting with tangy gooseberries.

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