A tale of two recipes

The first is a Jamie Oliver recipe. I like his recipes, they always work. Sometimes there is too much of Mr Oliver, too many adverts, too many television programmes. I only watch the programmes with Gennaro Contaldo in. We both worked with Gennaro, he taught Jamie all about Italian Food, and he chased me around the kitchen with a knife and locked me in the fridge.

Horses for courses.

Toffee brittle with Chocolate and sea salt.

450g unsalted butter
450g granulated sugar
Good pinch of sea salt flakes
250g nuts, chopped, toasted
350g 70% cocoa chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2 tbsp sea salt flakes.

Melt the butter and sugar and sprinkle of salt in a pan, bring to a boil, stirring until it turns a caramel colour. Add in the nuts and pour into a well greased tin, and level. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then scatter on the chopped chocolate which will melt and form a shiny layer. Allow to cool a little more and sprinkle on the last of the sea salt. Freeze for 30 minutes. Turn it out of the tin, and smash into pieces. Serve with strong shots of espresso.

The full recipe makes 1.5 kilos, which is a lot. I halved the quantities, and used a 31cm swiss roll tin. I would add more nuts next time.

The other photograph is of slow roasted tomatoes. Fill a roasting tin with over ripe cherry tomatoes, a slug of olive oil, and roast at 140 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.

It will become soup tonight, it really is soup weather now.

Did you watch Downton Abbey? Did you do it with a cup of tea and an old school box of Maltesers?