Rotary Young Chef Competition

At the end of last year i entered a cooking competition called Rotary Young Chef Competition, In the First round i competed against others from my School and we all had to enter our recipes and the best ones got chosen out of 12 entrees Myself and 3 Others got chosen. We then had to Cook a 2 course meal for 2 people in 2.5hours, I cooked Butternut Squash Risotto and Cheesecake Tart. I won against the others from my school but they all turned out delicious food!

So I went through to the North Finals against 2 other girls, One of whom was ill so could not attend so i was just against one girl, She had entered a few times before so walked in very confident. The Newspaper interviewer arrived and asked us questions as we cooked. I cooked vegetable cobbler and Creme Brulee. A local chef judged, but right from the beginning when the other contestant walked in i already knew i had lost but i gained a lot from it and i will enter again next year!

Spinach and Ricotta Pancakes

Ingredients
For the Batter:
255g Plain Flour
3 Egg
2tbsps Oil
Milk to make a batter (Roughly 150ml)
For the Filling:
150g Spinach, Cooked and Chopped
150g Ricotta Cheese
Pinch of Nutmeg and Pepper

1. Mix the Flour and Eggs together until well combined.
2. Whisk in the milk until a smooth thick batter.
3. Heat the Oil in a large sauce pan and once hot add one ladle full of Batter, swirl round to make a circle of batter.
4. Cook for 1-2minutes on each side and then flip over and cook for another 1-2minutes.
5. Then repeat with the rest of the batter, Meanwhile whilst they are cooking beat the Ricotta, Nutmeg, Pepper and Spinach until well combined.
6. Once all the pancakes are cooked roll them up with the Spinach mix inside then cut on a diagonal into 2 halves.

Chocolate Torte with Creme Fraiche

This Chocolate torte has a soft, light, gooey Body and a Crumbly Pastry Enjoy! 
Ingredients
Pastry:
175g Plain Flour
25g Cocoa Powder
100g Butter
Tart Filling:
175g Dark chocolate, Broken into pieces
100g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
2eggs + 1 Egg yolk
35g Self raising Flour
To decorate : Creme Fraiche

1. First The pastry you can do this either in a food processor or by hand, Put the Flour, Cocoa and Butter into the bowl / processor and rub to a fine crumb (or pulse).
2. Add a little cold water until it forms a dough, then wrap in cling film and leave to cool in the fridge for 20minutes.
3. Remove Pastry from Fridge and roll to fit a 21cm Fluted Loose bottom Tart Tin, then put the Tin in the fridge for ten minutes and pre-heat your oven to 180C.
4. Pierce the pastry base with a fork and cover with Baking paper then fill with baking beans or Pasta / Rice blind bake for 15minutes and then remove the Baking Paper and Beans and bake for a Further 5minutes.
5. To Make the Filling melt the chocolate over a pan of hot water or in a microwave, then leave to cool on the side.
6. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
7. Add the Eggs, Yolk and Flour, Mix well (do not worry if it looks slightly curdled the chocolate will solve it!)
8. Fold in the Melted chocolate and fill the pastry base.
9. Cook at 160C for 25-30mins until almost completely set but still slightly wobbly in the middle.
10. Leave to cool.
11. Fill a piping bag with creme fraiche and pipe onto the cool tart base,
12. Enjoy.

In the Picture it is served with a Raspberry Coulis, To make the Raspberry Coulis put 100g of Raspberries in a small saucepan with 2tbsps of Sugar and cook at a medium heat until it become a sauce, add more sugar to taste.

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins :)

Ingredients
300g Plain flour
2tsp Baking Powder
150g Caster Sugar
1 Egg
1tsp vanilla Extract
225ml Semi-Skimmed Milk
50g Butter
100g Raspberries (Fresh Or Frozen)
110g White Chocolate

1.     Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (180 degrees C fan oven), Gas mark 6.

2.     Cut the raspberries in half and chop the chocolate into chunks.

3.     Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl.

4.     Stir sugar into the flour mixture.

5.     Melt the butter.

6.     In a second bowl, crack the egg and whisk in the vanilla, milk and melted butter.

7.     Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.

8.     Fold in the raspberries and white chocolate chunks gently into the mixture. Be sure to use a metal spoon to avoid damaging the raspberries.

9.     Fill the baking cases 2/3 of the way to the top using a metal spoon.

10.   Bake for 20 minutes of until the muffins are risen and firm.

Lemon Bars

These Delicious Bars are a soft Shortbread like biscuit base with a lemon curdy top.

Ingredients

Shortbread:

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted Butter,

1/4 cup (25 grams) confectioner's (powdered or icing sugar)

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

Lemon Filling:

1 cup (200 grams) Caster Sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh Lemon Juice (approximately two large lemons)

1 tablespoons (5 grams) grated Lemon Zest

2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose Flour

Lemon Bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan. Shortbread Crust: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and Sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together. Press onto the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling. Lemon Filling: In your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer,  beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Fold in the flour. Pour the filling over the shortbread crust and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  To serve: Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar. These are best eaten the day they are made but can be covered and stored in the fridge for a day or two. Makes: 16 - 2 inch (5 cm) bars

Banoffee Pie

This may not be a healthy dessert but it is definitely delicious.

Ingredients

3 Bananas

300ml Whipping Cream

15g Dark Chocolate

397g Condensed milk

110g Butter

50g Demerara Sugar

3/4 packet of Hobnob

1.     Melt 60g of the butter and add to the Hobnobs (Crushed into fine pieces), line the bottom of a tart tin with the mix and leave to cool in fridge. 2.     Put the Condensed milk, Remaining Butter and Sugar into a Heavy Bottomed sauce pan, cook for 15-20minutes on a low heat, stirring continuously until it’s a rich golden colour and has thickened (If when you drop a little bit in cold water it forms a ball it’s ready). 3.     Chop 2 of the Bananas and layer them on top of the hobnob base. 4.     Pour the caramel over it and leave to cool in fridge (This forms a barrier and keeps the banana fresher). 5.     Whip the cream until soft peaks and layer over the cooled caramel. 6.     Grate chocolate over the top and leave to cool for  10 – 15 minutes before serving.

TheBlueSpatula

Hi and welcome to my blog,
This blog is about cooking and recipes.
I have loved to cook for a long time now and would like to share my hobby.
Thanks for looking
Ciao