White Chocolate Panna Cotta – with Spicy Rhubarb

3dl double cream
1dl full fat milk
100g white chocolate
1 vanilla pod, scored and seeds removed
zest from 1 lemon
2 gelatin sheets
1 ¼ dl sugar

200g rhubarb
2tsbp sugar
1 vanilla pod, scored and seeds removed
2 staranise
1 thum-sized cinnamon stick

6 servings

1. Put the cream, milk, vanilla pod, vanilla seeds, lemon zest and sugar into small pan and slowly simmer for 10 minutes or until reduced by a third. Stir in the white chocolate and let in melt into the mixture. Remove from the heat and stir in the soaked gelatine sheets until dissolved. Allow to cool a little, then pour into moulds and place in the fridge.

2. Meanwhile chop the rhubarb into 4cm pieces and add to a thick-bottomed deep saucepan. Add the sugar, vanilla pod, vanilla seeds, staranise and cinnamon stick to the pot and let it gently come to the boil. Then turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 45 minutes. Remove the cinnamon and staranise and serve with the chilled panna cotta.

Cauliflower Panna Cotta with Caviar and Grapefruit Granita

This is a excellent starter when you whant to impress your friends at the next dinner party. Don´t be scared if you think this is too difficult becouse this is really easy to do......trust me :)

Makes 4

250g cauliflower
3dl double cream
5 gelatin sheets
1 heaped tbsp sugar
salt and pepper
caviar

Cut the cauliflower in smaller pieces. Bring it to the boil with the cream and sugar, and lower the heat. Salt and pepper to taste. Put the lid on and cook on low heat until done. Don´t burn!!

Mix the cauliflower with ½ of the cream in a blender into a smooth purré.

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water and dissolve over low heat. Then add a small amount of purré at first and stirr well. Then add the rest of the purré and stir once again.

Pour the panna cotta into small moulds and push the small cauliflower pieces into the panna cotta. Chill the fridge before serving.

Use a warm knife to loosen the panna cotta from the moulds and serve with the caviar on top.

For the Vodka Jelly
18cl vodka
1dl water
1 ½ gelatin sheets
a handful of fresh mint

Bring the vodka and water to the boil and reduce 0.25 of the liquid. Add the soften gelatin sheets and stir.

Pour into a plastic mould with clingfilm and and sprinkle the mint leafes over. Allow the jelly to set in the fridge. Cut into little cubes and decorate when serving the panna cotta.

For the Grapefruit Granita
1 cup grapefruit juice
½ tbsp vodka
½ tbsp sugar
3tbsp champagne vinigar or white wine vinigar

Mix the ingrediants together and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Freeze for 1 hour. Then rake the frosted grapefruit into kristals with a fork and freeze again for 1 hour. Do the same thing once again and freeze until serving. The frozen grapefruit should be small kristals.

Grana Padano Ís

500ml rjómi

200g rifin Grana Padano

4 msk balsamic edik, ekkert ódýrt drasl!!!

Setja rjóman og Grana Padano ostin í skál yfir vatnsbaði.

Þeyta létt þar til Grana Padano osturin bráðnar og rjómin þykknar örlítið.

Hella síðan í gegnum sigti ofan í djúpt edlfast mót.

Leyfa mixtúrunni að kólna áður en það er sett í frystin. Frysta í 8 – 10 tíma. Hræra síðan með gaffli á 2-ja tíma fresti næstu 6 tímana, til að fá rjómaís-áferðina.

Bera fram í littlum skálum eða glösum og dreyfa smá balsamic edik yfir.

Spaghetti Limone

450g spaghetti
1 hvítlauksgeiri, til að nudda
sítrónusafi af 2 sítrónum
5 msk olivuolía (74ml)
salt
1 bolli parmigiano , rifin, plús smá extra til að dreyfa yfir í lokin
1 búnt fersk persilja, söxuð
rifin börkur af 1 sítrónu

Settu spaghetti í pott með sjóðandi söltuðu vatni og hrærðu vel svo það festist ekki saman.

Skerðu hvítlauks geiran í tvent og nuddaðu innsíðuna af skál. Hvítlaukurin mun bragðbæta það sem fer í skálina. Hentu svo lauknum.

Settu sítrónu safan í skálina og helltu rólega olivuolíuni saman við á meðan að þú þeytir vel.

Settu góða klípu af salti og parmigiano ostin.

Þegar spaghetti er al dente, hella þá vatninu af og bæta spaghetti í skálina. Blanda vel saman.

Strá parmigiano, persilju og sítrónubörk yfir spaghetti. Bera fram undir eins.

Onion soup with Madeira

a good thick slice of butter

large onions – 3, peeled and sliced

bay leaves - 2

flour – 2 tablespoons

white wine – 250mls

chicken or vegetable stock – 1 litre

Madeira 3-4 tablespoons

sourdough bread – 8 small slices

Gruyere, thinly sliced – 75g

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the sliced onions and the bay leaves and let them cook, without colour, over a medium heat. You want them to be soft and slightly sticky, which will take a good 25 minutes. Don’t hurry them. When they are ready, stir in the flour, cook for a minute or two then pour in the white wine and then the stock, bringing it to the boil. Season with salt and black pepper. Turn the heat down so that the soup simmers, and leave it, but stir occasionaly for a good 30-40 minutes. Add the Madeira and continue simmering for 5 -10 minutes.

Toast the bread on one side then cover the other with the sliced Gruyere. Check the soup for seasoning then spoon into ovenproof bowls. Float the slices of bread on top and place under the grill for a couple of minutes till the cheese has melted.

Frozen Grapes - with Dark Chocolate

I saw this idea in a book by Jamie Oliver once , and I was really interrested on how it would work, becouse if you buy beautiful fresh grapes then why would you freeze them, but it really works!! The inside of the grapes change to a sorbet like consistensy and are a great complement to a warm summer day.

The best way to eat frozen grapes is with some good quality hazelnut chockolate or dark Varlhrona chockolate and limonchello snaps.

Chickpea Pasta

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

250g mushrooms, sliced into quarters

2 carrots, sliced into 1cm chunks

fresh rosemary

olive oil

1 glass white wine

2 cans chickpeas

5dl chicken stock

100g pasta tortiglioni

fresh basil

fresh parsley

salt & pepper

Sweat the vegetables in some olive oil and fresh rosemary.

Add the white wine and reduce the liquid.Add the chick peas and chicken stock and let simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

While it simmers, cook the pasta in salted water.Remove half the chickpeas from the pan and set aside. Blitz the rest in a blender or with a staf-mixer until creamy and smooth.

Then add the chickpeas and cooked pasta back to the pan. If the sauce is too thick add some of the pasta water to the pan.

Add some fresh basil and parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some bread and white wine.