Emily was delighted to see her long time friend Trine Hahnemann back in the Food at 52 kitchen for a press event for Castello cheese for #getsmorging.
Along with Natasha and Annamarie, all hands were on deck creating a selection of delectable “smorg” ideas for an evening of munching on “smorg” and drinks pairing. “Smorging” is the idea of having a smorgasbord of foods you can scavenge from your fridge without having to cook up a full dinner. Think Boxing Day buffet but more than once a year: cheese, cold cuts of leftover meats, crudities, dips, breads, a delicious delicatessen dinner!
Matt Day, food and drink expert, joined Trine to create some delicious matching cocktails, and drinks including the most unusual egg coffee!
Here’s a recipe that went down particularly well, pineapple cheese choux buns as demonstrated by Annamarie (above). More recipes including the spelt tart (above) can be found on the Castello website here.
Choux pastry with pineapple cheese with ginger glazing
Makes 22-24
Choux pastry:
- 100 g butter
- 200 ml water
- 100 g plain flour
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
Icing:
- 1 tsk freshly grated ginger
- 8-9 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tbsp hot water
Cheese
- 1 Castello pineapple cheese
Put the butter in a saucepan with the water and let it melt over a gentle heat. Now increase the heat and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, sift the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl. Now add the flour into the butter and water, stir with a wooden spoon over the heat until a firm, smooth paste is formed. Beat until it comes away from the edges of the pan and forms a ball, then remove from the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
Whisk the eggs together, add to the dough a little at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and glossy. You may not need all the beaten egg. With two teaspoons place little round balls the size of walnuts on baking trays lined with greaseproof baking paper. Bake for 20–30 minutes; do not open the oven door for the first 10 minutes or the pastry may not rise. The pastries are done when they are golden brown and firm.
Transfer to a wire rack and, with a sharp knife, pierce holes in the side of each to let the steam out. Leave to cool. Cut the choux pastry in half and place slice of the pineapple cheese inside the choux pastry. Then make the icing, mix the grated ginger with icing sugar and add water, whisk well add a bit more water if not smooth enough - decorate the choux pastry with the icing. Let them sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Drink Match: Egg Coffee
Ingredients
- 9 cups water (to boil) plus 1 1/4 cup cold water
- 3/4 cup freshly ground coffee (medium to coarse grind)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 egg shell, crushed
Method
- Bring 9 cups of water to a rapid boil in a saucepan
- Stir together ground coffee, 1/4 cup water, egg and shell
- When water is boiling, carefully pour in the egg-coffee mixture, turning down the heat if necessary to prevent it from boiling over
- Boil the coffee for 3 minutes. You’ll see that the coffee grounds will gradually bind together into a single mass that floats at the top of the pot
- At this point remove pot from heat and pour in 1 cup cold water. Let the coffee settle for 10 minutes; the “lump” of grounds will settle to the bottom of the pot. The flavor of the coffee grows stronger, without becoming bitter, the longer that it simmers.
- Pour through a fine-meshed sieve or strainer into cups and serve