Chocolate Ice cream

This recipe is really easy, it was adapted from this Russian cooking blog so my Russian friends can go straight there and enjoy this wonderful recipe.

Here is the list of ingredients:

3 very fresh, organic, free range, good quality eggs
70 g raw, unheated, organic honey
300 g raw, organic, pastured cream (pasteurised, organic double cream is fine too)
50 g good quality organic chocolate (more if you want darker colour)


First you need to separate egg yolks from whites, put the egg whites aside in a small bowl for now.

Add honey to the yolks and mix thoroughly.

In the meantime, melt chocolate in a bowl over hot water; when it is melted cool it down a bit and mix into the egg yolks mixture.

Whip the cream, add to the mixture, mix well.

Beat egg whites with a tiny squeeze of lemon until it is stiff. VERY SLOWLY fold in the egg whites in 3 goes (I can't overestimate the importance of doing it with a spoon v e r y   s l o w l y).

If you are using ice cream molds then just place your ice cream into the molds and off they go to the freezer, allow at least 6 hours and preferably overnight before eating.

If you have ice cream making machine follow the instructions and make the ice cream.

If you are not using the molds or the machine cover the batter and place it to the freezer, preferably in some glass container like a bowl. After the first 1.5 hours take it out and mix thoroughly. Repeat 3-4 times with 1 hour intervals.

Variations of this ice cream are endless, experiment and share below your experiences. I just tried 2, this one  because my boy loves chocolate and the one without chocolate just plain white ice cream simply because after a while I got sooo tired of chocolate.. can you believe it :).

Enjoy!!!

Oeufs en Cocotte (Eggs in Pots)

This great recipe comes from absolutely fantastic book I got in a charity shop just recently. It is called The Cookery Year by Reader's Digest, originally printed in 1973 but this is a second reprint of 1982. The book is full of real nutritious recipes. I started reading it and was amazed by all the ingredients that are pure real food, to name a few, butter, lard, double cream, milk, liver, pig's head, sweetbreads, heart, oxtail, ox foot, kidneys and so on, no semi-skimmed or skimmed nonsense. I couldn't help myself but cook something straight away.

Here comes the first dish I tried for breakfast. It is really good as an addition to your morning repertory, even more so if you are a bit tired of your usual morning egg.

This recipe is french but in spite of what you may think it is really easy to make and have indefinite variations.
On the side note all the ingredients below are organic, raw, pastured and free range where applies.

For the eggs in pots you will need

equipment:
ramekins (1 - 2 per person, or more)
baking tray for water bath
foil or suitable oven proof lid to cover the tray

main ingredients:
eggs (1-2 per person or more)
knob of butter
double cream (1 tbsp per egg)
salt and pepper

optional ingredients:
chive / green onion
any cheese (grated)

oven 180°C (350F)


Heat the oven to 180C (350F).
Butter your ramekins very well, I even leave some pieces of butter on the walls. Break one egg per ramekin, season according to your liking with salt and pepper, put one tablespoon of double cream on top.

Boil the kettle. Now put your ramekins into the baking tray and place the tray into the hot oven, pour the hot water into the tray to within 2 cm  of the rims of ramekins, cover loosely with a tin foil or any suitable oven proof lid.

Leave the ramekins in the oven for 12 minutes.

When you take them out the egg white will be just set and the egg yolk will be still liquid, so it is in between a soft boiled egg and a pouched egg. When the ramekins are out, put them on the individual serving plates and now sprinkle the egg with some grated cheese and chive or let your taste buds take the lead and add whatever pleases them.

Serve hot. It goes well on its own or with bacon, with some potato pancakes, sauerkraut, green salad, cut up tomatoes, buttered toast or whatever you fancy.

Now enjoy!