Banoffee Pie!

Made this Banoffee Pie for a dinner party held by all the LLM crew where you do a pot luck type thing.  It was really yum and pretty easy too - big hit!

397g (or thereabouts) can condensed milk
1 large pack granitas/digestives (250g)
125g butter
600ml whipping cream**(see note below - substitute for thickened cream)**
about 6 bananas
pecans sugared up (fry in pan with sugar to crust them)
cinnamon

Put the tin of condensed milk in water.  Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer for about 2 hours. Keep checking on it because it needs to be covered and the water may evapourate out.  Also your kitchen may end up like a sauna so watch out!
Whizz the digestives in the blender, add the butter and mix it up.  Line a 20cm springform cake tin with paper.  Press the biscuit mix into the base, and about 4cm up the sides (I did it messy and it was fine, don't be too precious about it).  Put in the fridge.
Once the condensed milk has boiled for a good 2 hours let it cool, then take the lid off.  You will have a nice thick caramel.  Spread over the biscuit base and put back in the fridge.
Close to serving time whip up the cream.  Stir in about 5 of the bananas, sliced.  (It's good to have lots of banana as the rest of the dessert is so sweet, I would almost suggest the cream is just full of bananas).
Pop the base out of the pan and put on a plate.  Spread the cream over the caramel, then top with the rest of the sliced bananas, sprinkle with cinnamon and scatter with pecans.
Delicious!

ROUND 2: Made Banoffee again last night (27 Feb).  It wasn't as good this time I think it's a little too creamy.
Next time I make it I'm going to do it in individual cups (also easier to serve etc - don't need to slice the pie! pretty clever!!).  Instead of whipping cream I'm going to just use a dollop of thickened cream with some vanilla mixed in.
So:

• layer of biscuit base
• layer of caramel
• layer of sliced bananas
• dollop of cream with chopped bananas mixed through
• dust with cinnamon or shaved dark chocolate

Using small cups is also way easier when cooking for only a few people - you could easily half the recipe for 4 people.  I would only cook the big pie when serving for a really large group.

Jamie's delicious dessert

I want to copy this dish from Jamie's restaurant.
It's basically a biscuit base, with lemon curd, then marscapone, strawberries and crushed pistachios.  Mmmmmm so simple and so delicious.

Beef vindaloo AND chicken saag

Dan and Georgie made this delicious curry for us with veges and stuff they picked up at the Borough markets.  It was fantastic!

1 Tbsp cumin seeds
4 dried red chillies
1 tsp black peppercorns
5 green cardammon pods
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Demerara sugar
4 Tbsp white wine vinegar
4 Tbsp oil
1 large onion finely chopped
900g stewing beef diced
2.5th piece Ginger grated
1 garlic clove crushed
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

Grind cumin, chillies, peppercorns, cardamom pods, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds.
Add salt, sugar, and vinegar.
Heat half of the oil and fry the onions for 10 min.   Blend this with the spice mix.
Heat the remaining oil and fry the meat until it is browned. Remove and set aside.
Add Ginger and garlic and fry 2 min. Stir in ground coriander and tumeric and fry 2 min.
Add spice paste and fry for 5 min.
Add meat. Add 1/2 pint water. Cover and Cook 1-1.5 hours until meat tender



Chicken saag
225g spinach washed not dried
2.5cm piece Ginger grated
2 garliccloves crushed
1green chilling rough chop
200ml water
30ml oil
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1 onion chopped
4 tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chilly powder
3 Tbsp natural yoghurt
8 chicken thighs

Cook spinach without water in tightly covered sUcepN for 5 min
Blend spinach garlic Ginger chilli and 50ml water
Heat oil. Add bay leaves and peppercorns. Fry 2 mins. Add onion fry till browned.
Add Tom and simmer 5 min
Add curry, chilli, salt. Cook 2 min
Add purée and 150ml water. Simmer 5 min.
Add yoghurt 1 Tbsp at a time and simmer 5 min.
Add chicken. Cover and cook 25-30 min.