I’m kicking off the festivities with a Rhubarb & Custard Croissant Pudding created for my event with Olivia Rubin, followed by Linzer Hearts (because it’s the season you know….) and leaving you with deli nostalgia in a bagel and my White Fish Salad recipe. Three perfect recipes to share with those you love this weekend and every day.
Rhubarb & Custard Croissant Pudding
I love an excuse for a gathering. So when my friend Olivia came up with the genius idea to celebrate National Croissant Day at the end of January together I leapt at the opportunity before she’d even finished her sentence. We tied in her croissant sweater and t-shirt designs with a little mid morning feast centred around, yes, you guessed it, croissants. Date locked in, I gave myself the task of creating a delectable treat to serve to the crowd.
The morning was in truth so much more than croissants, it was about our mission through both Olivia’s fashion and my recipes to curate our communities, create magic around the table and use food both in print and on the plate as a vehicle for connection both professionally and personally.
The croissants for our gathering were kindly given to us my new local and dangerously delicious bakery and restaurant, Don’t Tell Dad, but felt compelled to create a dish to serve to the crowd (croissants are definitely not in my wheelhouse). And so, during one of last week’s early hours overthinking sessions, this this Rhubarb & Custard Croissant Pudding was born.
It’s not often I’m lost for words, but my first bite, a few minutes out of the oven rendered me speechless. The rhubarb & custard combo is a hit for a very good reason with the perfect marriage of sweet and tart, but when paired with the soft, buttery, torn and lightly toasted croissants it reaches new levels of deliciousness.
I urge you to buy extra croissants this weekend for the sole purpose of making this. It also makes the perfect Valentines celebration if you are searching for a cookie alternative.
And for a little pudding HACK sidenote…..If you are short on time and cannot fathom the thought of making the custard, my best kept secret is that a good shop bought custard works brilliantly in a bread pudding. And if the thought of roasting rhubarb sends you over the edge, use a good and not too sweet jam. There’s no excuse now……
Linzer Hearts
Nothing says I love you quite like a little home made treat. These linzer hearts are really just an excuse for cute in the middle of February when apparently there is a day dedicated to love.
I like to think every day should be dedicated to loving each other through food, but to be honest I’m grateful for this chance to use up my leftover bits of jam and dust off my carefully curated and not often enough used cookie cutters.
This recipe is not just a Valentine’s one trick pony, these linzer cookies are the perfect teatime treat or seasonal gift when you want something just a little bit fancy. Just get creative with your cutouts and share the love.
White Fish Salad (on a Bagel)
White fish salad is a New York thing. For those of you who have not set foot into a classic New York Delicatessen or Appetising store, it’s a famous bagel filling (schmear) / dip made from smoked freshwater white fish, mixed with mayonnaise and used as a coveted bagel filling or dip. Like most other Ashkenzi Jewish heritage recipes, there’s a lot of chatter about what should or should not be included in the mixture and everyone has an opinion.
Never wanting to miss an opportunity to with in on a debate, I’ve got a thought or two that I’m sharing about my favourite classic recipe. It treads a dangerously fine line of non-traditional whitefish salad, using smoked trout (because we cannot get our hands on the special New England whitefish here). I also like to keep mine smooth and not packed with onion and celery, letting the crunch come from the pickles on top of the schmear and the crunch of the either extremely fresh or lightly toasted bagel.
I appreciate that some of you yearn for a less smooth bagel filling so I am giving a plethora of additions sometimes found in the delis around the city that never sleeps at the end of the recipe.
And if you would prefer this as a dip rather than a schmear, I highly recommend eating it on a crinkle crisp. There’s a little video of me making this dish over on YouTube where you will also get a little insight into my chaotic cooking process (and how much fun I have in the kitchen)
Obviously I want to hear ALL about your whitefish adventures. Let’s open up the discussion…..
Before I Go…….
I want to say a little thank you to everyone who has tuned in over on YouTube. It’s incredible to see the engagement with the new videos and I would as always love to hear your feedback. This week I added a little intro video so for all of you who are new to my kitchen escapades you can find out a little more about me. I try to upload a new video every week and it would help me massively if you subscribed to my page over there (because every little bit helps in this crazy world).
As always, I am forever grateful for your support and for cooking along with me. I love hearing your thoughts about the recipes I share and seeing all the dishes that you make. Thank you, it’s such a pleasure to be here with you. xx