Aurora Restaurant Review

Image © www.godine.co.uk

 Having heard fantastic things about Aurora I couldn’t help but be excited for my Christmas meal. The menu boasts interesting flavor combinations as well as locally sourced ingredients. Tucked away in the Lace market the building is a renovated lace warehouse dating back to the 1880’s and suggests a charming, unique setting.

  In the middle of a busy evening service, the staff managed to seat all 15 of us efficiently and were incredibly friendly. Despite the warm welcome the restaurant felt cluttered with the tables closely bunched together making a reasonably small restaurant feel even smaller. The décor also added to the cluttered look with brightly coloured cushions, shag pile rugs, artificial flowers and sparkly turquoise curtains.

 Despite the original apprehension of the interior design, as soon as my starter arrived all worries were put to rest. My homemade game terrine was beautifully presented on the plate. The terrine was accompanied by the sweet date chutney, crispy kale, textures of apple and toast. All the flavours worked together wonderfully, making sure nothing over powered the game. The rest of my party also enjoyed their starters ranging from smoked salmon and lemon oil to Grilled Pasdeloup (creeping wolf) goats cheese and beetroot salsa.

 There was a wait for the main course but this gave me time to sample the red wine which was perfectly pleasant for £15 a bottle. When my main course arrived I could not have been more pleased to see the lovely piece of pork belly sitting on my plate. Aurora cannot be faulted on its presentation of food as everything arrived looking picture perfect. The pork belly certainly rivaled my previous experiences, the meat was delightfully tender with perfectly seasoned crackling. I found myself slightly disappointed with the honeyed parsnip and ginger puree as suddenly the dish became sickly sweet. The Beef Bourguinon proved popular against the turkey with apricot stuffing which was unusually served with slithers of carrot.

 By now the restaurant was incredibly busy but there was no sense of chaos amongst the waitressing staff and we were constantly checked upon to ensure we were having a good evening. My dessert of chocolate mousse and nut caramel arrived promptly with an array of Christmas puddings, winter berry parfaits and cheese boards with fig chutney. With the words caramel and chocolate it would have been naïve of me to assume I would not get a very sweet dessert. In spite of this I did find that it was too rich and I was unable to finish it. I was surprised to taste a milk chocolate mousse as had it have been dark chocolate I would have no doubt finished it without complaints. I was also disappointed to see Cornish yarg cheese on the cheese board when Derbyshire brags some delicious local cheeses.

  In summary, I had an enjoyable evening at Aurora. Having paid £20 for an appetizing three course meal it can not be criticized for its value for money. The staff provided well executed dinner service making sure we all left happy. The waitress offered me their regular dinner a la carte menu which changes regularly costing £16 for a three course meal. I would certainly not discourage people to go and try the Christmas menu before it finishes on the 22^nd of December. Aurora provides a good alternative to the dry carvery dinners so often served at Christmas. If the décor was stripped back to basics with a few candles, fresh flowers and a more subtle colour scheme it would show itself off as the charming restaurant it clearly is. It is nice to see more independent restaurants appearing in Nottingham and in support of this I would recommend a visit to Aurora.

Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Tart

This tart is ridiculously rich but perfect for something indulgent on a cold winters evening.  I had noticed that a lot of other food blogs were using salted caramel and have made an attempt of my own. hope you like it! Excuse my photography skills i promise it currently looks more much delicious sitting in front of me.

For your caramel chocolate filling you will need:

300ml of double cream ( 150ml for caramel and 150ml for chocolate)

140g of golden caster sugar

85g Golden Syrup

60g Demerara sugar

50g unsalted butter

1tsp of vanilla paste

1 tsp Fleur de sel ( if you can not find this Maldon sea salt will do) 

250g Dark chocolate ( 70% coaco or more)

For your chocolate pastry you will need:

200g plain flour

50g coaco powder

100g unsalted butter

1 egg yolk

85g icing sugar

1. Place all the dry ingredients for your pastry into a bowl along with your butter cut into small cubes. Cut the butter into flour mixture until crumbly consistency and then add your egg yolk to bind the ingredients together. 

2. Work this into the mixture with a knife until all the ingredients start to form a ball of dough. Work as little as possible onto a floured surface and the wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. To make your caramel weigh out your butter and cut it into small chunks and to it add your vanilla paste and set to one side.

4. Then to deep saucepan add the cream, both demerara sugar and caster sugar, golden syrup and double cream. Put on a medium heat for a few minutes and then put on a slightly higher heat and then cook until bubbling and continue to cook for 8 minutes. after a minute or two stir in your butter until the mixture is smooth. Then immediately take off the heat and set to one side. 

5. Boil your cream and then add to it your chocolate and let the chocolate melt into the cream off the heat. When the ingredients are all mixed in and glossy mix into your caramel and leave to the side.

6. Take your pastry out of the fridge and roll out to about 1-2cm thick and line your tart tin. Mine is 24cm in diameter. Blind bake for 15-20 minutes at 200°.

7.  After it has been taken out of the oven leave to cool for half an hour and then add to it your chocolate caramel mixture. Leave to set at room temperature as i have found if you leave it to chill in the fridge it looses its shine and we want it to look glossy and inviting!

There we have it! Do not underestimate this tart it is very very rich but nothing a sweet tooth can't handle. 

Paris

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be taken away for the weekend to celebrate my mum’s 50^th birthday. I first went to Paris when I was 15 and it is difficult for me not to want to go back to a city ridden with large collections of art and beautiful food.

Having visited the main tourists attractions before it was really enjoyable to just wander round the city and peer into shop windows and take it all in. Even watching people park their cars was entertainment in itself. Cars were parked in any space they could find and it was not uncommon to see someone casually crash into another car and then walk away as if it was the most normal thing.

The thing I was most excited for was the food and wine. In my flat we seem to over indulge every weekend but this did not stop me delicately stuffing my face with macarons and croissants. The thing I like about French food is the attention to flavour. Every sauce is made up of the most amazing produce and reduced to something rich and delicious. The pastries are so carefully constructed and displayed in the large glass cases that make them look even more precious. On the Saturday evening we went to a small French bistro that served the best soup I have ever tasted.

I can honestly say that despite the extensiveness of my consumption of food that weekend, I did not go back to university feeling guilty at all! I think it is almost rude to go to Paris and not over indulge. No doubt I will maintain the same mentality every time I go to Paris, ignoring my ever-growing waistline and continuing to taste test every macaron in Paris.

Wine and Cake Night

Despite being 22 years old i continue to act like a 40 year old. An example of this is discouraging my friends to go out and instead asking them to bake and join me for a civilized evening of wine and cake. Although we are exactly a month away from christmas, i littered our flat with christmas decorations and prepared for a ridiculously christmassy themed evening.

 My flat mates truly out did themselves! Cate made a beautiful quiche Lorraine, Katie made hazelnut crescent biscuits from a family recipe, Dev made goats cheesed and caramelised onion muffins and Josh surprised everyone and produced lovely little cupcakes Mary Berry would be proud of!

I decided to serve up my cranberry, orange and cherry cake ( recipe on my blog), but this time added apples to the mixture and a little christmas glitter which seemed to go down well!

After lots of mulled wine and cider everyone was less hesitant to take part in my christmas quiz full off useless questions such as : "What is the height of the tallest christmas tree recorded to date?" The amount of effort everyone put into the evening was great, Ed produced the center piece of our table in the form of a carefully decorated ginger bread house. 

 Overall it was a fantastic evening and it was nice to do something different. I spent all of the next day munching on our left overs, i ate 4 lemon sherbert biscuits made by my friend charlotte. I am already planning the Mad Hatter's Tea party for next term, and in preparation, a few more visits to the gym!

'Pick me up' Baked Chocolate Cheesecake

After a night on the town i was encouraged to bake this cheesecake as my flat mates and i were in serious need of a pick-me-up. I can seriously recommend this alongside watching a disney film in your pyjamas!

For the base:

·       3 packets of Bourbon biscuits

·       50g butter

·       4 chocolate digestive biscuits

For the filling:

·       600g full fat cream cheese

·       3 tbsp plain flour

·       100g demerara sugar

·       100g light brown sugar

·       2 eggs and an extra yolk

·       200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa or more)

·       100g milk chocolate

·       300ml double cream

·       5 tbsp of Kahlúa

1.      To make your base for your cheesecake put all of your biscuits into a sandwich bag, seal and use a rolling pin to crush the biscuits until they resemble fine crumbs and add to a mixing bowl. Melt your butter and combine to your biscuit mixture until all the butter has been mixed in

2.     Add to your cake tin ( once again i have used my 22cm tin) and press the mixture into the bottom of your tin creating an even layer ready for your cheesecake mixture. Place in a preheated oven of 180° 5 minutes.

3.      To make your cheese cake melt your dark and milk chocolate and then add to it your double cream and allow to cool. In another bowl combine your cream cheese, sugar, eggs and mix to a smooth consistency.

4.     Finally mix in your melted chocolate to your cream cheese mixture and lastly the flour and Kahlúa. Pour into your cake tin, over your readily prepared base and smooth the top with a spatula to level topping to your cheesecake.

5.      Cook in the oven at 180° 50 minutes. Once removed from the oven allow to cool for at least half an hour before serving.

Plum and Pistachio Bakewell Tarts

This creates 6 delicious medium sized tarts and is the quantities are enough for one large tart. 

For the Pistachio pastry:

·       200g plain flour

·       pinch of salt

·       100g unsalted butter

·       50g finely chopped pistachios

·       2-3 tbsp of water

For the filling:

·       125g butter

·       125g Golden caster sugar

·       1 egg ,lightly beaten

·       125g semolina

·       ½ tsp of almond extract

·       ½ tsp vanilla paste

·       plum jam

For your topping:

·       3 small plums ( 6 halves)

·       200g golden caster sugar

·       ½ tsp of vanilla paste

·       ½ tsp of cinnamon

·       20g roughly chopped pistachios

1.      To make your pastry combine your ground pistachios and plain flour and to it add your butter and work into the flour using a knife. Mix until it is a crumble like consistency. Keep adding your water until the dough is pliable.

2.     Working the pastry with your hands as little as possible, make it into a ball and cover in cling film and chill in a fridge for 30 minutes.

3.      In the meantime, poach your plums in a pan half full of water with your sugar, vanilla paste and cinnamon on a high heat for 15 minutes. Then place on kitchen roll to remove excess liquid and put to one side.

4.     Once chilled roll pastry onto a lightly floured surface and roll to about ½ cm thick. Grease your tart tins with butter and cut your pastry and line the tins, press pastry into the lines of the tin.

5.      Spoon a thin layer of your plum jam into your tart. You don’t have to use plum jam, I have used my mum’s homemade gooseberry and elderflower jam which is equally delicious!

6.     For your almond filling cream together butter and sugar then add semolina, egg, vanilla paste and almond extract. Pour your mixture into your pastry cases 1/2cm from the top.

7.      Finally place your poached plum half into the center of the tart and put into a preheated oven at 170° for 40 minutes.  Sprinkle over the remaining chopped pistachios to decorate and enjoy!

Orange, Cherry and Cranberry Crumble Cake

This is a great alternative to a Christmas pudding and tastes great warmed with Crème Fraiche!

For my cake i have used a 22cm cake tin which easily cuts into 14 generous slices!

For the Sponge:

·       5 medium eggs

·       300g Light brown sugar

·       330g Stork butter

·       350g self raising flour

·       60g dried cranberries

·       Zest of 3 large oranges

·       120g of red currants

For the crumble:

·       100g unsalted butter

·       100g dark brown sugar

·       2 tsp cinnamon

·       150g plain flour

·       100g toasted and finely chopped hazelnuts

·       1 Pot of cherry compote or delicious cherry jam

1.      Start by making the crumble by melting the unsalted butter and add it to; the dark brown sugar, cinnamon, plain flour and hazelnuts. Mix this with your fingers until crumble consistency, put this aside for later.

2.     Take the red currants and cook on a low heat with 2tbsp of brown sugar for 10 minutes or until softened and leave to cool.

3.      For the sponge mixture cream together the stork and light brown sugar then slowly add 3 tbsp of self raising and 1 egg and gently mix into the butter and sugar. Repeat this process until all the eggs and flour has been used.

4.     Add to this mixture the dried cranberries, 60g of your red currants and the orange zest to your sponge mixture

5.      Grease and line your tin with baking parchment and assemble a layer in the bottom of your tin using 1/3 of your crumble mixture. Then add half of your sponge mixture and another layer of crumble on top of the sponge mixture using another third of your crumble mix. Finally add the rest of your sponge mixture and leave to cook in a preheated oven at 165° for 30 minutes.

6.     After 30 minutes add a layer of the cherry compote, then the remaining crumble mix and return it to the oven for a further 55 minutes. If your crumble topping looks like it is catching cover your tin with a sheet of tin foil.

7.     Once removed from the oven leave to cool and then decorate with remaining red currants.