I have been shown a neat trick that I want to share. One of the things that puts people off cooking is the amount of preparation required before the fun stuff even begins. How boring is it to spend half an hour lining a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, fiddling about mitering the corners and cutting lengths with millimetric precision? Exactly. Very. I may have already mentioned elsewhere that, when cutting greaseproof circles for cake tins, it makes sense to cut lots. The same applies to the slightly more complicated liners for fruit cakes and so it goes for Swiss roll tins. There is a cheat, however, for emergencies. Cling Film wrap (the regular kind, not the non-PVC variety) acts as a wonderful liner for all sorts of things and remains stable in the oven up to Gas Mark 5 or equivalent. I wouldn't advocate the use of it exclusively, but if time or greaseproof is short, you can spread a layer of cling-film over a tin, working it into the corners, before cooking whatever you're making and then tip it out, safe in the knowledge that the film will peel away from the cooked item as if by magic. It is particularly useful for roulades.
A spinach roulade is a brilliant thing to have in your repertoire. Inexpensive, quick, simple, it can be filled with all manner of things and it freezes well, allowing you to have a first course or picnic dish at your disposal almost instantly. As if all that weren't enough, it is so delicious even people who hate spinach will refrain from going "Eurrcchhh! Spinach" and you can't say fairer than that.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1lb spinach*
- Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
Method
Cook the spinach. *You can buy three hundredweight of the fresh stuff, wash it in nineteen changes of water, reduce it to the few ounces it normally produces or, for this recipe, because a lot of the flavour is going to come from the filling, you can use frozen. In which case, put the unthawed bricks into a saucepan and heat gently until defrosted. Continue to cook until the spinach is dry and let it cool.
Separate the eggs and whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks. Mix the egg yolks into the cooled spinach and season very well with salt, pepper and paprika: this is a dish best eaten cold, so will take more seasoning than otherwise. Carefully fold the spinach mixture into the egg whites, being careful not to bash the air out. A cutting motion with a metal spoon is best.
Spread the mixture into a Swiss roll tin, previously lined with either lightly-oiled greaseproof paper or cling-film.
Cook on GM4 or equivalent for approximately 20 minutes, until firm to the touch and golden brown. Turn out of the tin onto a clean teacloth, so that any lingering spinach juices will be soaked up. Cool and fill. If your roulade looks a little crispy around the edges you may find it easier to roll if you cut a very thin strip off each edge prior to filling and rolling.
When cold, spread with the filling of your preference, roll up and chill. Serve cut into slices. I like to serve two thinner slices, rather than one thick one, but the choice is yours. It makes an excellent first course or light lunch dish served with some salad, but can be wrapped in foil or cling-film and carted off to a picnic very successfully, too.
You can roll from the short or long side, depending on how short and fat you want your roulade to be.
Good things to put in the middle of a roulade include:
A Melange of Mushrooms:
Fry a finely-chopped medium onion and a minced clove of garlic until translucent and add a mixture of sliced mushrooms – any sort you like. Cook until any moisture is driven off and cool. When cold, add a small pot of crème fraiche and about a dessertspoon of tomato puree. Season well and spread over the roulade.
Cream Cheese and Smoked Fish
Depending on your purse and the event, you can either use full fat cream cheese, not too thickly spread over the roulade, then cover this with smoked salmon, dash some lemon juice over the salmon and roll up as usual. This is very rich, so serve small amounts.
Or you can use 'light ' cream cheese, perhaps with some chives or dill snipped into it and either some fillets of smoked trout or smoked mackerel, skin removed and flaked, generously scattered over the top.
No Meat, No Fish
Spread the roulade with cream cheese, then sprinkle finely-chopped celery (including the leaves) on top, and a light scattering of (washed and drained) brined peppercorns – green ones taste good; the pink Baies de Rose are very pretty, although they are not a true pepper but the berries of an ivy, I believe. Make sure to use the bottled variety, however, as the dried ones will be too strong and could possibly damage teeth. You could scatter the top with fried or toasted almond slivers, if you fancied, or use walnuts inside and out and ditch the peppercorns.
Three Cheese and Mayo
Grate three cheeses: a good truckle cheddar, Parmesan and a blue cheese work well together, but you could choose anything you liked; spread some mayonnaise over the roulade, dredge with the mixed cheeses and roll. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan before serving.
