Skip to main content

Its summer .... in a pan

Ah! the British Summer! Lazing in the garden till 8.00 at night reading the paper on Monday, fighting the cold and rain for the Tuesday commute. I suppose we should be grateful that we reversed the usual order of things and the bank holiday was nice and the return to work was grim.

I made this recipe from Lucy Boyd on the Friday evening when the holiday weekend was ahead and the weather was lovely. It appealed to me because everything could be seasonal and everything could be British. Sadly Waitrose couldn't supply me the fresh peas but I made do with Duchy organic frozen ones.
This is a really nice one pot vegetable dish. We had it with some Sea Bream fillets that I just brushed with olive oil and seasoned and then cooked quickly in a high temp oven (220c) for 10 - 12 mins.

One tip on the vegetable recipe. Don't be tempted to change the quantities. I normally never do this when I am doing a new recipe but I used more potatoes and less asparagus ... mistake! not fatal but I think it would have been nicer if I hadn't. I also think that if you have a non stick pan with a lid that would be the best cooking receptacle. I used one of my other pans and the potatoes stuck a bit.
However the taste is very summery and light and would be a great foil to chicken as well. 

Now for the recipe

Asparagus and Peas braised with Yellow Waxy Potatoes, Basil and Mint
Ingredients
500g peas in the pod, or 275g frozen peas
1 bundle of fresh green asparagus, about 350g, tough ends snapped off, washed
Olive oil
250g yellow waxy potatoes peeled and cut into small pieces, about 1cm in size
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 small dried bird’s eye chilli, crushed (optional)
a few leaves of fresh garden mint, washed, dried and chopped
a few basil leaves, roughly torn
sea salt and black pepper
Method
Pod the peas and put in a bowl. Slice the asparagus at a sharp angle, 1cm thick. Heat a good glug of olive oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat and add the potatoes. When they start to soften about 8-10 minute, add the garlic, dried chilli asparagus and peas (if using frozen peas add them in the last 5 minutes of cooking). Season with a little salt and pepper and stir, tossing the ingredients together in the oil for a few minutes, then add about 100ml of boiling water or just enough to come about 1cm up the pan. Put a lid on and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until everything is tender, then remove the lid and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Check the seasoning and add the herbs just before serving.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast for 40 minut

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind