The Family Cook Book

Baked fruit with a little help from Alice waters

2012-01-08T17:24:00.001Z

I love baked and poached fruit it's a great way of using up anything in the fruit bowl that's either lacking in enough flavour to eat fresh, or is slightly on the turn.
Today I used some plums, apples and blueberries and gave them a bit of a lift courtesey of an idea I got from Alice Water's 'The art of simple cooking'.
My inspiration came from a recipe for baked peaches, but I think it works pretty well for almost any fruit.

You will need:
Your fruit .... In this case 6 Plums cut in half and stoned, 2 apples peeled, cored and cut into segments, a handful of blueberries
3 Tablespoons Apricot Jam {or any flavor of your favorite jam, as long as it goes well with the fruit
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 cup water {I have also done it with half water, half dessert wine)
zest of one lemon

Method

If you can call it a method

pre heat oven to 180c

Whisk the jam, honey, water, lemon zest in a small bowl.

Put the fruit flesh side up in a baking dish and pour the sauce over it, making sure the tops of the fruit is well covered.

Bake at 180 degrees until the fruit is really soft. The final cooking time will vary depending on how ripee the fruit is. {about 20-40 minutes)

Allow to cool and go jammy, eat with yoghurt, crime fraiche or ice cream. I particularly like it with yoghurt and granola.

New book, new year, new paella recipe

2012-01-07T20:56:00.000Z

Arroz En Paella De Barcelona, Los Jueves (Barcelona-style Thursday Paella Rice)

I wanted to try out one of my new cookery books, I also had two new paella pans from Lisa so it was a bit of a no-brainer that it was going to be 'Paella' from Steve and Neet that got 2012's first run-out. The book has a remarkable 118 different paella recipes.
This is a bit of a bastardisation of the above recipe made to accommodate Martha's dislike of fish and the fact that this was a lazy saturday night in.
However the thing I was most interested in was the use of hob and oven to finish the dish off.
All in all I think it was successful.

Serves four

Ingredients

1litre fish or veg stock
100ml olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
400g chicken, deboned and cut into 30g pieces
8 king prawns (jumbo shrimps), heads removed and tails shelled
150ml passata
6 small chorizo, cut in half
200g green beans, trimmed and cut into 3cm lengths
1 green pepper, seeded, skinned and sliced into thin strips
400g bomba or other short-grain rice
1tsp Spanish sweet smoked paprika
⅕tsp saffron threads, soaked in warm water
1 lime
salt

Method

Heat the stock but do not allow it to boil. Preheat the oven to 150°C.

Heat the oil in the pan over low heat, add the garlic and saute until lightly browned.
Add the chorizo then the chicken pieces and saute for a few minutes until brown all over, then remove from the pan. Add the king prawns and saute for a few minutes until lightly browned. Remove them from the pan and set aside. Add the green beans and green pepper strips to the pan and saute for a few minutes until the vegetables have softened.
Reduce the heat to low, add the rice and cook for a few minutes, stirring with a wooden spatula, until thoroughly coated and translucent; do not allow the rice to burn. Add the passata and stir the ingredients well, deglazing the pan by scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula.

Add the smoked paprika, stir through and cook over moderate heat for a few seconds, taking care that it does not burn. Pour in the hot stock, stir until combined and spread out the ingredients evenly in the pan. Add the saffron and grate the zest of the lime over the paella, and bring to the boil. If you have a timer, set it to 17 minutes. Cook over high heat for 5 minutes until the rice rises to the surface of the liquid. Taste and season with salt if necessary, bearing in mind that the flavours will become more pronounced as the liquid evaporates. Put the paella in the preheated oven for 7 minutes.

Remove the paella from the oven and arrange the king prawns, monkfish, quid, langoustines and mussels on the top of the price, put the pan back in the oven for a further 5 minutes, then remove the paella once again. Cover the paella with a clean, damp dish towel (or leave in the oven once turned off), allow it to rest for 3 minutes, then serve.

Home for Xmas.

2011-12-31T15:02:00.000Z

It was lovely to have everyone home for Xmas. Whilst we were preparing for the big event we also managed to spend a bit of family time in the kitchen, watching the telly, catching up and snacking at the bar.

Here are some great canape recipes from Sybil Kapoor that we found in House and Garden.

Roast tomato relish

ingredients

750g baby plum tomatoes
1 medium red onion, finely diced
1 fat clove garlic, finely chopped
4 tbs ex virgin olive oil

method

heat oven to 180c

mix rest of ingredients in a roasting tray. Roast for 45 mins until everything is soft. Leave to cool

roughly mash together and season to taste.

Spiced Lamb burgers

ingredients

4tbs olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 thai red chilli seeds removed and finely chopped
2 tsp ras al hanout or garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander, finely chopped
1 small bunch fresh coriander
500g lean minced lamb
finely grated zest of two lemons
salt and ground black pepper

Method

Heat 1 tbs of oil and cook the onion, garlic and chilli gently for 5 - 10 mins until soft.

Add the dried spices, fry for 1 minute then tip into a bowl

Add the fresh coriander, lamb, lemon zest, salt and pepper.

Heat a pan with 2 tbs oil in and cook for approx 4 minutes a side or until cooked.

Scatter with more coriander leaves and serve with the tomato relish.

Paprika potato wedges

ingredients

6tbs sunflower or light olive oil
1tbs smoked sweet paprika
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp whole cumin seeds
1.5 tsp sea salt or to taste
8 medium potatoes unpeeled

method

Heat oven to 180c

mix together the oil and spices in a large bowl.

Halve the potatoes lengthways and slice each half lengthways into 4 wedges.

Thoroughly coat the potatoes in the spicy oil and spread out on a non-stick roasting tray.

Roast for around 40 mins or until golden and crispy

Serve with the guacamole

Guacamole

ingredients

2 ripe avocados
1 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
2 tbsp. finely chopped red onion
2 tbsp. chopped coriander
few drops tabasco
Salt and pepper

method

Cut avocados in half and remove pits.
Scoop the flesh out of the skins with a spoon into a mortar and mash it roughly with a pestle. Stir in lime juice, onion, cilantro and some salt. Taste and add more salt and lime juice as needed.

Variation: For a spicy guacamole, add a red chilli seeded and finely diced.

The Sweeney massive arrive

2011-12-31T14:24:00.000Z

The 27th was pretty full on day of entertaining with the Sweeneys plus Sam, Bob and Bobs new wife, tomiko (sp?) arriving for lunch and the Bryant family coming for tea.

We needed something easy to make and we were also in need of a bit of healthy food after two days of absolutely stuffing ourselves.

This recipe (which I have blogged about before) was absolutely on the money.

Serves 4

Thai Chicken burgers

Ingredients

* 600 g minced (ground) chicken
* 1 onion, finely grated
* 85 g fresh white breadcrumbs
* 1 garlic clove
* 1 lemongrass stalk white part only, finely chopped
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
* 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
* 1 tablespoon fish sauce
* 2 teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar
* Fresh mint and coriander (cilantro) leaves
* sweet Chilli sauce (bottled)

Method

Put the chicken mince, onion, breadcrumbs, garlic, lemongrass, coriander, lime zest, fish sauce and sugar in a large bowl and mix together well with your hands.

Shape into 6 patties, then cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat a barbeque or chargrill pan and brush with a little light flavoured oil such as grapeseed or canola.

Cook the patties for 4 minutes each side or until cooked through.

serve with sweet chilli sauce on the side

Asian slaw

Ingredients

For the slaw
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar, or white vinegar
2 large Carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
2 large handfuls shredded white cabbage
2 large handfuls shredded red cabbage
4 stalks Celery, trimmed, cut into thin matchsticks
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large handful fresh Vietnamese mint leaves, (or ordinary mint leaves)
1 large handful coriander leaves

For the sweet chilli dressing

1 tbsp rice vinegar, or white vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
2 long red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp Salt

Method

For the slaw: mix together the sugar and rice vinegar, then add the carrot and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

For the dressing: mix together all the ingredients, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Put the white and red cabbage in a large mixing bowl. Drain the carrot and add to the cabbage with the celery, onion, mint and coriander. Add the dressing to the salad and toss together.

Roast beef with rosemary with roast potatoes from Lucca for the Cook family

2011-12-31T14:19:00.000Z

We had the whole Cook family over for lunch on December 28th. We had overdosed on turkey by this time so were in need of some good old red meat. This deceptively simple recipe for cooking fillet of beef is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. Although I should warn those who don't like their meat on the rare side of pink that this is not for them, you could of course cook it for longer but it would be a crime to cook fillet until it was grey!
We had it with one of our favourite standby dishes from the same River Cafe Classic cook book, Roast potatoes from Lucca.

Roast Beef with Rosemary

Ingredients For 6

1kg - 1.5kg Piece of beef from the thick end of the fillet
sea salt and ground black pepper
10 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or more if they are short. You need to cover the whole length of the meat)
extra virgin olive oil
1 glass red wine, preferably Chianti.

Method

Pre heat oven to 225c

season fillet all over with s and p

Make a layer of rosemary on a board using half the sprigs, place the fillet on top and then cover with the remaining rosemary. it should be completely covered.

Now tie with butchers string (or the great silicone ties Martha gave me...see below)

Choose a roasting tray in which the beef will fit snugly. Drizzle the tray with olive oil, add the filet and then drizzle more oil over. Place a piece of foil over loosely and put into the oven.

The River cafe recipe says to roast for 10 minutes, then turn the meat over, add the wine, replace the foil and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes for medium rare. My experience has been that means that the meat is extremely rare even for a blood loving carnivore like me. I would cook it for at least another 5 minutes but obviously caution is required to avoid over cooking. If you have a meat thermometer you want the meat to be between 50 and 52 degrees at the centre when you take it out of the oven.

Once you have removed the beef from the oven let the beef sit in the roasting pan for 5 minutes. Now remove the rosemary and place the meat on a warm serving dish. Starin the juices into a jug and serve the beef cut into slices about 1cm thick with a little of the wine juices and plenty of olive oil poured over it.

Roast potatoes from Lucca

ingredients

1.5kg waxy potatoes
1 medium red onion peeled
6 garlic clove, peeled and kept whole
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
6 sprigs fresh sage
120ml dry white wine
100ml ex virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seeds crushed

method

Pre heat oven to 200c

peel potatoes and slice into very fine slices (5mm) use a mandoline if you can.
Put them in cold water to wash off excess starch, drain and pat dry and then put in a large mixing bowl.

finely slice the red onion and, keeping the garlic cloves whole just press them to partly crush them. Wash the herbs and pull the leaves from the woody stems.. Add the onion, garlic and herbs to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss well to make sure the potatoes and herbs are coated with the oil and wine.

choose a baking tray that will fit all the potatoes in spread in not too thick a layer (but not too thin or they will burn at the edges). Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 25 mins.

Remove the foil , then, using the back of a large spoon or a potato masher, breakup the potatoes and herbs to make a rough mash. Drizzle with olive oil.

Return the tray to the hot oven and roast for a further 30-45 mins, until the potatoes are brown and crisp and still light and fluffy underneath.

3 days, 45 covers, 3 new books

2011-12-31T13:38:00.001Z

It was Xmas at home this year and we did more than our fair share of entertaining. Seven for Xmas day, twenty three over two shifts on the 27th and twelve on the 28th. It meant that we took out shares in Waitrose and Vinoteca but had a lovely time.
Xmas day was Turkey and all the trimmings a la Jamie, his failsafe two day programme combined with our new kitchen made easy work of Turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roasted vegetable megamix, roasties, red cabbage, sprouts with chesnuts and bacon, bread sauce, cranberry sauce and gravy.
The twenty-seventh brought some respite from the carbs courtesey of Bill Granger's asian slaw and chicken burgers and the twenty-eighth was a combo of the River cafe fillet of beef in rosemary and roast potatoes from Lucca.
Santa also bought me the usual cookery book haul as the photograph above bears witness to, I cant wait to get at them. Both the Locatelli and Elizabeth David have great articles interspersed amongst the recipes which I have already started to read.
No cooking tonight as New year is going to be seen in with the Levy's having mutton curry.... delicious

My new oven loves roast pork, it's official.

2011-11-14T16:23:00.001Z

Joe back from uni so we had bought a boned loin of pork to cook for sunday lunch. My mum couldn't make it so we also invited good friends the Levy's over for an impromptu sunday lunch.
It was the first time I had cooked pork in the new oven.
Firstly I pre-heated the oven to 250 degrees then I rubbed smashed garlic, fennel seeds, rosemary salt and pepper into the meat (not the skin!) then tied it, sat it on a bed made up of the bones, a stick of celery, a carrot and a parsnip roughly chopped.
Just before popping it in the oven I rubbed the skin side all over with a generous helping of sea salt but no oil.
I also used the brilliant meat probe that comes with the Gaggenau and set it to an internal temperature of 75 degrees.
Here's the genius bit, as if on cue the skin puffed up in the first 20 mins at the higher temperature. My old oven just can't have got hot enough because that never used to happen consistently. After the 20 mins was up I turned the oven down to 200 and waited for the alarm to tell me that the internal temperature of the meat had reached the magic number.
We had the pork with smashed courgettes, Broccoli, roasties and some gravy made from the bones and veg under the pork ... even though I do say myself it was pretty bloody delicious, but the star of the show was the pork and that was all down to the oven. The meat probe also takes away from all the stress of trying to work out if the joint is cooked. Thanks Gaggenau.
We washed it down with a bottle of Promis form Gaja which was also not too shabby.
A lovely day was completed by a walk down the towpath in the crazy glorious November weather.

Morrocan lunch with a bit of help from Jamie and Le Creuset

2011-10-26T13:49:00.000+01:00

Sunday was a lads and Dad day. Martha and lisa are away in Wittering and the boys and I were going to see Bon Iver in the evening, so we decided to have lunch together and watch Man City v's Man utd and the mighty super-hoops v's Chelsea.I went for the comfort food option and got out two of my trusty Le Creuset dishes to cook two tagine style dishes from Jamie does.... Morrocco.Whilst I would love to own some tagines, I think Mrs Cook would kill me for buying even more kitchen ephemera. I used my oval casserole for the chicken and the shallow casserole for the beef ... both as always worked really well but on reflection I think the beef may have benefited from a bit more depth to allow it to cook really slowly. regardless of this the end result was received very well by my two hung over sons. For me the chicken shaded it but only just ... a bit like QPR did!

Chicken Tagine

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg), preferably free range or organic, skin-on, jointed into 4 (get your butcher to do this for you) nb I cheated and used a mixture of thighs and legs and it worked just as well
olive oil
1–2 large bulbs of fennel
2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
a small bunch of fresh coriander
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2–3 small preserved lemons, deseeded and chopped
80g black and green olives, stoned
a good pinch of saffron
500ml hot organic chicken stock

For the spice rub
1 heaped teaspoon coriander seeds, bashed up
1 level teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
The word ‘tagine’ refers not only to the dish itself, but also to the unique pot it’s cooked in. These thick earthenware pots are used all over Morocco and were introduced by nomads, who would use them directly over fire and ashes to create all sorts of beautiful stews with goat, lamb and chicken. Traditionally, the lady of the housewould be in charge of cooking the tagine, and that is still very much theway it is today. Apparently, that's one of the ways they express their love and affection. So aword to the wise – if your missus feeds you a dodgy-tasting tagine, look out!Making this dish in a proper tagine definitely adds to the beauty of it, but essentially it’s a stew
with deep, lovely flavours and you can still get an authentic taste using a conventional heavy-based casserole pan. I think this recipe delivers every time, and it really makes good use of one of the star flavours in tagines: preserved lemons.
Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Put your chicken pieces into a large bowl, massage them with the spice rub then cover with clingfilm and put into the fridge to marinate for a couple of hours or, even better, overnight.

When you're ready to cook, heat a generous lug of olive oil in a tagine or casserole-type pan and fry the chicken pieces over a medium to high heat, skin side down first, for about 5 to 10 minutes until gorgeous and golden brown.

While your chicken fries, chop each fennel bulb into 8 wedges and add these to the pan along with the onions, coriander stalks and garlic.

Stir well and fry for a couple more minutes, then mix in the preserved lemons, olives and saffron. Pour in the hot stock, give everything a good stir, then cover with a lid or foil and simmer on a lowheat for 1½ hours, or until the meat starts to fall away from the bone.

Halfway through, have a check and give it a good stir. Keep an eye on it and add a splash ofwater if it looks dry.When the time’s up and your chicken looks perfect, stir gently. If it’s still a bit liquidy, leave it to blip away with the lid off until thickened slightly.

Have a taste, season with a pinch of salt and pepper if you think it needs it, then sprinkle with the coriander leaves. There’s enough love and care in the tagine for it not to need anything fancy, so serve it simply, with a large bowl of lightly seasoned steaming couscous.

Beef Tagine

ingredients
600g stewing beef
olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
a small bunch of fresh coriander
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
800ml vegetable stock, preferably organic
1 small squash (approximately 800g),deseeded and cut into 5cm chunks nb I used a couple of sweet potatoes peeled and chopped
100g prunes, stone and roughly torn2 tablespoons
flaked almonds, toasted

For the spice rub
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 level tablespoon ras el hanout spice mix*
1 level tablespoon ground cumin
1 level tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 level tablespoon ground ginger
1 level tablespoon sweet paprika

methodI like to think of a tagine as a sort of stew with attitude. It’s really all about the spices and the slow cooking, giving all the wonderful flavours time to develop. What’s great is that you don’t need an authentic Moroccan tagine in order to recreate this beautiful food – a saucepan will still give you great results. Having been to Marrakesh and learnt all the principles, I now feel I'll be able to rustle up an endless variety of tagines at home.
Give this one a try and you’ll see what I mean.

Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Put the beef into a large bowl, massage it with the spice rub, then cover with cling film and put into the fridge for a couple of hours – ideally overnight - that way the spices really penetrate and flavour the meat.

When you’re ready to cook, heat a generous lug of olive oil in a tagine or casserole– type pan and fry the meat over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add your chopped onion and coriander stalks and fry for another 5 minutes.

Tip in the chickpeas and tomatoes, then pour in 400ml of stock and stir. Bring to the boil, then put the lid on the pan or cover with foil and reduce to a simmer for 1½hours.

At this point, add your squash, the prunes and the rest of the stock. Give everything a gentle stir, then pop the lid back on the pan and continue cooking for another 1½ hours.

Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks too dry.Once the time is up, take the lid off and check the consistency. If it seems a bit too runny, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, more with the lid off. The beef should be really tender and flaking apart now, so have a taste and season with a pinch or two of salt.

Scatter the coriander leaves over the tagine along with the toasted almonds, then take it straight to the table with a big bowl of lightly seasoned couscous and dive in

Tabbouleh, lamb burgers, cucumber in yoghurt by David Tanis. DONE!

2011-09-06T17:22:00.000+01:00

I said I would try this .... and I did

not spectacular but a very nice and pretty healthy combination

Tabbouleh

A proper tabbouleh is a parsley salad with a little bulgur wheat, not the other way around, as many people know it.

SERVES 4-6

bulgur wheat 100g
salt and pepper
lemons juice of 2, or to taste
spring onions 4, finely minced
mint leaves a small bunch, finely chopped
olive oil 60ml, or to taste
parsley leaves 2 large bunches, coarsely chopped
cherry tomatoes 450g, halved (I quartered mine because I thought they looked too big)

Method

Soak the bulgur in cold water for 30 minutes.
Dump the grains in a colander and give it a good shake to drain.
Put the bulgur in a bowl, and begin to assemble the tabbouleh: season the grains generously with salt and pepper, then stir in the lemon juice and toss well.
Add the spring onions and mint and toss.
Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of the oil, and then taste and adjust the seasoning. Add half the parsley and mix well.
Spoon the tabbouleh on to a platter, and sprinkle the rest of the parsley over the top. Put the tomatoes in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, and spoon them over the top of the salad ( I mixed them in)

Spicy lamb burgers with grilled aubergines

These pan-Mediterranean lamb burgers are spicy and fragrant. If you have a nice butcher, get him to mince the lamb for you. I like to use minced shoulder for these burgers.

Makes approx 12 burgers

For the burgers:

minced lamb shoulder 1.3kg
onion 1 small, grated
chopped parsley 1⁄2 bunch, chopped
mint 2 tbsp, finely chopped
marjoram 2 tsp, finely chopped
garlic cloves 6, smashed to a paste with a little salt
cumin seeds 2 tsp, toasted and ground
coriander seeds 2 tsp, toasted and ground
ground cinnamon 1 tsp
salt 2 tsp
pepper 1 tsp
cayenne 1⁄2 tsp
red pepper flakes 1⁄2 tsp
For the aubergines:
aubergines 3 large, sliced into 1cm-thick circles
olive oil 2 tbsp
salt and pepper

Method

To make the burgers, mix the lamb and all the remaining ingredients together well. Chill for several hours. (You can season the lamb a day ahead and refrigerate overnight.)
When you're ready to serve, prepare a fire in a charcoal grill. Paint the aubergine slices with the olive oil and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill the slices over hot coals for about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a large serving platter.
Divide the seasoned lamb into 24 portions. form patties and cook them like burgers. Grill over hot coals, turning once, about 3 minutes per side, so the lamb stays juicy. Put the burgers over the aubergine slices on the platter and serve.

Cucumbers and yoghurt

You can think of this as a salad or as a saucy accompaniment to everything else on the menu. I like it on the more yoghurty side, but you could add twice as much cucumber.

SERVES 4-6

cucumber 1 large, peeled, sliced and cut into half moons
salt and pepper
whole-milk yoghurt 490g
garlic clove 1, smashed to a paste with salt
olive oil 2 tbsp
mint 1 tbsp, chopped
dill 1 tbsp, chopped
chives 1 tbsp, chopped
red pepper flakes or slivered fresh
hot chilli

Method

Put the cucumber in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, mint, dill and chives and stir it all together. Spoon into a bowl and chill for at least an hour. Before serving, sprinkle with pepper flakes or slivers of fresh hot chilli.

Flooding in Vermont ... best wishes to The Green Cup, Mint, Waitsfield wine and all of the permanent residents of Waitsfield and Warren.

2011-09-02T14:01:00.001+01:00

Waitsfield.

We have now returned from our home in Vermont.
The day after we left Irene bashed the hell out of this beautiful state. It seemed that once New York had been spared nobody seemed to really notice the devastation wreaked on the towns and villages of the Green Mountain State.
Hard to think that only days before we were having dinner at the excellent Green Cup restaurant sitting outside on a balmy evening next to what can best be described as a bubbling brook that ended up being a raging torrent that wreaked havoc on the Green cup, Mint, the rest of the businesses in Bridge Street and the area in general.
Hope you all get back on your feet just as soon as possible

Food for thought about food from David Tanis

2011-09-02T11:24:00.005+01:00

something I saw today and thought I might cook. David Tanis is/was head Chef at the legendary Chez Panisse.

Tabbouleh

A proper tabbouleh is a parsley salad with a little bulgur wheat, not the other way around, as many people know it.

SERVES 4-6

bulgur wheat 100g
salt and pepper
lemons juice of 2, or to taste
spring onions 4, finely minced
mint leaves a small bunch, finely chopped
olive oil 60ml, or to taste
parsley leaves 2 large bunches, coarsely chopped
cherry tomatoes 450g, halved

Method

Soak the bulgur in cold water for 30 minutes. Dump the grains in a colander and give it a good shake to drain. Put a clean tea towel in a salad bowl and gather up the drained bulgur to further dry it. Gently remove the towel, put the bulgur in the bowl, and begin to assemble the tabbouleh: season the grains generously with salt and pepper, then stir in the lemon juice and toss well. Add the spring onions and mint and toss. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of the oil, and then taste and adjust the seasoning. Add half the parsley and mix well.
Spoon the tabbouleh on to a platter, and sprinkle the rest of the parsley over the top. Put the tomatoes in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, and spoon them over the top of the salad.

Tomatoes and olives with coriander vinaigrette

David Tanis tomato salad

You can prepare the vinaigrette in advance, minus the fresh coriander, then dress this salad at the last minute. I like the combination of toasted coriander seeds and sweet tomatoes.

SERVES 4-6
red onion 1 small, finely diced
garlic clove 1, smashed to a paste with a little salt
red wine vinegar 2 tbsp
salt and pepper
olive oil 125ml
coriander seeds 1 tsp
cayenne a pinch
ripe tomatoes, various sizes and colours 900g
good green olives, such as picholine, not pitted 1⁄2 cup
oil-cured black olives, not pitted 1⁄2 cup
fresh coriander 1 bunch, leaves roughly chopped

In a small bowl, mix the vinaigrette, starting with the onion, garlic, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Then stir in the olive oil.
Toast the coriander seeds in a dry skillet over a medium-high heat until fragrant. Transfer to an electric spice grinder or a mortar and grind or pound to a powder. Stir into the vinaigrette and add the cayenne.
Cut the tomatoes into thick slices and arrange in a random pattern on a large serving platter. Season lightly with salt. Scatter the green and black olives over the top.
Just before serving, check the vinaigrette's seasoning and stir in the chopped coriander. Spoon the vinaigrette over the tomatoes.

Spicy lamb burgers with grilled aubergines

David Tanis's spicy lamb burgers

These pan-Mediterranean lamb burgers are spicy and fragrant. If you have a nice butcher, get him to mince the lamb for you. I like to use minced shoulder for these burgers.

MAKES 24 SKEWERS OR LITTLE BURGERS

For the burgers:

minced lamb shoulder 1.3kg
onion 1 small, grated
chopped parsley 1⁄2 bunch, chopped
mint 2 tbsp, finely chopped
marjoram 2 tsp, finely chopped
garlic cloves 6, smashed to a paste with a little salt
cumin seeds 2 tsp, toasted and ground
coriander seeds 2 tsp, toasted and ground
ground cinnamon 1 tsp
salt 2 tsp
pepper 1 tsp
cayenne 1⁄2 tsp
red pepper flakes 1⁄2 tsp
For the aubergines:
aubergines 3 large, sliced into 1cm-thick circles
olive oil 2 tbsp
salt and pepper

Method

To make the burgers, mix the lamb and all the remaining ingredients together well. Chill for several hours. (You can season the lamb a day ahead and refrigerate overnight.)
When you're ready to serve, prepare a fire in a charcoal grill. Paint the aubergine slices with the olive oil and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill the slices over hot coals for about 2 minutes per side. Remove to a large serving platter.
Divide the seasoned lamb into 24 portions. Form each portion
into a sausage shape about 10cm
long, and insert a slender skewer into each one. Or form patties and cook them like burgers. Grill over hot coals, turning once, about 3 minutes per side, so the lamb stays juicy. Put the burgers over the aubergine slices on the platter and serve.

Cucumbers and yoghurt
David Tanis's cucumbers and yogurt

You can think of this as a salad or as a saucy accompaniment to everything else on the menu. I like it on the more yoghurty side, but you could add twice as much cucumber.

SERVES 4-6

cucumber 1 large, peeled, sliced and cut into half moons
salt and pepper
whole-milk yoghurt 490g
garlic clove 1, smashed to a paste with salt
olive oil 2 tbsp
mint 1 tbsp, chopped
dill 1 tbsp, chopped
chives 1 tbsp, chopped
red pepper flakes or slivered fresh
hot chilli

Method

Put the cucumber in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, mint, dill and chives and stir it all together. Spoon into a bowl and chill for at least an hour. Before serving, sprinkle with pepper flakes or slivers of fresh hot chilli.

As promised, new potato and green bean salad

2011-08-28T21:48:00.004+01:00

We made this a couple of times when we were up in Vermont. the first time we used some delicious fingerling potatoes from the farmers Market.
This is a pretty forgiving recipe but you must dress the potatoes whilst they are warm.

Ingredients

1.8kg/4lb new potatoes
700g/1½ lb fine green beans
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1tbs Dijon mustard
175ml/6fl oz extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs capers (optional)
Method

Place the potatoes into a pan of boiling well-salted water (one teaspoon salt per 600ml/1 pint water) and cook until just tender. Drain and leave to cool slightly, then cut lengthways into quarters and place into a salad bowl.
Whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, dijon mustard and red wine vinegar. Add to the warm potatoes and toss together while warm then leave to cool.Now add the capers if you are using them.
In a clean pan, cook the fine green beans in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and refresh in cold water, then drain again. Add to the potatoes mix well and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper

Roasted fennel. Made in Vermont, requested from LA, blogged in the UK

2011-08-28T21:18:00.004+01:00

We are now back home having neatly avoided any chaos created by hurricane Irene. The same cannot be said for our friends the Priceys journey home which took about a day longer than it should have done and included unwished for visits to Niagra falls, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas before eventually getting back to LA.

We made this fennel by Skye Gyngell for the 'Last supper'

Here's the recipe

If you're not serving this with the pork, it's also a perfect marriage with any white fish, chicken, or – because it's at its best at room temperature – simply chopped and tossed in a salad with olives and tomatoes. And I'd be just as happy to eat it on its own.

Ingredients

4 fennel bulbs
1 dried red chilli, finely sliced
1/2tsp fennel seeds
The zest and juice of one unwaxed lemon
60ml/21/2fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas6. Remove the tough outer layers of the fennel and cut into quarters lengthwise.

Place the fennel in a bowl and crumble over the chilli, season with salt and pepper and toss through the fennel seeds.

Squeeze over the lemon juice and zest and dress with the olive oil – toss well to combine.

Place in a baking tray, cover with foil and place on the middle shelf of the oven; roast for 30 minutes then remove the foil and return to the oven for a further 15 or 20 minutes. Remove and serve.

Cooking the American cookbooks 2011 - the last episode. Martha's guacamole

2011-08-27T22:59:00.006+01:00

For some reason the American staple of guacamole is something we rarely make. However, during this summer of cooking the US cookbooks it seemed like that needed to change, particularly as Martha is a bit of an avocado fanatic.

During the Pricey's sojourn with us we had it several times and Martha ended up being in charge of making it. Our recipe is a bit of a combination of two that I found in my Silver palate recipe book.

When it comes to scooping implements this is of course a very personal decision. Ours was Tostito scoops but you could of course choose other 'chips' or vegetable shaped scooping paraphernalia.

I can recommend this as an excellent accompaniment to an aggressive game of wii golf.

Here's to more happy times in glorious Vermont with the Priceys, hurricane or no hurricane.

Guacamole

ingredients

2 ripe avocados
1 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
2 tbsp. finely chopped red onion
2 tbsp. chopped coriander
few drops tabasco
Salt and pepper

method

Cut avocados in half and remove pits.
Scoop the flesh out of the skins with a spoon into a mortar and mash it roughly with a pestle. Stir in lime juice, onion, cilantro and some salt. Taste and add more salt and lime juice as needed.

Variation: For a spicy guacamole, add a red chilli seeded and finely diced.

Asian slaw

Ingredients

For the slaw
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar, or white vinegar
2 large Carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
2 large handfuls shredded white cabbage
2 large handfuls shredded red cabbage
4 stalks Celery, trimmed, cut into thin matchsticks
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large handful fresh Vietnamese mint leaves, (or ordinary mint leaves)
1 large handful coriander leaves

For the sweet chilli dressing

1 tbsp rice vinegar, or white vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
2 long red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp Salt

Method

For the slaw: mix together the sugar and rice vinegar, then add the carrot and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

For the dressing: mix together all the ingredients, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Put the white and red cabbage in a large mixing bowl. Drain the carrot and add to the cabbage with the celery, onion, mint and coriander. Add the dressing to the salad and toss together.

Dinner with the kaufmanns. Fennel, chickpea and tomato salad

2011-08-19T13:40:00.012+01:00

The redoubtable Jane and Bob Kaufmann joined us for dinner last night and alongside the giant vat of red wine we had a few old favourites ( butterflied leg of lamb in a Moro marinade, chopped Turkish salad, grilled asparagus)and a new middle eastern inspired salad of fennel,chickpea and tomatoes from the shelburne farms cookery book that Stuart and Saskia Smith bought us.
The fact that the barbecue ran out of gas one minute after I put the lamb on threw a bit of a curve ball but we managed to heat the griddle pan and the oven up pretty quickly and the meat still seemed to taste ok. As for the asparagus it ended up being seared in a dry non stick frying pan rather than grilled, but again it was fairly edible.
We finished off with a Hero island sour cherry oatmeal crumble from the kingsbury Market garden- a farmer foodbank fellowship in the mad river valley, if you please. (www.kingsburymarketgarden.com)

Here's the fennel recipe

Ingredients

1 larrge fennel or 2 small ones
1 large tin of chickpeas
20 cherry tomatoes

dressing

1 cup plain yoghurt
1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tbs lemon juice
2tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method

First make the yoghurt dressing.
Combine all the ingredients and whisk together
Set to one side
Now for the salad.
Remove hard outer layer of the fennel, cut in half vertically, remove hard core and then either cut very finely across or preferably shave finely on a mandoline.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
Cut the tomatoes into quarters or halves depending on their size.
mix all the salad ingredients together then fold in the dressing until the salad is well covered.
Now stir in some chopped flat leaf parsley

Seared tuna and Panzanella salad

2011-08-17T01:43:00.004+01:00

Five days after arriving in the good old US of A we were in need of fish ... We have had wings, we have had burgers, we have had steak, we have had sausages, for this is the land of meat.
But our European constitution demands that we have fish (well not Martha but definitely the rest of us) so tonight we had fish, we had some beautiful tuna steaks from mehurons which meant I could try this recipe that has been on my must cook list

The verdict was that it was good

Ingredients

For the salad

600g/14oz baby tomatoes, cut in half horizontally
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g/7oz ciabatta, torn into small pieces
1 large banana shallot, finely chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed
175g/6oz w piquillo peppers, chopped
2 handfuls basil, leaves only

For the tuna

4 x 200g/7oz tuna steaks
1 lemon, zest only
1 garlic clove, grated
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

For the salad, preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 1.

Place the tomatoes onto a baking tray, cut-side facing upwards.
Drizzle over one tablespoon of the olive oil and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Transfer the tomatoes to the oven and cook for one hour, or until softened and slightly dried out.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Increase the oven temperature to 220C/450F/Gas 8.

Place the ciabatta pieces onto a baking sheet and drizzle over two tablespoons of the olive oil. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Transfer to the oven and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallot and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.
Blend two-thirds of the roasted tomatoes and all of the red wine vinegar and olive oil in a food processor to a fine purée.
In a bowl, add half of the purée mixture to the crisp ciabatta croûtons and set aside to soak for five minutes.
Stir in the remaining roasted tomatoes, capers, piquillo peppers and basil leaves. Set aside.

For the tuna, place the tuna steaks onto a large plate.
In a bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, garlic and olive oil until well combined. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour the mixture over the tuna steaks and turn to completely coat them in the mixture. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.

When the tuna has marinated, heat a griddle pan over a medium heat until hot. When the pan is hot, add the tuna and cook for one minute.
Give the tuna a quarter turn and cook for a further minute.
Turn the tuna by a quarter again and continue to cook for a further minute, or until criss-cross golden-brown griddle marks have appeared on the tuna.
Turn the tuna steaks over and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.
Remove the tuna steaks from the pan and set aside on a warm plate to rest for one minute.

To serve, carve the tuna steaks into thick slices. Divide the salad equally among four serving plates.
Place one tuna steak on top of each. Drizzle over the tomato dressing.

Fail to succeed

2011-08-16T15:36:00.004+01:00

In love stories you have to kiss a few frogs before you meet your prince. I suppose the same can be said to be true of cooking, you have to fail on occasion in order to succeed in the long run.
Last night was a frog night. I attempted a bit of a twist on a recipe in the Shelbourne farms cookery book and that twist failed miserably. It should of been simple it was a dish involving lentils and sausages which let's face it are both pretty forgiving ingredients. however I managed to bring the dish to the table with sausages that weren't cooked through and bland bland bland lentils.
Tonight will be better.

Fiddlehead ferns, hot mamas and dilly beans. That's Gizmos

2011-08-15T17:45:00.003+01:00

one of the highlights of the farmers Market is a trip to the gizmos pickles stand. All the pickles are great but we particularly like the unusual, and I understand native, pickled fiddlehead fern. the dilly beans, hot mamas and horsey kraut are also all worth a try, so if you a ever at the waitsfield farmers Market the give them a try you won't be disappointed.

Cooking the American cookbooks - a marinade for grilled chicken

2011-08-15T17:01:00.002+01:00

We were making a salad for lunch and I grilled an enormous misty Knoll chicken breast on the barbecue which fed all four of us. God knows what they feed them on up at Misty Knoll but I would hate to be attacked by one of these.
The marinade came from the Hay Day country market cookbook.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp hot paprika
2 tsp chili powder
salt to taste
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice

method

mix all the ingredients together and marinade chicken, preferably for a good 30 mins or so.
pre heat barbecue, then turn to low and grill slowly (this is the key to getting moist but cooked chicken)it will take 20 mins or so.

Cooking American cookbooks - caramelised onion jam

2011-08-15T16:35:00.005+01:00

made this from the Hay Day Cookbook to have with the steaks last night. Our verdict was that this was a good idea but that the recipe was a bit too sweet for us (maybe thats an American palate thing)
The jam is really easy to make, once you have got past the chopping of a large amount of onions.

We bought our onions at the rather wonderful East Warren community market ... yes we are definitely in Vermont.

Heres a revised version of the recipe that I will try later in the hols

Caramelised onion Jam

2 tbs unsalted butter
2-3 spanish onions, thinly sliced
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tbs honey
2 tbs dark brown sugar
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

method

Melt butter in a covered pan over medium heat. Add the onion slices and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften and begin to caramelize – about 10 minutes.
uncover and add vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
raise hear and cook until vinegars reduce and mixture has a thick, jam-like consistency – about 15 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings if needed.

This holiday I shall be mainly cooking from American cookbooks

2011-08-15T15:34:00.006+01:00

We are back in Vermont for our summer holidays.We have already been treated to the usual mountain mixture of sunshine and pounding, pounding rain, but it's great to be back.
After a long journey up on Friday night we went to the farmers Market on Saturday morning and picked up some fabulous local produce.
I have decided that whilst we are up here I am going to try to cook from the American cookbooks I have on the bookshelf.
First up is a grilled vegetable salad from Mario Batali ..... Ok he's Italian, but it's an American book.....and this recipe made great use of the beautiful vegetables from the market
We had this with some very nice t-bone steaks from mehurons supermarket.

This recipe was adapted from Mario Batali's recipe for Capri-style grilled vegetables in his book Italian Grill.

Serves 6.

For the Sicilian Vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon Colman's dry mustard (please make sure it smells fresh; stale mustard won't give the dressing the same bite)
• 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1 orange
• zest of 1 orange
• kosher salt, to taste

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin, dry mustard, red pepper flakes, and the fresh orange juice. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.
2. Add salt to taste.
3. If you are using only as a marinade, add the orange zest too. Otherwise, it will be sprinkled over the vegetable salad before serving.

For the grilled vegetables: the recipe suggests the vegetables below but we did it with peppers,fennel,zucchini and red onions and it was still pretty successful

• 1 medium or 2 small eggplant, 1/2 inch slices
• 2 red and 2 yellow bell peppers, quartered, seeds removed
• 1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices (use a mandoline if you have one)
• 2 medium red onions, cut into 6-8 wedges each, keeping root intact
• 1head radicchio, cored and cut into 6 wedges
• 12 spears of asparagus, woody ends snapped or cut off
• 12 fresh basil leaves, cut into chiffonade

1. Make the Sicilian Vinaigrette. Set aside.
2. Heat the grill to medium high. Make sure you vigorously clean the grill to get rid of last night's fish or steak remnants.
3. Prepare the vegetables. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer, and brush with Sicilian vinaigrette. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Grill the vegetables in batches, until soft and nicely charred on both sides. Set aside on a nice platter when done. Cut the peppers into smaller pieces, and the eggplant into strips.
5. Drizzle the vegetables with the Sicilian Vinaigrette, and sprinkle with the orange zest. Top with the slivered basil. Garnish with whole basil leaves. Add more salt to taste.

new kitchen .... I'm so excited

2011-07-29T13:28:00.002+01:00

Project kitchen is coming to an end. The steel guys finished off today and I can't wait to see it. Clearly this post isn't of any use if you are looking to cook anything, but if you love cooking you will appreciate just how exciting the prospect of getting behind a new hob is.
Shame that work has to interfere with my cookery....oh well!

Cooking Spanish food for grandma's 80th

2011-07-24T22:53:00.005+01:00

The whole cook massive (minus Gus) descended on northern Spain for grandma Betty's 80th birthday.Despite some teething problems with the villa and a bonkers weather system that involved rainstorms of biblical proportions, we all had a great time.

We didn't find any fabulous markets to buy gorgeous produce but we did find a big supermarket that provided most of the essentials although precious few fresh herbs.

top tip: I had downloaded a few favourite Spanish recipes to the notes pages of my iPad which is a he'll of alot easier to carry than a load of bits of paper and significantly lighter than dragging the Moro cookbook with you.

We cooked very small lamb chops mechoui style over charcoal and had it with chickpea salad made with very nice jarred chickpeas and served with plain yoghurt.We bulked it out a bit with some cooking chorizo and aubergine caviar or baba ganoush ...... Delicious!

We also cooked paella with a special twist courtesey of Charlie Cook mistaking 4 teaspoons of paprika for 4 tablespoons ..... Then we managed to burn the bottom of the pan, but nobody seemed to mind the extra smokiness that these minor aberrations created.

Every lunch all ten of us sat round the very big outside table and enjoyed the kind of simple lunches that the med is made for, tomato salad, watermelon, serrano ham, bread, salami, roasted peppers. On occasion the sun even managed to put in an appearance

I didn't get round to trying out any of the patatas bravas recipes that I had brought on the iPad

chickpea salad.

Ingredients.

2 x 400g tins of cooked chickpeas, rinsed (or jars if you can get them)
1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt
1 large green chilli, halved lengthways, seeded and very finely diced (omit or reduce to taste)
1/2 red onion, finely diced
a squeeze of lemon
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium cucumber, peeled and finely diced
10 cherry tomatoes, ahlved, seeded and finely diced
1 small bunch each of fresh mint and corinder, roughly chopped
sea salt and black pepper

Method

Put the garlic, chilli, onion, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper into a small mixing bowl.
Stir well and then add the rest of the ingredients - the chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, mint and coriander. Taste for seasoning.
drizzle over a little extra olive oil.
Chill for a fresher taste.

Option:

Serve with some greek yoghurt seasoned with salt and thinned with a little milk.

Moro chicken and prawn paella version.

ingredients (serves 4)

300g uncooked prawns
I lire chicken stock
pinch of saffron - 20 threads
5tbs olive oil
350g boned and skinned chicken cut into 2cm cubes
300g chorizo sliced into thick slices
1 1/2 spanish onions finely chopped
1 green pepper halved seeded and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
150g green beans cut into 3cm pieces
1 tsp sweet paprika
250g paella rice (calasparra)
75ml white wine
sea salt and black pepper
2tbs chopped flat leaf parsley
1 lemon cut into wedges

Method

If prawns still have shells, remove them and put shells into chicken stock and simmer for 10m minutes and then strain and add the saffron. (if the prawns are already peeled just simmer chicken stock for 5 minutes and then add the saffron

Heat 2 tbs olive oil in a paella pan or a large frying pan. When the oil is hot add the chicken pieces and stir fry for about 2 minutes untile sealed on all sides but fractionally undercooked in the centre. Remove with a slotted sp[oon and set aside.

Now cook the chorizo in the same oil for a minute each side then remove.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and when it is hot add the onion and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, then lower the heat and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, stirring every so often.

Now add the chopped garlic, beans and paprika and cook for a further 5 minutes until the onions and beans have some colour but aren't burnt..

Add the rice to the pan and stir for 1 minute to coat the rice (up to this point everything can be cooked in advance) the next stage should be started 20 mins before you want to eat.

When you are ready to cook the rice bring the stock to the boil remove and put to one side.

Place the paella pan over a medium high heat and add the wine followed by the hot stock and season with salt and pepper. Do not stir the rice after this. Simmer for 10 minutes or until there is just a little liquid above the rice. Spread the pieces of chicken evenly over the rice and push each piece under the surface. Gently shake the pan to prevent sticking and turn the heat down to low cook for 5 minutes.

Now add the prawns and push under the rice and spread the chorizo on top, cook for a further 5 minutes now turn the heat off and cover tightly with foil. Let the rice sit for 3-5 minutes.

Before serving sprinkle the chopped parsley on top and serve with the wedges of lemon

calling all masterchef watchers

2011-07-06T15:09:00.001+01:00

this is excellent stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=IfeyUGZt8nk

2011-06-29T11:45:00.001+01:00

Cooking without a kitchen no.7. Mechoui lamb from Casa Moro

2011-06-27T21:56:00.006+01:00

Lisa home from Ibiza and we had one of our favourites, chopped Turkish salad (elsewhere on the blog) but instead of the usual chicken and flatbread we had this delicious mechoui lamb and a loaf of Gails sourdough from waitrose.
I had been meaning to do this classic moroccan recipe for some time. It's right up my strasse, its very simple, but i love the way that it elevates fairly ordinary barbecued lamb chops to something rather special....... It also goes perfectly with the Turkish salad btw.

Lamb Mechoui with Cumin and Paprika Salt
from Casa Moro cookbook

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp. whole cumin seeds, freshly ground
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. hot paprika
1 tbsp. sea salt, roughly crumbled
12-16 lamb chops, depending on size
40 g. butter, melted

Mix the spices and the salt together in a bowl. Just before you are ready to grill the chops, brush them with the melted butter, sprinkle liberally with half the cumin mixture and grill 5-8 minutes either side for pink. Serve immediately with some of the remaining cumin salt on the side.

The aioli factor .... The results

2011-06-26T14:02:00.002+01:00

Having just finished stuffing ourselves I can now confrm that the verdict on the aioli was that it was delicious and goes perfectly with barbecued chicken.

Cooking without a kitchen (or a wife) No.6. Aioli for barbecued chicken

2011-06-26T13:11:00.005+01:00

lisa is still in Ibiza and having a well deserved fine old time. weather here amazing too, so martha, Joe and I are eating in the garden. I have barbecued a chicken and we are having it with some left over potato salad ( see last entry) a tomato and red onion salad and I have made some aioli by hand with a bit of help from Joe on the oil dribbling front .... I hope it tastes good because I made a bit of a mess of the book at the same time... The recipe comes from Alice waters again

In the book she mentions a number of optional 'spins' on each recipe ... In this case we added a handful of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley ... It won't take away the garlic breath but hey ho!

Alice Waters AIoli

Peel: 2 or 3 small garlic cloves
Separate into a mixing bowl:
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon water

Mix well with a whisk. Into a cup with a pour spout, measure about:
1 cup olive oil

Slowly dribble the oil into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. As the egg yolk absorbs the oil, the sauce will thicken, lighten in color, and become opaque. This will happen rather quickly. Then you can add the oil a little faster, whisking all the while.

If the sauce is thicker than you like, thin it with a few drops of water. Taste and add more salt and garlic, as desired.

Cooking without a kitchen 5b. Potato salad

2011-06-25T20:38:00.002+01:00

This went with the steak

Simon Hopkinson’s simple new potato salad is simple but lovely.

Simmer 700g of new potatoes for 9 or 10 minutes,when just cool enough to handle, slice them into a bowl.

Make a dressing by mixing 2 tablespoons each of smooth Dijon mustard, 2 tbs red wine vinegar and 6 tbs ex virgin olive oil along with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle 3 or 4 chopped spring onions over the chopped potatoes and gently turn them in the dressing

We then added some chopped grilled asparagus and turned again

Serve while warm

Cooking without a kitchen no.5. Hardly cooking at all

2011-06-25T20:24:00.003+01:00

Ok so now it's Saturday, it's just Martha and I again and she has already eaten. So steak for me, but how to give it a little lift? It was sirloin, from Tesco .... Oh yes! And it twas their finest. I did a little bit of searching for inspiration and turned to Alice waters book 'The art of simple food'...... The recipe that follows is hardly really a recipe but it really did make a difference ..... The lovely thing was that i also got all the herbs from the pots outside my back door

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tablespoons mixed chopped herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, or marjoram
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 grass-fed top sirloin steak (20 ounces and 1 1/2 inches thick), trimmed leaving 1/4 inch of fat (or your tesco version of course)
Directions

In a small bowl, mix together herbs, salt, and pepper. Rub herb mixture onto steak and place in a shallow dish. Drizzle steak with olive oil and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat, clean, and oil a grill or grill pan over high heat. Place steak on grill pan and cook 3 minutes. Rotate steak 110 degrees to make crosshatching grill marks, if desired, and continue cooking an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Turn and continue cooking 2 to 5 minutes more for a rare steak and 4 to 7 minutes for medium-rare.

Transfer steak to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Cooking without a kitchen no.4. Me and marth and a chorizo salad

2011-06-23T21:17:00.007+01:00

Lisa in Ibiza, Joe up in Warwick, so it's just Martha and I. We had the ingredients in the fridge for Jamies best tomato and chorizo salad in the world and it seemed to fit the current criteria for cooking ie not much required in this case all we needed was the camping cooker to cook the chorizo.

We ate it in front of the telly with lots of bread for supping ... our verdict? not half bad

Here's the recipe

Best chorizo and tomato salad in the world

‘So many people live their lives eating the most boring tomato salads and there's no need to! Using really ripe sweet tomatoes and a hero ingredient like chorizo means you'll end up with something ridiculously good.’

Serves 4 as a light meal
1 raw chorizo sausage (approx 225g), roughly sliced
olive oil
3 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 handfuls (270g) of cherry tomatoes, quartered, smaller ones halved
3 spring onions or 1 shallot, trimmed or peeled and finely sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Spanish extra virgin olive oil
sherry vinegar
a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (you could also use basil or mint), leaves picked and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
a rustic loaf of bread, to serve
goats cheese, to serve (optional)
pata negra ham, to serve (optional)

1 Fry the sliced chorizo in a pan over a medium heat with a lug of dive oil. Stir it with a wooden spoon occasionally while you prepare your tomatoes and spring onions. Put them into a bowl with a good pinch of salt and pepper, a lug of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar. Sprinkle over the chopped parsley, toss everything together, then put aside.

2 By now, your chorizo should be getting crispy with lots of beautiful fat cooking out of it - this is where the magic happens. Add the sliced garlic to the pan and keep it moving around. You don't want it to burn, so as soon as it starts to smell fantastic, get the pan off the heat and pour in a small splash of sherry vinegar to stop it cooking further. Stir, then spoon
the crispy chorizo and some of its lovely flavoured oil and garlic over the salad (if you've got any leftover fat in the pan, pour it into a jam jar and store it in the fridge - if you rub it all over a chicken before roasting it will add the most incredible flavour).

3 Toss your salad and serve it right away. You'll definitely want some hunks of bread to mop up all that spicy garlicky dressing, and maybe some nuggets of good goat's cheese on the side(Definitely not a spin for me!) I also like to serve it with with a few slices of pata negra -it's a wonderfully aromatic cured ham from Spain's famous Iberian pigs, and you should be able to find it in most supermarkets.

Cooking without a kitchen no.3. Jamie's best sausages with braised lentils and crispy prosciutto for a returning son

2011-06-23T18:10:00.007+01:00

Son number two arrived back from LA today after a year studying there. We had the whole family together (only a flying visit by number one son) and we were joined by cousin Barney who is doing work experience with me.However despite the desire to celebrate we are still without a kitchen so we had to use a bit of ingenuity plus the BBQ and camping gaz cooker again.

We had lovely italian sausages from the local deli (Jamie says you can use cumberland for this but frankly I take issue with this ... not often I disagree with his bruvva-ness but on this occasion I say NO to anything other than the proper Italian salsiccia.

The lentils tasted good and the addition of the crispy prosciutto was an interesting little spin.

We added a little had chopped Salsa Verde to give it a bit of a lift.

We polished off a bottle of nytimber to toast his return in one piece and had a nice bottle of Il Bruciato with the sausages.

all in all it was a lovely evening

ingredients

• 200g good small green or brown lentils
• bouquet garni
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2–3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• good-quality olive oil
• 1kg Italian sausages
• a few bunches of fresh sage leaves
• 8 slices of prosciutto

Method

Give the lentils a wash and place them in a casserole-type pan. Cover them nicely with water and then add a bouquet garni. Squash your tomatoes and add to the pan with the garlic cloves. Bring everything to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your lentils, and stirring occasionally until tender - you want the lentils to be soft and a pleasure to eat but still holding their shape. Keep an eye on the pan as they cook to make sure they don’t dry out. You can do this part on a gas hob, but also on the barbie while you’re waiting for the embers to die down after you’ve lit them.

When your lentils are cooked, remove the bouquet garni and the tomatoes ( we left ours in and just mashed them up), and drain away most of the remaining cooking liquid. Dress your lentils like a salad with the red wine vinegar and twice as much olive oil. Mush up the garlic, and stir it in then season carefully to taste. Keep warm.

To cook your sausages, rub with olive oil then put on the medium-hot part of the barbie. Keep moving them around at the beginning, as there’ll probably be flames from the fat hitting the heat.

Once the sausages have had 15 minutes and you think they’re nearly cooked, place them on the cooler part of your barbie. Lay your sage leaves over them and drizzle with olive oil. Put your prosciutto on the barbie and grill briefly until crispy.

Pile everything back into a large dish. I like to serve it with steamed broccoli, crusty bread and, best of all, gorgeous salsa verde (jamie prefers Salsa Rossa) spooned over the top.

hand chopped Salsa verde

ingredients

1 1/2 tbsp capers
1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
bunch of flat leaf parsley
handful of rocket leaves
10 mint leaves
200ml extra virgin olive oil

method

roughly chop the capers and place them in a bowl with the garlic, mustard and wine vinegar.
Wash the herbs and leaves and chop finely. Add to the bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Pour over the olive oil and stir to combine.

Cooking without a kitchen no.2.

2011-06-20T21:41:00.005+01:00

With no kitchen the gas barbecue has become our other vital piece of equipment alongside the camping gaz cooker I mentioned in the last blog.
To add to the general chaos we also have my nephew barney staying with us ....... Poor him!
For his first meal we barbecued a spatchcocked chicken that I had marinaded in oregano, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil which I cooked for about 45 mins on a low setting.
Alongside it we had Jamies jacket potatoes in foil (see below) and some corn on the cob.

ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• freshly ground black pepper
• sea sal
• 8 baking potatoes
• 8 anchovies, or 4 rashers of bacon (the best quality you can afford) if you’re not an anchovy fan
a handful of fresh thyme sprigs

method

Everyone loves a baked potato and this is one of the tastiest ways to make them. Slice, fill, then fit them back together.

Pound the garlic and butter in a pestle and mortar until smooth. Season the garlic butter well with lots of pepper but just a little salt as the anchovy or bacon will act as a seasoning too.

Cut each potato into 8 slices. Coat the slices of each potato with the butter mix then reassemble each potato on a piece of double-thick foil. Cut the anchovies or bacon into strips and put between the slices. Do the same with the thyme sprigs and carefully wrap up the potatoes.

Lay the wrapped spuds on the cooler coals at the sides of the barbie for 1–1½ hours, depending on their size, turning every now and then, until tender. If you’ve got a gas barbie, put the potatoes right at the back over a low heat and give them plenty of time to cook. You might even want to give them half an hour’s headstart in the oven first.

Aint no stopping me cook. Seared Tuna with new potato salad with capers, anchovies and rocket

2011-06-17T11:25:00.005+01:00

So what if we haven't got a kitchen. We have got a single ring camping gaz cooker ... and we're gonna use it!
So last night I was home early and decided to see what we could put together.

this is what we came up with

Ingredients

2 Tuna steaks
500g new potatoes
1 red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped)
3 tbs capers
8 anchovy fillets split in half lengthways
Juice of one lemon
4 tbs ex virgin olive oil
large handful of roughly chopped rocket leaves

method

Put anchovies and chillies in a bowl with half the lemon juice.

Turn on camping gaz ... you could use a traditional hob if you insist.

Now get new potatoes on the boil in well salted water and cook until tender.
Drain potatoes and cut in half lengthways (if they are a little big cut them in half crossways too.

Pour over the olive oil and lemon juice whilst they are still warm and season... go easy on the salt as you will be adding anchovies and capers that are both pretty salty.

Leave for ten minutes to take up the flavours and cool a little.

Just before serving add the capers, rocket and anchovies and chillies and stir gently.

Now put non stick frying pan on the heat and leave until smoking hot.

Sear the tuna for no more than 45 seconds each side.season

Serve

Good bye old friend. Chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine

2011-06-13T09:02:00.004+01:00

At eight o clock this morning the men came to remove our kitchen. As I left the house, lisa was removing various bits and pieces to try and flog them on ebay. When I come home tonight I suspect most of it will be gone.
Whilst I am excited about the arrival of a spanking new kitchen (and a little nervous) I am sad to see the old one go as it has served us well for the last decade.
On Saturday night Gus came home and my Mum came up and I cooked this Jamie Oliver dish, it was delicious ..... unless you're Martha of course, who, I only discovered later, HATES preserved lemon.
It is very easy to make ... the only thing I would question on the recipe is if you really need an hour and a half... I think an hour would probably be sufficient.

Here's the recipe in full

Chicken, olive and preserved lemon tagine

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

 1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg), preferably free-range or organic, skin-on, jointed  into 4 (get your butcher  to do this for you or you could just use large chicken pieces)

Olive oil

2 large bulbs of fennel

 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped

 A small bunch of fresh coriander

 4 cloves of garlic, peeled  and sliced

 2-3 small preserved lemons, deseeded and chopped

 80g black and green olives, stoned

A good pinch of saffron

 500ml hot organic chicken stock  For the spice rub1 heaped teaspoon coriander seeds, bashed up

1 level teaspoon ground cumin

 1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons olive oil

 Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

The word “tagine” refers not  only to the dish itself, but also  to the unique pot it’s cooked in. These thick earthenware pots  are used all over Morocco, and were introduced by nomads, who would use them directly over fire and ashes to create all sorts of beautiful stews with goat, lamb and chicken.

Traditionally, the lady of the house would be in charge of cooking the tagine, and that is still very much the way it is today. Apparently, that’s one of the ways they express their love and affection. So a word to the wise – if your missus feeds you a dodgy-tasting tagine, look out!

Making this dish in a proper tagine definitely adds to the beauty of it, but essentially  it’s a stew with deep, lovely flavours, and you can still   get an authentic taste using  a conventional heavy-based casserole pan. I think this  recipe delivers every time,  and it really makes good use  of one of the star flavours in tagines: preserved lemons.

Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Put your chicken pieces into a large bowl, massage them with the spice rub, then cover with clingfilm, and put into the fridge to marinate for a couple of hours or, even better, overnight. When you’re ready to cook, heat a generous lug of olive oil in a tagine or casserole-type  pan, and fry the chicken pieces over a medium to high heat,  skin side down first, for about  5 to 10 minutes until gorgeous and golden brown.

While your chicken fries, chop each fennel bulb into 8 wedges, and add these to the pan along with the onions, coriander stalks  and garlic. Stir well and fry for a couple more minutes, then mix in the preserved lemons, olives and saffron. Pour in the hot stock, give everything a good stir, then cover with a lid or foil, and simmer on a low heat for 1½ hours, or until the meat starts to fall away from the bone. Halfway through, have a check and give it a good stir. Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks dry. When the time’s up and your chicken looks perfect, stir gently. If it’s still a bit liquidy, leave it to blip away with the lid off until thickened slightly.

Serve with couscous.

A reminder to myself. Cook this - Seared tuna with panzanella-style salad

2011-06-08T16:31:00.004+01:00

I remember seeing this on Saturday kitchen and wanting to cook it. I forgot to. I have now come across the recipe again, so this is a reminder to myself to try it. If anyone else does let me know how it works out.

Ingredients

For the salad

600g/14oz baby tomatoes, cut in half horizontally
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g/7oz ciabatta, torn into small pieces
1 large banana shallot, finely chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed
175g/6oz w piquillo peppers, chopped
2 handfuls basil, leaves only

For the tuna

4 x 200g/7oz tuna steaks
1 lemon, zest only
1 garlic clove, grated
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

For the salad, preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 1.

Place the tomatoes onto a baking tray, cut-side facing upwards.
Drizzle over one tablespoon of the olive oil and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Transfer the tomatoes to the oven and cook for one hour, or until softened and slightly dried out.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Increase the oven temperature to 220C/450F/Gas 8.

Place the ciabatta pieces onto a baking sheet and drizzle over two tablespoons of the olive oil. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Transfer to the oven and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallot and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.
Blend two-thirds of the roasted tomatoes and all of the red wine vinegar and olive oil in a food processor to a fine purée.
In a bowl, add half of the purée mixture to the crisp ciabatta croûtons and set aside to soak for five minutes.
Stir in the remaining roasted tomatoes, capers, piquillo peppers and basil leaves. Set aside.

For the tuna, place the tuna steaks onto a large plate.
In a bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, garlic and olive oil until well combined. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour the mixture over the tuna steaks and turn to completely coat them in the mixture. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.

When the tuna has marinated, heat a griddle pan over a medium heat until hot. When the pan is hot, add the tuna and cook for one minute.
Give the tuna a quarter turn and cook for a further minute.
Turn the tuna by a quarter again and continue to cook for a further minute, or until criss-cross golden-brown griddle marks have appeared on the tuna.
Turn the tuna steaks over and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.
Remove the tuna steaks from the pan and set aside on a warm plate to rest for one minute.

To serve, carve the tuna steaks into thick slices. Divide the salad equally among four serving plates.
Place one tuna steak on top of each. Drizzle over the tomato dressing.

Post implant food. Spiced lamb burgers with raitha and mint sambal

2011-06-08T16:00:00.008+01:00

I have just had a couple of implants .. that's dental implants, I haven't had my moobs adjusted. Whilst there are many upsides to this, the downside is that in this first stage I am not allowed to drink for two weeks and I also have to eat 'soft food' for a while.
This led me to making these old family favourite lamb burgers with secret hidden veg. The addition of the carrot and or courgette not only gets some veg into a burger it also adds taste and keeps them beautifully moist.

I have chosen an Indian-ish vibe with the spicing and accompaniments but it could just as easily be Greek-y or Turkish-ish.

The cooking time depends on the thickness of the burger, your interpretation of 'nicely browned' and whether you like your burgers well done or are happy with a bit of pink ... personally we are a bit of a pink family.

Ingredients

For the burgers

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves
bunch of fresh coriander, stalks and leaves
finely grated carrot and/or small courgette
450g/1lb lamb mince
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt, or to taste
Ground black pepper

optional extra
1 finely chopped green chilli or chilli flakes to taste

For the herbed yoghurt

250g/7oz plain or Greek-style yoghurt
juice of half a lemon
small bunch of chopped fresh coriander leaves
small bunch chopped fresh mint leaves
1-2 green chillies, finely chopped (optional)
1 garlic clove crushed
salt, to taste
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

For the burgers, roughly chop the onion, garlic, coriander by hand. Place into a bowl with the lamb mince, add the cumin, coriander, carrot/courgette, salt and pepper and mix well.
Shape into six burgers and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes, or until you are ready to cook them. Take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before you start cooking.

Meanwhile, for the raitha, mix together all the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

pre heat the oven to 200

Preheat an oven-safe griddle pan or non-stick pan to high. Place the burgers on until nicely browned on each side. Now put in the oven for 5 minutes or until done to your liking.

Serve with the raitha, sambal a simple leaf salad and some flatbread or wraps

Mint sambal

2 red onions very finely sliced (on a mandoline would be best)
big handful of mint leaves
1 small green chilli, finely diced
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sea salt

method

combine all ingredients and leave for at least 30 minutes

Roast potatoes from Lucca

2011-06-05T20:43:00.005+01:00

I cooked this recipe from The River Cafe Classic Cookbook at the Pricey's house when we were in LA seeing Joe earlier this year.

We had it with some amazing Fiorentina steaks ... and a few flagons of delicious red wine!

It takes a bit of trial and error to get it right ... the key thing is to get the depth of potatoes in the pan thin enough to really brown nicely but thick enough that they don't burn to a crisp and still have a bit of fluffiness to them.

When you do get it right though you will find that everybody both young and old will love this recipe and hoover up every last morsel of it.

ingredients

1.5kg waxy potatoes
1 medium red onion peeled
6 garlic clove, peeled and kept whole
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
6 sprigs fresh sage
120ml dry white wine
100ml ex virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seeds crushed

method

Pre heat oven to 200c

peel potatoes and slice into very fine slices (5mm) use a mandoline if you can.
Put them in cold water to wash off excess starch, drain and pat dry and then put in a large mixing bowl.

finely slice the red onion and, keeping the garlic cloves whole just press them to partly crush them. Wash the herbs and pull the leaves from the woody stems.. Add the onion, garlic and herbs to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss well to make sure the potatoes and herbs are coated with the oil and wine.

choose a baking tray that will fit all the potatoes in spread in not too thick a layer (but not too thin or they will burn at the edges). Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 25 mins.

Remove the foil , then, using the back of a large spoon or a potato masher, breakup the potatoes and herbs to make a rough mash. Drizzle with olive oil.

Return the tray to the hot oven and roast for a further 30-45 mins, until the potatoes are brown and crisp and still light and fluffy underneath.

All together now .... a sunday lunch menu

2011-06-05T18:43:00.010+01:00

It struck me that I normally write about a dish rather than a meal. However sometimes it's the combination of things that really works, not just the individual recipes. Last Sunday was one of those occasions when it all just seemed to come together. It also did so with very little fuss

We had our good friends David and Cathy over with their 'adopted' son Krishna and we just had Martha out of our brood.

We started with little crostini: a couple of dips from Skye Gyngell, a Jamie Oliver courgette spread 'Zucchini in padella' and some torn buffalo mozarella and baby tomatoes drizzled with olive oil.

To Start

Skye's mezze dips

btw this recipe makes tons ... you could easily halve it and still have loads left over

Roasted spice mix

All of the recipes use this blend of strong, vibrant flavours.

1-2 cinnamon sticks
50g/2oz coriander seeds
50g/2oz cumin seeds
50g/2oz fennel seeds
50g/2oz mustard seeds
50g/2oz fenugreek seeds
5 cardamom pods
2-3 star anise (or cloves)

Place a dry, heavy-based frying pan (preferably non-stick) over a low heat. Break the cinnamon sticks in half. Once a clear smoke begins to rise from your pan, add all the spices and cook, stirring frequently, to toast them. Be careful not to burn them, though, as this will give a bitter taste. Once the seeds begin to pop, they are ready. Remove from the heat and grind to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

Roasted tomato and red pepper purée

This rustic purée sits happily on the mezze plate, but is also lovely served with grilled, firm-fleshed white fish or chicken.

Serves 4

4 red peppers
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
6 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 red chillies, sliced
Bunch of coriander, washed
1 tbsp roasted spice mix
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp good-quality balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
125ml/4fl oz plain yoghurt
1/2 bunch of mint, leaves only

Heat the oven to 100C/220F/Gas 1/4. Halve, core and deseed the red peppers, removing all the white pith. Put in a roasting pan with the onion, garlic, tomatoes and chillies.

Separate the coriander leaves and set aside; finely chop the roots and stems and scatter over the vegetables. Sprinkle with the spice mix and dried mint, then drizzle over the oil and vinegar. Season and toss to mix. Slow-roast for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the red peppers are soft and slightly caramelised.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature, then whizz in a blender with yoghurt, mint and the coriander leaves until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning – it will need salt.

Beetroot purée

This vivid purée is a staple in our mezze plate. Its zing allows it to stand proudly on its own, too, so it's worth making extra. I love it simply spread on toast, and with griddled scallops. If you buy ready-cooked beetroot, make sure it is plainly cooked, not boiled in vinegar.

Serves 6

11/2kg/3lb cooked beetroot, peeled (I bought pre-cooked and vacuum packed from waitrose)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 large red chilli
Bunch of coriander, washed
1/2 bunch of mint, leaves only
1 tbsp grated fresh horseradish
1 tbsp roasted spice mix
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar, or to taste
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
125ml thick Greek-style yoghurt
Sea salt

Place the beetroot in a blender with the garlic and chilli. Chop the coriander roots and stems and add to the blender with the mint, horseradish, spice mix, balsamic and oil. Blend really well to smooth purée.

Add the yoghurt and pulse quickly, once or twice. Taste for seasoning – it will need salt to bring all the flavours together. You may also need a few more drops of balsamic vinegar – it needs a sharp edge.

Zucchini in padella

ingredients

3 firm medium zucchini, sliced into half-inch pieces

Extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

1/2 a fresh chili, sliced, or 1 small dried red chili, crumbled

handful of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked, or 1tsp dried oregano

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 good-quality anchovy fillets, in olive oil

zest and juice of half a lemon, in separate bowls

sprig of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped

Method

Glug some olive oil in a pan on medium heat.
Add garlic and chili. After 30 seconds, add zucchini and herbs and season lightly with salt and pepper. Make sure your pan's not too hot -- you don't want the zucchini to cook too quickly.
Mix it all up and cover with a lid slightly ajar to hold some steam in. Give pan a little shake every couple of minutes for the next 10 to 12 minutes.
For the last 2 minutes of cooking, add anchovies and lemon zest.
Once anchovies have melted, season to taste, add a squeeze of lemon juice to balance the chili and seasoning.
Serve right away with chopped mint.

The main event

after we had polished off the crostini/dips with a couple of bottles of prosecco we moved on to the star turn which was a butterflied leg of lamb grilled River cafe style.

We accompanied this with salsa verde, asparagus in milk and anchovy sauce, green beans and roast potatoes from Lucca.

nb the salsa verde recipe I used here is hand chopped and leaves out the usual anchovies.

We washed it down with a bottle of Il Bruciato 2007 from Bolgheri

Ingredients

1 leg of spring lamb about 2.25kg in weight boned and butterflied

5 garlic cloves peeled and crushed

2 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves

a good pinch of coarsely ground black pepper

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp sea salt

Method

Mix the crushed garlic, rosemary and pepper in a bowl and rub into the cut side of the meat. Place the meat in a shallow dish and pour over the lemon juice and olive oil. Turn the meat over a couple of times to make sure it is coated then cover.

Leave to marinate at room temperature overnight or for at least 4 hours turning the meat occasionally.

Preheat a grill to very high. Remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry. Season with salt. Carefully place the meat on the grill and seal on both sides. Lower the heat and continue to grill until the desired degree of pinkness turning once.

Allow at least 8-10 minutes per side.

hand chopped Salsa verde

ingredients

1 1/2 tbsp capers
1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
bunch of flat leaf parsley
handful of rocket leaves
10 mint leaves
200ml extra virgin olive oil

method

roughly chop the capers and place them in a bowl with the garlic, mustard and wine vinegar.
Wash the herbs and leaves and chop finely. Add to the bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Pour over the olive oil and stir to combine.

asparagus with anchovy and milk

Ingredients

30 spears of asparagus

sauce

6 anchovy fillets(1/2 a small tin)
grated peel of 1 lemon (I do mine on a microplane but a grater will do)
1 small dried chilli (or ½ teaspoon of chilli flakes)
1 garlic clove (peeled and crushed with a little salt)
125ml whole milk
4 tbs ex virgin olive oil

method

Put the anchovies, lemon peel, chilli and garlic into a food processor and chop briefly.
Add the milk and pulse to make a smooth sauce.
Pour into a bowl and stir in the olive oil until it emulsifies. It should be a lovely thick runny consistency.

Boil the asparagus in salted water until al dente (about 5 minutes) don’t overcook there’s nothing worse than squidgy asparagus.

Drain well. Serve on a warm seving plate with the sauce dribbled over liberally and whatever is left over on the side .

Roast potatoes from Lucca (River Cafe Classic)

ingredients

1.5kg waxy potatoes
1 medium red onion peeled
6 garlic clove, peeled and kept whole
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
6 sprigs fresh sage
120ml dry white wine
100ml ex virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seeds crushed

method

Pre heat oven to 200c

peel potatoes and slice into very fine slices (5mm) use a mandoline if you can.
Put them in cold water to wash off excess starch, drain and pat dry and then put in a large mixing bowl.

finely slice the red onion and, keeping the garlic cloves whole just press them to partly crush them. Wash the herbs and pull the leaves from the woody stems.. Add the onion, garlic and herbs to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss well to make sure the potatoes and herbs are coated with the oil and wine.

choose a baking tray that will fit all the potatoes in spread in not too thick a layer (but not too thin or they will burn at the edges). Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 25 mins.

Remove the foil , then, using the back of a large spoon or a potato masher, breakup the potatoes and herbs to make a rough mash. Drizzle with olive oil.

Return the tray to the hot oven and roast for a further 30-45 mins, until the potatoes are brown and crsip and still light and fluffy underneath.

Green beans

boil them in salted water drizzle with good olive oil

the geometry of pasta's Fish cous cous

2011-05-22T17:41:00.005+01:00

This recipe is the most famous in Sicily and comes from Trapani. We first tried it when we visited the beautiful island for a fabulous family holiday.
Up until now we have been cooking an excellent version from one of Rick Stein's books but Since Gus bought this lovely book and we tried this I think it's shaded it and become my favourite version.
The thing that, for me, makes this one interesting is the idea of pounding the almonds, garlic and parsley into a paste.

ingredients

250gms cous cous
350gms fish fillet (could include uncooked prawns)
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus a little extra if you like
1 small dried chili
1 bay leaf
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons blanched almonds
1 garlic clove
350ml light fish stock
1 tin chopped tomatoes

Method

Fry the onion in 4 ½ tablespoons of the oil with the chili and bay leaf over a medium heat until soft and golden – about 10 minutes.

Chop the parsley roughly, then pound to a paste with the almonds and garlic.

Bring the stock to a boil, pour exactly half over the couscous along with another 1 ½ tablespoons of oil and salt to taste, and leave, covered, while you finish making the fish stew.

Add the tomatoes to the onion and fry for a couple of minutes, add the rest of the fish stock then add the fish (seasoned with salt and pepper) and turn once or twice in the pan, just to coat.

Bring to a boil and stir in the pounded almonds, then simmer for a minute or 2 until the fish is just cooked. Taste for seasoning.

Fluff the couscous with a fork. Serve the fish stew spooned over a bed of couscous, with an optional extra drizzle of oil.

Rick Steins Fennel sausages braised with lemony potatoes and bay leaves

2011-05-22T16:38:00.005+01:00

Its been a while, not sure how I managed to let work get in the way of blogging ... anyway here's a little simple supper dish from Rick Stein that I was reminded of by Saturday Kitchen yesterday.

It also meant that I visited a local Italian deli for the first time where I had a nice chat with the Sicilian owner and his mother.

They sell the perfect sausages for this dish which are called luganega, which normally come in one long length. If you are using ordinary sausages, add a teaspoon of fennel seeds to the onions when frying.

Ingredients

450g/1lb luganega sausages

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

750g/1½lb small waxy potatoes, peeled and each cut into quarters

½ lemon, pared zest (I did mine on a microplane) and juice only

4 fresh bay leaves

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

120ml/4fl oz water

method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F Twist the sausages into 7.5cm/3in lengths and separate them into individual sausages (I couldn't do this to mine without breaking the skin but it didn't seem to matter

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a 26cm/10in shallow flameproof casserole dish. Add the sausages and fry until nicely browned all over. Lift them onto a plate and set aside.

Add the onion, garlic and another tablespoon of oil to the casserole dish and fry until soft and lightly golden. Stir in the potatoes, browned sausages, lemon zest and juice, bay leaves, half the chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon salt and ten turns of the black pepper mill.

Pour over the rest of the oil along with the water, cover tightly with the lid and bake for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Remove the lemon zest (no need to remove if you have microplaned the zest) and sprinkle with the rest of the parsley before serving.

Biscuit club

2011-04-18T21:33:00.002+01:00

Cranberry and white chocolate cookies

Makes 30

150g unsalted butter, softened

165g firmly packed-brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

125g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt
200g rolled oats
1400g white-chocolate chunks

85g dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4 and line three baking trays with baking parchment. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the oats, chocolate and cranberries and stir together. Add to the creamed mixture and stir together well.

Roll small tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place on the baking trays. Flatten the balls with a fork dipped in flour.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until pale golden. Leave to cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bill Granger's Holiday is published by Murdoch Books, £19.99. To order a copy for £18.99 with free UK p&p go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop or call 0870 836 0875.

incredible roast shoulder of lamb

2011-03-07T23:34:00.004Z

I made this recipe from Jamie on Saturday night pairing it with Ottolenghi's roast vegetables.Be warned, this is not for those of you watching your cholesterol, it is however delicious.

ingredients

for the lamb

• a large bunch of fresh rosemary
• 1 x 2kg shoulder of lamb
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bulb of garlic, unpeeled, broken into cloves

for the sauce

• 1 tablespoon flour
• 500ml good-quality hot chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 heaped tablespoons capers, soaked, drained and chopped
• a large bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Preheat your oven to full whack. Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife. Lay half the sprigs of rosemary and half the garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting tray, rub the lamb all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place it in the tray on top of the rosemary and garlic, and put the rest of the rosemary and garlic on top of the lamb. Tightly cover the tray with tinfoil and place in the oven. Turn the oven down immediately to 170°C/325°F/gas 3 and cook for 4 hours – it’s done if you can pull the meat apart easily with two forks.

Remove the lamb from the oven and place it on a chopping board. Cover it with tinfoil, then a tea towel, and leave it to rest. Pour away most of the fat from the roasting tray, discarding any bits of rosemary stalk. Put the tray on the hob and mix in the flour. Add the stock, stirring and scraping all the sticky goodness off the bottom of the tray. You won’t need gallons of gravy, just a couple of flavorsome spoonfuls each. Add the capers, turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes.

Finely chop the mint and add it to the sauce with the red wine vinegar at the last minute then pour into a jug. Add your greens and stalks to the pan of fast-boiling salted water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes to just soften them. Drain and toss with a knob of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Place everything in the middle of the table, and shred the lamb in front of your guests. Absolutely delish!

Beetroot with preserved lemon relish for Mrs Sweeney

2011-03-07T23:02:00.003Z

We had this as a starter when the Sweeneys visited us on Saturday night. I have blogged about it before but here it is just for you Liz, complete with added cheat.

I have to confess that I used the vacuum packed pre-cooked beetroot that you can buy in the veg section at Waitrose. Whilst I'm sure it tastes better if you cook them yourself this definitely saves alot of effort.

ingredients

900g beetroot, thoroughly washed
4 heaped tbsp chopped dill
1 small red onion, peeled and
very thinly sliced
160g creamy Greek yogurt

For the relish

2 yellow peppers
3 tbsp olive oil
1½ tsp coriander seeds
400g tin chopped plum tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp sugar
Salt and black pepper
3 tbsp preserved lemon
skin, chopped
2 tbsp each chopped parsley
and coriander leaves
This is yet another recipe from the fabulous 'Plenty' by Ottolenghi.

Method

First boil the beetroots whole in plenty of water until cooked through. This can take anything up to 60 minutes - check by piercing them with a little knife. Allow them to cool down completely, then peel and cut into wedges.

While the beets are cooking, make the relish. Cut circles around the stems of the peppers, and carefully remove and discard the stems and seeds. Place the peppers on an oven tray lined with foil and put them directly under a very hot grill for up to 30 minutes, until they are cooked inside and blackened on the outside. Set aside to cool, with the foil folded over the peppers to encase them, then peel and cut into strips.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and fry the coriander seeds for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper, and simmer for 25 minutes, adding the lemon halfway through. Remove from the heat, stir in the herbs and set aside to cool.

When you're ready to serve, put the beet wedges in a bowl, add the relish, dill and onion, and season. Stir, taste and adjust the seasoning. Just before serving, gently swirl the yogurt through the salad. Don't overstir: you want a white-and-red marbled effect, not a uniform pink.

green couscous. An Ottolenghi hat-trick

2011-02-13T18:55:00.004Z

Yet another recipe from Plenty. Couscous is one of those things you either love or hate ... if your a hater stop reading now.
If you're a lover like me you will really appreciate this new spin on a couscous salad

Green Couscous

Ingredients

150g couscous
160ml boiling water or stock
1 small onion thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
50g shelled unsalted pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
3 spring onions finely sliced
1 fresh green chilli finely sliced
30g rocket chopped

Herb paste
20g parsley
20g coriander
2tbsp chopped tarragon
2tbsp chopped chilli
2tbsp chopped mint
90ml good olive oil

Method

put the couscous in a heat-proof bowl, cover with the boiling water, then cover the bowl with a plate and leave for 10 minutes.

Thinly slice a small onion, fry til soft and golden in a little oil, then add a the cumin, salt and mix. Leave to cool.

Next make the paste.In a food processor, whizz up all the ingredients until smooth.

Mix the herb paste into the cooked couscous, fluffing it up with a fork.

To this add the onion mixture, 3 finely chopped spring onions, chilli, pistachios and rocket leaves and gently mix.

season to taste and serve at room temperature

my top ten

2011-02-13T18:35:00.002Z

well actually my top seventeen now!
In response to a request from Hot meat (or Mr Coldham as others know him) I have added a top ten category to the blog.
I actually added it a while ago but I think I forgot to mention it.
Its a guide to the things we cook again and again and heartily recommend you try

Sweet potato wedges with lemongrass sauce. A groovy alternative to fries and ketchup

2011-02-13T18:14:00.004Z

Another bit of Ottolenghi magic .. we luurve sweet potatoes and this is a nice spin on the 'chip and dip'.
If you wanted it to be a little lighter then replace the Creme Fraiche with greek yoghurt.

Ingredients

for 4 persons:

4 medium sweet potatoes (900g)
4 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 fresh red chilli, finely diced (or some dried chilli flakes)
15g coriander, leaves picked

for the dipping sauce:
1/2 lemongrass stalk
200g crème fraîche
grated zest and juice of 2 limes
50g fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 210°C.

Wash the sweet potatoes but don't peel them. Cut each lengthways in half, cut again lengthways into quarters and then once more, so you should end up with eight long wedges.

Place them in a roasting tin that has been lines with baking parchment and brushed lightly with some of the olive oil.

Brush the wedges with the remaining oil and sprinkle with a mixture of the ground coriander and salt.

Roast for about 25 minutes until the sweet potato is tender and golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool down a little (can be eaten warm or at room temperature)

While you are waiting, make the sauce, Very finely chop the lemongrass or grind finely in a spice grinder.

Whisk with all of the other ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.

When ready to serve, place the wedges on a large, flat serving dish. Sprinkle with the diced chilli and coriander leaves, and serve with the sauce on the side.

The land of Plenty - Roast Parsnips and sweet potatoes

2011-02-13T17:58:00.005Z

After Xmas I bought myself a copy of Yotam Ottolenghi's most recent book 'Plenty'.
Early signs are that it is even better than his first book. For my money it is better laid out and more mouth-wateringly art directed (can art direction can be mouth watering?)
However the really good thing about the book is the inventive combinations of ingredients in the recipes that blend mediterranean and middle eastern flavours in a very modern and light style.
We have already had a few recipes from the book, this was the first one I cooked and it has already become a firm favourite, particularly with Gus. This goes fantastically with something like roast chicken but would be equally delicious on its own
btw it also tastes great the next day

Roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes

Treat this recipe as a blueprint for an infinite number of roast vegetable dishes. The point here is to balance slow-cooked
veggies with something crisp and fresh.

Ingredients

4 parsnips (700g in total)
4 medium red onions
150ml olive oil
4 thyme sprigs
2 rosemary sprigs
1 head garlic, halved horizontally
2 medium sweet potatoes (600g in total)
30 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp small capers (roughly chopped if large)
½ tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190°C/375°F. Peel the parsnips and cut into two or three segments, depending on their length. Then cut each piece lengthways into two or four. You want pieces roughly 5cm long and 1.5cm wide. Peel the onions and cut each into six wedges.

2. Place the parsnips and onions in a large mixing bowl and add 120ml of the olive oil, the thyme, rosemary, garlic, 1 tsp of salt and some pepper. Mix well and spread out in a large roasting tin. Roast for 20 minutes.

3. While the parsnips are cooking, top and tail the sweet potatoes. Cut them (with their skins on) widthways in half, then each half into six wedges. Add the potatoes to the tin and stir well. Roast for a further 40-50 minutes.

4. When all the vegetables are cooked through and have taken on a golden colour, stir in the tomatoes. Roast for 10 more minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the lemon juice, capers, maple syrup, mustard, remaining oil and ½ tsp salt.

5. Pour the dressing over the roasted vegetables as soon as you take them out of the oven. Stir well, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Scatter the sesame seeds over the vegetables if using and serve at the table in the roasting tin.

cool cookery gadgets

2011-02-13T17:43:00.002Z

I am a predictable cookery bloke .. I love all the gadgets. Over Xmas we added a new Magimix to our kitchen after an incredible 25 years service from our first one, which to be honest hasn't even broken we just fancied a new one.
However my favourite new gadget is the rosle digital roasting thermometer which takes the 'oh bugger the recipe said it would medium rare not still alive' out of cooking new recipes.
All you GQ loving chefs out there this is for you ... that means you Pricey

Jamies incredible 1 minute ice cream

2011-02-13T17:34:00.004Z

ok so lets face it jamie's 30 minute meals don't really take 30 mins, not unless you have an army of sous-chefs at home, but you can't deny that there's some really clever time saving ideas in this series/book.
I can report that his 1 minute ice cream takes more like 3 or 4 but it is still a brilliantly simple idea that I suspect I will be doing several times over the summer, trying it with other fruit too.

ingredients

• 1 x 500g pack of mixed frozen berries
• 150g fresh blueberries
• 3–4 tablespoons runny honey
• 1 x 500g tub of natural yoghurt (I used greek)
• a few sprigs of fresh mint

serves 4

In advance: Put 4 small glasses in the freezer

When you're all set up and ready to go, get the glasses (if using) and the frozen berries out of the freezer.
Divide the fresh blueberries between the glasses or cornets. Put the honey and yoghurt and leaves from the sprigs of mint into the food processor and whizz,
then add the frozen berries and whiz again until combined.
Spoon the frozen yoghurt over the fresh berries and serve. Yum.

note: I prepared mine before lunch and bunged it in the freezer for an hour and it still worked fine

Morito. The joy of Tapas

2011-02-13T17:27:00.002Z

Our new favourite place to eat in Clerkenwell has to be Morito the tapas bar of the estimable Moro.
John and I have been there a few times and are always amazed by quite how much brilliant food they can produce from the tiny cooking space.
We always end up ordering about three more dishes than you should but we just cant control ourselves

Morito
32 Exmouth Market
London EC1R 4QE
UK

back to blogging - cookery classes

2011-02-13T17:18:00.004Z

its been too long. I'm not sure what happened since the 12th of December but I just haven't been blogging. Its not like I haven't been cooking ... so apologies for that.
I was inspired to blog by the fact that I had my first cookery lesson yesterday. I went to Recipease Jamie's venue in Clapham for a knife skills class in boning a chicken. Lisa gave it to me for Xmas and to be honest I was a bit reticent about going. I was a little nervous if the truth be told. I needn't have been, all the other people there were perfectly normal and I learnt a couple of recipes, how to cut up a chicken properly and how to 'tunnel bone' a chicken leg ... and I achieved all this in a very relaxed two and a half hour lesson from Jimmy, one of Jamie's teachers. It was £50 and you got to take home all the ingredients plus a couple of enamel trays. I thought it was a veritable bargain and I will be trying another course, if there are any cookery class virgins out there like me, I can recommend this as a fun and easy first step

Xmas lunch no 1 - Roast rib of beef grandma style

2010-12-13T16:03:00.004Z

On Sunday we had our first Xmas lunch with both grandmas and one great Aunt .... unfortunately we won't see them on the day itself.
We cooked a rib of beef for the first time (amazing I know) ... or at least we think its the first time.... anyway we used a Jamie Oliver recipe from his second book.
A very hung-over Gus cooked the Yorkshires (Jamie's thirty minute recipe) and we also did green beans and glazed carrots (Jamie's 30 minute recipes)
It was pretty damn delicious!

Happy Xmas!

Ingredients

Serves 8 - 10

* 1 (5 1/2 lb/ 2.5 kgs) rib of beef, French trimmed
* sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
* olive oil
* 3 red onions, halved
* 2 heads garlic, plus
* 4 garlic cloves, peeled
* 3 kgs roasting potatoes, peeled and cut into golf ball size pieces
* half a bottle of robust red wine

method

1. Preheat oven to 230 degrees, and heat a large thick-bottomed roasting tray on the hob.
2. Rub the beef generously with salt, then add a little olive oil to the tray and lightly color the meat for a couple of minutes on all sides.
3. Lay the onions and bulbs of garlic in the tray with the beef on top of them, then cook in the pre-heated oven for a total of 1 1/2 hours.
4. While the beef is roasting, parboil your potatoes in salted boiling water for around 10 minutes and drain in a colander. Toss about to chuff them up, this will make them really crispy.
5. After 30 minutes, take the tray out and toss in your potatoes and rosemary. With a garlic press or grater, squeeze or grate the cloves of garlic over everything in the tray.
6. Shake the tray and whack it back in the oven for the final hour. Remove the potatoes to a dish to keep warm, place the beef on a plate, covered with foil, to rest, and get your greens and Yorkshire puddings on.
7. Remove most of the fat from your roasting tray and you should be left with caramelized onions and sticky beef goodness.
8. Add 1 teaspoon of flour to the tray and mash everything together. Heat the tray on the hob and when hot, add the red wine. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until your gravy is really tasty and coats back of a spoon. Add any juice from the beef and add some stock and veg juice to thin the gravy.
9. Pour through a coarse sieve, pushing it through with a spoon, and serve in a warmed gravy jug.

Piquillo peppers ... cheats Tapas

2010-12-06T14:34:00.003Z

One of the other Tapas style starters that we 'cooked' on Saturday was this very simple recipe for marinading a jar of piquillo peppers .... this is a great thing to do when you are in a rush

Ingredients

1 jar of piquillo peppers
1 clove garlic ... very finely sliced ... I use a small mandoline
Extra virgin olive oil
Sherry vinegar
Ciabatta, sourdough bread or home made flatbread

method

A really quick recipe that tastes great … whip them out of the jar,drain, tear into three, then mix with the garlic, a few tablespoons of olive oil and a dash of sherry vinegar.. leave to marinate for at least an hour.

fab

Hummus with ground lamb and pine nuts. Sounds strange tastes sublime

2010-12-06T13:42:00.003Z

We had eight for dinner on Saturday night and yet again turned to the excellent Moro cookbooks for a bit of middle eastern/Spanish/ Moorish inspiration.

This recipe received pretty good reviews from all diners (and the kids when we re-made it the following day!)

Ingredients

200 g (7 oz) chickpeas, soaked overnight with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (I used canned chickpeas instead.)
6 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 large Spanish onion, diced finely
1/3 tsp ground cinnamon
juice of 1 lemon
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with salt
3-4 tbsp tahini paste
170g (6 oz) lamb, minced
2 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 medium bunch flat leaf parsley
a sprinkling of paprika
salt & pepper

Method

Rinse the chickpeas under cold water, then place in a large saucepan. Fill with 2L of cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, skimming off any scum as it builds up. Cook for 1.5-2 hours, or until the skins are tender. Remove from heat, pour off excess liquid until level with the chickpeas, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat half the olive oil over low to medium heat and fry the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden and sweet. Remove from heat and add the cinnamon.

To make the hummus, drain the chickpeas, keeping aside the cooking liquid. Blend in a food processor with a little of the cooking liquid. When smooth, add the lemon juice, garlic, tahini, and the rest of the olive oil. Add salt and pepper, and some more liquid if necessary. Taste for seasoning and spread the hummus on a plate.

Place a frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the caramelised onion and its oil, and then the lamb. Break up the lamb as it cooks. Season with salt and pepper. When the lamb begins to crisp, add the pinenuts and transfer immediately to the hummus. Serve with parsley leaves and paprika sprinkled on top, and plenty of flatbread or pita.

beetroot with yoghurt ... so simple but oh so good

2010-11-22T10:13:00.002Z

This recipe is from Moro.We were cooking for 12 on Saturday night and had it amongst other Tapas style starters.
Beetroot is one of those things that we all agreed that we hated when we were kids and its vinegary purple stain infected our sliced ham and egg in our oh so dull English salad....but when given a little Mediterranean love it is transformed into a wonderful thing.

The big cheat was that I bought pre-cooked beetroot (NOT PICKLED THOUGH!!!)from the Waitrose veg section.let them get up to room temperature btw

Here's the full recipe from the Moro Cookbook

This is a classic dish that adds vibrant colour to any mezze spread. When beetroot are in season you may come across the golden and stripy varieties. While not entirely traditional, a combination of these can make this dish even more startling. Nigella (or black onion seed) is an aromatic, charcoal- black seed similar to black sesame in shape. It is sprinkled on yoghurt and flatbreads, especially in Turkey.

For the beetroot

* 500g beetroot
* A squeeze of lemon
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 small bunch fresh flat- leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
* sea salt and black pepper

To serve

* 1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt
* 200g home-made or Greek yoghurt, thinned with 2 tbsp milk
* Olive oil
* ½tsp nigella seeds

METHOD

How to make beetroot and yoghurt

ignore 1 and the first line of 2 if you are using my cheat!

1. Wash the beetroot carefully without piercing the skin otherwise they will bleed. Place in a saucepan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Depending on the size of the beetroot, it will take anywhere from half an hour to an hour. They will be ready when you slip a sharp knife easily into the centre, rather like testing to see if a potato is cooked.

2. Drain and rub away the skin with your fingers under a running cold tap. If the beetroot is cooked the skin should come away very easily. Cut into 1cm rounds, arrange on a plate, and dress with the lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper.

3. Mix the garlic with the yoghurt and check for seasoning. Pour over the beetroot, drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle on the nigella seeds. We also serve this dish warm, as it is delicious with grilled fish or chicken. The beetroot bleeds into the yoghurt, turning the sauce bright purple.

gotta cook these little tinkers. Lamb, beetroot and bulgar wheat patties

2010-11-11T12:16:00.002Z

I caught the tail end of Nigel Slater cooking this last night on telly .... this will remind me to cook it sometime soon

Makes 12-16 — enough for 4 or more

Ingredients
75g fine or medium cracked wheat
250g raw beetroot 1 small to medium onion
400g minced lamb
2 or 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
2 heaped tbsp chopped dill
1 small handful chopped parsley
A little groundnut oil

For the dressing
Cucumber, about a third of a medium one
A handful of capers
4-5 sprigs mint, chopped
200g yoghurt

Method
1 Put the cracked wheat in a bowl, pour over enough boiling water to cover, then set aside to swell.

2 Peel the beetroot and onion and grate them coarsely into a large bowl. Add the minced lamb, garlic, dill, parsley and a generous grinding of salt and black pepper.

3 Squeeze any water from the cracked wheat with your hands and add the wheat to the meat. Mix everything together thoroughly, then squish the mince into little patties about the size of a flattened golf ball. Cover with cling film (I do this tightly because the chopped garlic will taint everything in the fridge), then chill for at least an hour.

4 Set the oven at 180C/ Gas 4. Make the dressing by grating the cucumber coarsely, lightly sprinkle it with salt and leave in a colander for half an hour. Squeeze it dry, then mix it with the chopped mint, capers and yoghurt. Season with salt and black pepper.

5 Heat a non-stick pan, brush the patties with a little groundnut oil and fry till golden on both sides. Try not to move the meatballs very much when they are cooking; you risk them falling apart. Once they are lightly browned on both sides, carefully lift them into a baking dish and finish in a hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes (you can only tell if they are done by tasting one, as the beetroot gives them a rich red colour).

6 Drizzle with the cucumber dressing. Serve.

The taste of childhood ... but a bit posher. Baked apples inspired by Skye

2010-11-08T09:32:00.003Z

We did this recipe on Saturday night.
This is a slightly amended version of it.

ingredients

50g unsalted butter
4 large cox apples
50g flaked almonds
2 tbs brandy
1 orange
1 lemon
100g light muscovado sugar
75g raisins and sultanas
1 heaped teaspoon allspice

To prepare your apples

Take your butter out of the fridge about 15 to 30 minutes before you start making your baked apples so it has time to soften a bit first

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4

Use an apple corer to remove the cores from your apples, then carefully score around the middle of each one, using a knife

Take a little slice off the bottom so they don't roll over in the pan

Place the apples in a baking dish.

Put the dried fruit into a large bowl with most of the almonds and grate in the zest of the orange and lemon and the juice of the orange

Warm the brandy and add to the mixture ... let it soak for a while

Now add the rest of the ingredients

Using your hands, mix well, squeezing all the flavours into the butter

Stuff this mixture into the hole in each apple (where you removed the core) and rub the outside of each fruit with some of the leftover mixture

Toss the remaining almonds in the bowl so they become lightly coated in any leftover juices, then sprinkle over the top of the apples

To bake your apples

Place in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, until golden and soft
Remove from the oven and leave to cool down for about 5 minutes before serving
Put each apple into a small bowl and spoon over the lovely caramelized juices from the pan

Serve with a dollop of good-quality vanilla ice cream, crème fraîche or custard

Its winter, time to go slow. Bill Granger's Lamb chops with sweet potato

2010-11-08T09:07:00.005Z

Lets face it the weather has officially turned ....... turned to crap that is.
This change in the weather is not the harbinger of much that is good, aside that is from a reason to start to cook wintery dishes like this one from the ever smiling Bill.

Lamb Chops with Sweet Potatoes & Lemon

Ingredients

* 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
* 1 pinch Sea Salt
* 1 pinch Black Pepper
* 6 Lamb chump chops
* 2 Red onions, freshly sliced
* 2 cm Piece of fresh root ginger, grated
* 4 Garlic cloves
* 1 Red chilli, finely chopped
* 1 tbsp Ras el hanout
* 5 Tomatoes
* 800g Sweet potatoes
* 2 tbsp Lemon juice, or to taste
* 1 tbsp Soy sauce
* 1 tbsp Honey
* 1 Cinnamon stick
* 500g Steamed couscous or rice, to serve
* 1 handful Coriander leaves, to serve

Serves 4

Method

Freshen up this slow-cooked dish with a crunchy radish and minted cucumber salad.
Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Heat the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over a medium-high heat. Season the lamb chops liberally with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides. Remove the chops and set aside.

Drain off all but 1 tablespoon oil from the casserole and reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Now add the ginger, garlic, chilli and ras al hanout, and stir for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and stir over the heat for another 5 minutes.

Add the browned lamp chops, sweet potatoes, lemon juice, soy sauce, honey and cinnamon. Pour in about 400ml water, or just enough to cover your chops. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 2 hours.

Uncover and skim off any excess fat from the surface. If the sauce is too thin, reduce over a medium-high heat for a few minutes. Adjust the seasoning - you may need an extra squeeze of lemon juice. Serve with steamed couscous or rice, scattering over some coriander leaves.

Salad

half cucumber - peeled and seeds scooped out
6 radishes
pot of greek yoghurt
milk

lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 tbs Sumac

method

slice cucumber and radishes very finely (on a mandolin if you have one)
Season well, mix with yoghurt and milk
Stir in Sumac
Sprinkle with chopped coriander

thought I should cook this sometime

2010-11-02T16:50:00.003Z

Slow-cooked shoulder of lamb with pumpkin and sprouting broccoli
by Skye gyngell

I am in a bit of a Skye Gyngell phase at the moment and I saw this online and thought if I blogged about it I might cook it.

the recipe

When I was a child we often ate lamb accompanied by roasted pumpkin. It is a lovely combination, both warm and sweet. The lamb is slow cooked here until it's almost falling apart – it is the nicest way I know to eat it.

Ingredients

1 shoulder of British lamb
6 cloves garlic
1 small bunch marjoram
8 anchovies
3 tbsp good-quality red-wine vinegar (such as Volpaia)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ripe pumpkin
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 dried red chilli
1tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
500g/1lb sprouting broccoli
1 litre/13/4 pints water

Method

Heat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas3. Lay the lamb shoulder on a baking tray. Place the garlic, marjoram and anchovies in a pestle and pound with a mortar until you have a rough paste. Add the vinegar and stir to combine.
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Rub the wet paste into the lamb, massaging with your fingers. Season with a little salt and plenty of black pepper. Cover with foil and place in the oven to cook for three to four hours, basting occasionally. Uncover for the last half hour.

Next, peel and chop the pumpkin into wedges and place in a bowl. Season with salt, crumble over the chilli and pour over the olive oil. Toss until the pumpkin is coated. Place on a baking tray and roast in the oven for the last 45 minutes of the lamb's cooking time.

Trim the broccoli of any damaged outer leaves (you want to keep as many as possible, though, as they are delicious) and trim the woody ends. Pour the water into a pan and let it come to a rolling boil, drop in the broccoli and cook for two to three minutes. Drain and season.

To serve, the lamb will literally come away with a spoon – it will also have produced a delicious, vinegary, slightly hot, salty sauce. Serve all together, as I have done, or in separate dishes if you prefer.

food twitter

2010-11-02T13:27:00.001Z

at the suggestion of my dear friend Will I am now going to try tweeting when I upload new stuff ... follow me at http://twitter.com/barrycooks

spiced lentil salad with prawns.

2010-11-02T12:48:00.003Z

A very easy recipe from Bill Granger's Sydney food

Lisa and I had this for dinner on Saturday night. Everyone else was out partying somewhere in the world .. so it was just us, a bottle of wine (not too much for the cab driver) and the telly .... marvellous!

NB. Bills said 'drizzle the yoghurt dressing' we went a bit heavier than that, I love the yoghurt and lentils combo, so we left the bowl on the table and kept coming back for more

Ingredients

8 oz lentils du Puy
3 finely sliced spring (green) onions
4tbs cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 green chilli, finely chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
handful of chopped coriander leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric
20 raw prawns, peeled and deveined

To serve

1 handful baby spinach leaves
1 handful interesting robust salad leaves (eg rocket)
100g green beans, blanched and refreshed
mint yoghurt dressing (below)

Place lentils and one-and-a-half cups of water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain the lentils.

Place warm lentils, spring (green) onions, four tablespoons of the olive oil, vinegar, chilli, salt, pepper, ground coriander, cumin and fresh coriander in a bowl, stir to combine and set aside. Place remaining olive oil, turmeric, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine. Add prawns and stir to coat with oil.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat for two minutes. Add prawns and cook until just opaque, shaking pan frequently.

To make salad, divide lentils among four plates, top with baby spinach leaves, green beans and prawns. Finish with a drizzle of yoghurt dressing.

Mint yoghurt dressing

1 cup yoghurt
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp fish sauce
4 tbsp finely chopped mint

Place ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.

The River Cafe's bistecca Fiorentina courtesey of the Times online

2010-10-06T10:14:00.002+01:00

I am loving the little video clips from The River Cafe on times online.
At the weekend we did the beefsteak Fiorentina ... heres the link to the film
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/food/river-cafe/article2701243.ece
..... you may need to be signed up

This recipe involves searing and then finishing in the oven which ends up giving a much better cooked piece of meat than just grilling alone.

We had it with a fabulous bottle of Tignanello 2001 that I had promised Gus we would drink to celebrate him getting a first ... it was suitably delicious and the perfect accompaniment to the beef.

We just had a rocket salad and some roasted toms and potato wedges a la Tom Kitchin

Here's the recipe

Bistecca Fiorentina (beefsteak Fiorentina)
For 2-4 people
1 T-bone steak, cut 5-7cm thick - either Aberdeen Angus of Longhorn beef.
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
Take the T-bones out of the fridge and bring them up to room temperature.
This is very simple. All you really need is a well-hung T-bone steak - we use meat that’s been aged for 28 days - that weighs 2kg and, ideally, a wood-fired grill. Alternatively, you can use a barbecue or large preheated griddle pan.
There is a debate about seasoning the meat before or after grilling, We season the meat liberally on both sides and grill for about two minutes each side and then transfer to a pan, add olive oil and place in the oven (200C) for 7 to 10 minutes until the outside is well done and the inside rare.
Leave the meat to rest before carving. Slice the T-bone and fillet and then place back on the plate alongside the bone. Season the slices of meat again and drizzle more olive oil on top. This is a dish designed to be shared so people can help themselves from the plate.

How to make the perfect pizza dough - and what to put on it

2010-09-27T13:57:00.002+01:00

I saw this in today's Times online .... looks interesting so I will probably try it next time I make pizza. putting it here will remind me to try it .... but if anyone else tries it before me let me know how it works out

Heres an extract from the article first

The secret to the best Italian pizzas, says Giuseppe Mascoli, is in the sourdough - and the quality of topping

If you want to learn how to make pizza, you might as well learn from the best. And make no mistake, Giuseppe Mascoli is without rival. The puffy, charcoal-flecked pizzas that emerge from the wood-fired ovens of his Franco Manca restaurants (just the two, both in London) are regularly voted the best in the country, and he numbers his fellow Italian chefs Giorgio Locatelli and Francesco Mazzei among his many fans.

The first and most important is to make a good dough. Mascoli uses a sourdough based on a centuries-old starter, which puffs up within seconds in the 400C heat of his ovens. “But if you are cooking in a domestic oven, you’ll need a completely different kind of dough,” he says. “It needs to be much wetter because it will be in the oven for longer.” For that reason it is best made in a mixer with a dough hook.

The second thing is not to overload your pizza, as this will make it soggy. “The key is to use quality over quantity,” he says. “When you have poor dough, you have to cover it with tomato and cheese to disguise it. But good dough needs less.”

francomanca.co.uk

Giuseppe Mascoli

How to make the perfect dough

In the restaurants we use a sourdough starter and then cook our pizzas at 400C in a wood-fired oven. That is not practical for the home cook, so here, instead, is a dough that will work in a conventional oven.

Base ingredients

500ml warm water
500g strong white flour
2g dried yeast
Following day
175g strong flour
7g dried yeast
35g salt
20ml olive oil

Method

1 Roughly mix the ingredients with a wooden or plastic spoon, just enough for them to amalgamate. Keep for 2 hours at room temperature (18-22C) and then put in the fridge in a sealed plastic container for 12 to 24 hours.
2 The next day add the extra flour and 1g of the yeast and mix for 2 minutes at high speed in a mixer, using the dough hook attachment. Rest for 20 minutes, then add the salt and 6g more yeast and mix for 3 minutes at high speed. Rest for 20 minutes and mix again for 3 minutes before adding 20ml olive oil. The dough will now be wet and elastic.
3 Allow to rest for 40 minutes, then wet your hands with olive oil and stretch as much as you can by hand (never with a rolling pin). Rest it for another 20 minutes (as it is so elastic it will have shrunk back). Stretch it once more so that it fills a large baking tray.
4 Bake at 250C/Gas 9 for 6 minutes and then turn down to 190C/Gas 5. Add your toppings and cook for a further25 minutes or until crisp.
If you don’t have a mixer Knead the dough by hand, adding 250g flour to the base instead of 175g. Knead for about 3-5 minutes the first time, rest for 30 minutes, then add all the remaining ingredients just before the second mix. Knead for about 2 minutes, then rest the dough for 50 minutes. Grease a large tray with oil, stretch the dough by hand and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature, covering the tray with clingfilm or a damp cloth. Add the toppings and bake at 250C for 5 minutes, then lower to 190C and cook for a further 20 minutes or so.
Wood-fired ovens
If you have a beehive-style wood-fired oven in the garden, follow the hand-mixed process above, adding 350g flour instead of 250g. When the dough is ready, rest it for 1 hour and cut into 250g balls. The balls are ready in 1 hour and will be fine for another hour. When ready to make your pizzas, flatten the balls with your fingers and turn the disc of dough as if turning a steering wheel, until you have a round shape. If your oven is hot enough (about 400C) the pizzas will take about 2½ minutes to cook.
Toppings

Tomato and mozzarella

Sfincione or Sicilian pizza is made with a thin layer of tomato sauce and mozzarella. Moisture is the enemy of good pizza, so first dry the mozzarella (ideally leave it sliced and uncovered in a fridge overnight). To make the tomato sauce, mix chopped tomatoes (fresh in summer or tinned in winter) with salt to taste and allow to drain for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in a little olive oil. Tomatoes are best not cooked, and if you want to add a secret ingredient, half a teaspoon of beef dripping or lard will do the trick.

Olive oil and rosemary

This is the traditional focaccia. Simply brush the dough with olive oil, scatter with chopped rosemary and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Courgette and mint

This is perfect in the summer. Slice some courgettes thinly, sprinkle them with salt and allow to drain in a colander for 30 minutes. Fry in a pan with very little olive oil, adding some chopped fresh mint at the end. This can then be mixed with ricotta (if too thick, dilute it with milk), mozzarella and some optional grated cheese. Parmesan or pecorino are ideal, or, if you want something British, try Doddington, an unpasteurised cow’s-milk cheese between a Leicester and a Cheddar.

Capers, olive, anchovy and garlic

In summer you can do a pizza with no cheese by frying together capers (ideally the salted ones, soaked in water for 2 hours), olives and garlic, and then adding some deseeded tomatoes (ideally plump ones, quartered lengthwise) and anchovies at the end.

Calzone

Calzone is simply a stuffed, folded pizza. The courgette mix works well, or in winter try mushrooms, ham and pepper. If you like, you can add a touch of tomato sauce on top of the calzone before serving. They are also easy to eat at a party.

rare beef salad ... skye gyngel style

2010-09-08T13:04:00.001+01:00

We had this recipe on Saturday when we had all of the family over to say goodbye to Joe before he heads for the States.

It was great to get all twenty one ( only two absences) of us together something that happens all too rarely.

The weather was also kind to us and we whiled away the afternoon and early evening in the garden.

This recipe seemed to go down well.It looks complicated but I promise you that it isn't, the trick is that it can all be prepared in advance leaving you to enjoy yourself .... and anyway the taste is well worth the little bit of effort.

The meal was finished off with the legendary combination of a classic River Cafe pear and almond tart and a giant bowl ice full of Calippos, Nobbly Bobblies and Twisters ... very very sophisticated.

Things to do ahead of time

To make the basil oil

15g Basil
1 Unwaxed lemon, zest; juice of half
80ml Extra virgin olive oil

remove the leaves and place in a food processor with a pinch of sea salt and half the lemon zest. Pulse until chopped well.

Pour in the olive oil and pulse until you have a rough, bright green sauce. Set aside

To roast the onions

1 red onion - peeled and cut into an eighth inch thick pinwheels
30 mls extra virgin olive oil
50 mls balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of sugar
Sea-salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the pinwheels of onions in a non stick baking tray - pour over the balsamic vinegar and olive oil - sprinkle over the sugar and season with a little salt & pepper.

Place in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees) and roast for 25 minutes - turning once during the cooking time.watch them, they burn easily

Remove from the oven and allow the onions to cool to room temperature.

slow roasted tomatoes

10 ripe vine tomatoes
½ teapsoon caster sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat your oven to its lowest setting – probably around 100c.

Halve the tomatoes and lay the cut side up, in a single layer, on a baking tray.

Mix together the sugar, salt and pepper and sprinkle this mix over the tomatoes. roast, undisturbed, for 3-4 hours until they shrivel up.

Remove and set aside until ready to use.

They will keep well for several days or you can store them for longer (up to a month) in sterilised jars, covered with a layer of extra virgin olive oil.

Horseradish cream

300gms creme fraiche
3 tbs hot horseradish sauce (fresh if you can get it)
1 tbs dijon mustard

mix together

The rest of the recipe

for 4 people

Ingredients

800gms Beef fillet in one piece
800gms new potatoes or waxy ones
zest of half a lemon
Juice of half a lemon
4 tbs olive oil
300gms green beans
bag of rocket

Method

pre-heat oven to 200c

Heat non stick pan with scant tablespoon of olive oil until v hot.
Season the beef well then sear it on all sides then put in oven for 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and leave to rest (DO NOT CUT IT UNTIL IT HAS RESTED!)

While beef in oven

- cook the potatoes in salted water until cooked (approx 10 - 15 mins)
- blanch beans in boiling salted water for 2-3 mins then drain and cool by rinsing in cold water

When the potatoes are cooked put them in a large bowl cut each of them in half and pour over the olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest and season well whilst the potatoes are still warm. Now leave to cool.

Slice the beef in to generous slices

Putting it all together

Mix the beans and rocket in with the potatoes (gently so that you dont break the potatoes up too much.

mix in the tomatoes and onions.

on each plate make a small tower of beef and salad in layers.

Drizzle with basil oil and put a generous dollop of horseradish cream on the side

Steamed Fennel on the barbie

2010-08-25T13:18:00.002+01:00

Another recipe from Jamie.

We had it with the Salmon (see previous blog) Simple but delicious

Barbecue-steamed fennel

Fold a double piece of tinfoil in half and seal up the two sides to make a little bag. Cut a fennel bulb in half and then into slices and add these to your tinfoil envelope. Squeeze in the juice of ½ a lemon, leaving the lemon half in the bag. Add ½ a sliced fresh red chilli and a good drizzle of olive oil, then season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. If you want, you could add a few bits of fresh rosemary. Seal the last edge tightly and place on the bars over a medium hot barbie until cooked. This should take about 25 minutes.

I know that barbecue season is nearly over but you have to try this

2010-08-25T12:57:00.005+01:00

crispy barbecued side of salmon with cucumber yoghurt.

serves 4 to 6

My only observations on this would be

a) I'm not sure I can achieve the 'popadom like skin'with my gas barbecue
b) The first time I did it I tried turning the fish with a spatula and it broke. So the next time I did it I put it in one of those hinged grill-things that means you can turn stuff on the grill. I also oiled the bars of that to stop it sticking.
c. We had some steamed fennel with it
d. it was absolutely delicious

By Jamie Oliver

ingredients

• 1 x 1.5kg side of salmon, scaled and pinboned
• zest and juice of 1 lemon a bunch of fresh herby fennel tops or basil, leaves picked and finely chopped
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cucumber, peeled lengthwise at intervals
• 300ml natural yoghurt 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• a small bunch of fresh mint or oregano, leaves picked and chopped
• extra virgin olive oil

The original recipe

I love cooking big pieces of fish on my barbecue, but you must use a medium-hot part of the barbie – if it’s too hot, you’ll crisp the skin before the inside is cooked. Start the fish off with the skin side down and only turn it over when it’s crisp and golden. If you’re not keen on eating fish skin, that’s probably because you haven’t tried it when it’s been cooked till it’s nice and crispy! It can be as good as pork crackling if done properly.
Brush the bars of the barbie clean to prevent your fish sticking, then light it and get the coals glowing hot. If your barbie is small, feel free to cut the salmon in half to make it more manageable.
on skin side down on a plastic board and, using a sharp knife, slash it evenly all over on the fleshy side, making the incisions about 1cm deep. Scatter the lemon zest and most of the chopped fennel tops or basil over the salmon, then push these flavourings into the incisions – don’t hold back; really push them in! Rub the fish lightly all over with olive oil then season with salt and pepper, giving the skin side a generous amount as most of this will fall off.

When your barbie’s ready, lay the salmon on the bars, skin side down. The flesh will start to colour from the bottom up and after about 4 minutes the skin should be beautifully golden brown. Carefully flip the salmon over with a roasting fork or a spatula and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes on the other side. While it’s cooking, gently ease the skin away from the fish and put it on the barbie alongside to crisp up.

If your salmon is wild it will have slightly less fat in it, so will be a drier fish. You can therefore cook it for a shorter amount of time, even leaving it slightly undercooked – although this might feel unusual to us Brits, who nuke fish beyond belief, this is a really good idea! If it’s (organically) farmed, cook it through, but please don’t overcook it or it will become too dry. Lift the salmon carefully off the barbecue and place it on a nice serving platter or board. Allow to cool a little, then break the skin into pieces, a bit like poppadums.

Cut the cucumber in half lengthways, remove and discard the seeds, chop it up and mix it in a bowl with the yoghurt. Balance the flavours with the lemon juice, half the chopped chilli, and half the chopped mint or oregano. Drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil. Season carefully to taste with salt and pepper.

Break the salmon up with a fork into four to six chunks. Serve with the cucumber yoghurt, sprinkled with the rest of the chopped chilli and the remaining fennel tops or basil. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and make sure everyone gets a piece of the crunchy fish skin.

Spanish Chicken re-visited

2010-08-16T15:43:00.004+01:00

We did this recipe for Sunday lunch maybe a little more successfully than the last time. I think that this is partly down to practice and partly due to a few minor tweaks to the recipe.
We love this whichever way you do it but these slight tweaks move it into the legendary status!

The key things are

1. Potatoes should be king Edward or Maris Piper ie fluffy not waxy
2. Chorizo should be added 20 - 30 mins from end NOT at the beginning as they get over cooked.
3. Forget the greaseproof paper ... use a good well oiled non stick pan
4. make sure you give pan a good shake every 20 mins or so
5. Use two small 1.3 - 1.5kg chickens rather than one big one
6. Use your judgement on cooking time but an hour and a half might be a bit better
7. sprinkle the gremolata over the potatoes in the pan and mix rather than when on plates, it mixes it up better and has a slightly less harsh effect.

Ingredients

• 1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5cm dice
• 4 lemons
• a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 x 2kg free-range organic chicken
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 300g good chorizo sausage (waitrose unearthed small cooking chorizo cut into two are good)
• olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Method

serves 5

First preheat your oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7, then place your potatoes with 2 of your lemons into a small pan of water and boil for 5 minutes. Drain, and then prick the lemons all over with a knife. (The reason for doing this is that you are going to put them inside the chicken and their wonderful juices will be released while cooking. They will burst with flavour and fragrance, and the heat from the lemons will help the chicken to cook quicker from the inside as well as making it taste and smell amazing.) Remove the parsley leaves from the stalks and put to one side. Stuff the chicken with your hot lemons and the parsley stalks. Then season the chicken and the potatoes with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, and slice your chorizo at an angle, 0.5cm/¼ inch thick.

Get yourself an appropriately sized baking tray. Take a piece of greaseproof paper and wet it under a tap so it becomes flexible, then shake it out and lay it into the baking tray. Place the potatoes into the centre of the greaseproof paper, then place the chicken on top and sprinkle with the chorizo and a little of your chopped parsley. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Cook in the preheated oven for around 1 hour 20 minutes.

While the chicken and potatoes are cooking you can make what the Italians call gremolata, by finely chopping the zest of your 2 remaining lemons and mixing it with the chopped parsley and garlic. Season lightly and toss together to create a really fragrant seasoning-type garnish. Remove the tray from the oven, take the chicken out and put to one side to rest. Give the potatoes a shake about and put them back in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up.

Carve the chicken and divide between 4 plates, with the potatoes. The potatoes will have taken on the smoky paprika flavour from the chorizo, so if there is any juice left over in the tray, pour every last drop over the plates. When you sprinkle over the gremolata it will hit the hot juice and smell fantastic. You're going to love this one! A rocket salad goes really well with it.

Martha cooks dessert

2010-08-03T11:30:00.005+01:00

Though I am the one that blogs, I'm very much not the only one that cooks in our household.
Enter the youngest member of the family into the frame; Martha is developing into a pretty good cook and is picking up her mothers legendary ability in the dessert department.
A couple of weeks ago she made an amazing version of Jamies key lime pie and this weekend Mark Hix's Blueberry cheesecake.
Both were delicious if just slightly calorific, both recipes are below

key lime pie

Jamie Oliver

serves 10

ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 400ml condensed milk
• 6 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 5 limes’ worth)
• 200ml double cream
• Lime zest (optional), to serve

Crust

• 12 digestive biscuits
• 45g caster sugar
• 135g melted unsalted butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175C/gas 3. For the pie crust, lightly grease a 22cm (across the top) metal or glass pie dish with a little of the melted butter. Blend digestive biscuits, caster sugar and remaining melted butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Transfer to pie dish and spread over the bottom and up the sides, firmly pressing the mixture down. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place dish on a wire rack to cool.

2. For the filling, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl. Gradually whisk in condensed milk until smooth. Mix in lime juice, then pour filling into pie crust and level over with the back of a spoon.

3. Return to the oven for 15 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

4. To serve, whip cream until it just holds stiff peaks. Add dollops of cream to the top of the pie, and grate over some lime zest, for extra zing.

Blueberry cheesecake

Serves 4

By Mark Hix

I've used blueberries for this cheesecake, but you could also substitute raspberries, blackcurrants or strawberries.

Ingredients

450g blueberries
200g caster sugar
200ml water
20g cornflour

For the base

250g digestive biscuits or Hobnobs
80g butter, melted

For the filling

300ml double cream
100g caster sugar
500g cream cheese, such as Philadelphia
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1tsp vanilla extract

Method

Put 200g of the blueberries (use the softer ones) into a pan with the sugar and 175ml water.

Slowly bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar, then simmer for 7-8 minutes. Mix the cornflour with the remaining 25ml water and add to the pan, stirring.

Simmer, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pushing the berries in the sieve with the back of a spoon to extract as much juice as possible. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, line a 17-18cm round springform cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Crush the biscuits in a food processor until they are the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. (Or smash them in a plastic bag with a rolling pin.) Mix the biscuit crumbs with the melted butter and pack into the cake tin, firming it down with the back of a spoon.

Whip the cream and sugar together until fairly stiff.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese to soften, then fold in the whipped cream with the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Lightly fold through half of the blueberry syrup (not too thoroughly, though, as you want a rippled effect).

Spoon the mix on to the biscuit base and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours until firm.

Mix the rest of the blueberries with the remaining blueberry syrup.

To take the cheesecake out, run a hot knife around the edge, then release the side of the tin and slide the cheesecake on to a board. Cut into slices and serve each portion topped with a couple of spoonfuls of the blueberry sauce.

pizza night in Puglia

2010-08-01T18:54:00.004+01:00

We spent our family holiday in Puglia. Our masseria had a wood fired oven next to the pool and Luigi, the delightful house manager, came over and cooked pizza for us.
Gus got stuck into making the pizza and I can tell you that the pizzas, which were fired by olive wood from the surrounding grove, were unbelievably tasty.
I think we managed to go through nine small pizzas between us; toppings included peperoni, salami, anchovy and olive, margherita and Tuna ... we were full but incredibly happy!

back to blogging with Jamie's Chicken thighs, squashed potatoes and tomatoes

2010-08-01T18:36:00.005+01:00

Its been a while since I last blogged, partially down to work, partially holidays but also because I just haven't cooked anything new.
This is a new comfort dish from the canon of Saint Jamie. It's a one tray job which also makes it a good choice for a family meal.

note: The second time I did this dish I added a few cloves of crushed garlic to give it a little more punch.
I also kept the thighs whole and cooked them in the pan for a little less than the ten minutes Jamie suggests but left the whole dish in the oven for a little longer to brown the potatoes a bit more (more like 50 mins than 40)

Ingredients

800g new potatoes, scrubbed
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
12 boned chicken thighs, skin on, preferably free-range or organic
olive oil
600g cherry tomatoes, different shapes and colours if you can find them
a bunch of fresh oregano, leaves picked
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar

Method

Put the potatoes into a large saucepan of salted boiling water and boil until cooked.
While the potatoes are cooking, preheat your oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Cut each chicken thigh into three strips and place in a bowl. Rub the meat all over with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper, then toss. Heat a large frying pan, big enough to hold all the chicken pieces snugly in one layer, and put the chicken into the pan, skin side down. If you don't have a pan that's big enough, feel free to cook the chicken in two batches. Toss and fry over a high heat for 10 minutes or so, until almost cooked, then remove with a slotted spoon to an ovenproof pan of dish.

Prick the tomatoes with a sharp knife. Place them in a bowl cover with boiling water and leave for a minute of so. Drain and when cool enough to handle, pinch off their skins. You don't have to (I didn't), but by doing this they will become lovely and sweet when cooked and their intense flavour will infuse the potatoes. By now the potatoes will be cooked. Drain them in a colander, then lightly crush them by pushing down on them with your thumb.

Bash up most of the oregano leaves with a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar, or a flavour shaker if you have one. Add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a good splash of red wine vinegar and some pepper and give everything another bash. Add to the chicken with the potatoes, the tomatoes and the rest of the oregano leaves. Toss everything together carefully. Spread out in a single layer in an appropriately sized roasting tray, and bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven until golden.

Lovely served with a rocket salad dressed with some lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil and a nice glass of white wine.

Note: If I was going to give this recipe any kind of spin it would be to spice it up a bit with a touch of Chilli, garlic or some kind of spice or herby lift

cocktails from Ibiza

2010-06-28T12:11:00.004+01:00

we have just come back from a very quick trip to the lovely Little's villa in Ibiza.
No kids, perfect weather and delightful company made the two days seem like a week ... it was a real treat.
We did very little but ate and drank a considerable amount.
At around 11.30 each morning our parched throats were lubricated by one of Julia's delicious elderflower mojitos (alcoholic or non-alcoholic as desired)
The recipe is pretty simple but very delicious;
take a load of ice, crush it in a blender,add a good portion of fresh mint leaves, Elderflower cordial to taste (Bottlegreen is our brand of choice), lime juice ...add Bacardi if you're feeling racy ... give it a muddle and top with sparkling water.
Serve in a tall glass with a straw..... fab!

Pistachio Cake

2010-06-21T10:47:00.002+01:00

Ingredients

2 1/4 sticks Unsalted butter
1 Lemon
1 Vanilla bean
2/3 cup Blanched almonds
3/4 cup Pistachios
1 1/4 cups Superfine sugar
4 Eggs, organic
1/2 cup All-purpose flour
Topping
1 Lemon
1/2 cup Pistachios
1/4 cup Superfine sugar
Heat the oven to 300 degrees.
Grease a 12 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pan with 4 tsp of the butter and line with baking parchment.
Soften the remaining butter. Finely grate the lemon peel. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Finely grind the almonds and pistachios together.
Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon peel and vanilla seeds, then fold in the nuts and sift in the flour.
Spoon the batter into the pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan, then turn out.
For the topping, grate the lemon peel and squeeze the juice. Halve the pistachios. Mix the lemon juice with the sugar, boil until reduced to a syrup, then add the peel. Stir in the pistachios and pour over the cake.

Moorish lentil salad for the Levy picnic

2010-06-13T21:49:00.007+01:00

We finally made it to the lovely Levys lovely communal picnic. We had to leave early but I still managed to eat an unseemly number of Nushi's amazing Koftas.
We took a fabulous plum tart made by Lisa and this salad from the Leon cookbook.
This method of cooking gives the lentils a bit more bite which makes them better for a salad and also means that they will keep without turning to mush.
As always be generous with the herbs and lemon juice,you want the finished salad to have a bit of zing.

Ingredients

200g Puy lentils
1/2 stick celery cut into 1cm dice
1/2 a carrot cut into 1cm dice
1/2 a small onion chopped
1 small clove garlic sliced
1 tbs ex virgin olive oil
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
2tbs red wine vinegar
100ml chicken stock
1 tbs lemon juice
small handful flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper

method

Soak the lentils for an hour or so in water.
heat the oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat and add the vegetables, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Cook gently with the lid on the pan for 5-0 minutes, then stir in the drained lentils.
Add the wine vinegar and simmer until the liquid has evaporated.
pre heat oven to 170c/325f.
Pour over the chicken stock and cover with greaseproof paper and a lid.
Bake in the pre heated oven for around 35-40 mins, until the lentils are tender with a slight bite.
Season to taste, and leave to cool. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley before serving.

Yotam Ottolenghi's Beetroot, yogurt and preserved lemon relish

2010-05-04T13:15:00.003+01:00

One of Mrs Cook's birthday presents (from Steve and Neet) was an evening with Yotam Ottolenghi ... not just her and him you understand, that would just be weird!

Apparently the evening was fab and each person left with recipes for all the dishes he cooked.

The first one we have tried is this delicious beetroot recipe, which Lisa made last night. We were loving the combo of preserved lemon and coriander seeds in the relish and Lisa was particularly impressed with the ease of his pepper skinning methodology.

definitely an unusual summer salad worth trying

Serves four

Ingredients

900g beetroot, thoroughly washed
4 heaped tbsp chopped dill
1 small red onion, peeled and
very thinly sliced
160g creamy Greek yogurt

For the relish

2 yellow peppers
3 tbsp olive oil
1½ tsp coriander seeds
400g tin chopped plum tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp sugar
Salt and black pepper
3 tbsp preserved lemon
skin, chopped
2 tbsp each chopped parsley
and coriander leaves

First boil the beetroots whole in plenty of water until cooked through. This can take anything up to 60 minutes - check by piercing them with a little knife. Allow them to cool down completely, then peel and cut into wedges.

While the beets are cooking, make the relish. Cut circles around the stems of the peppers, and carefully remove and discard the stems and seeds. Place the peppers on an oven tray lined with foil and put them directly under a very hot grill for up to 30 minutes, until they are cooked inside and blackened on the outside. Set aside to cool, with the foil folded over the peppers to encase them, then peel and cut into strips.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and fry the coriander seeds for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper, and simmer for 25 minutes, adding the lemon halfway through. Remove from the heat, stir in the herbs and set aside to cool.

When you're ready to serve, put the beet wedges in a bowl, add the relish, dill and onion, and season. Stir, taste and adjust the seasoning. Just before serving, gently swirl the yogurt through the salad. Don't overstir: you want a white-and-red marbled effect, not a uniform pink.

Trying not to embarass your kids ... and grilled lamb kofta kebabs with pistachios and spicy salad wrap

2010-04-27T16:00:00.004+01:00

Martha had a friend over and we weren't sure how 'experimental' she might be with food. We sometimes forget that shaved fennel and Turkish chopped salad aren't on every kids list of favourite things to eat so we wanted to make sure that we weren't labelled as the weird foodie parents ......but given we were going to eat it too we wanted it to be something at least a little bit interesting.
It was also a beautiful day so we thought we should barbecue. These Lamb Koftas from Jamie sounded a bit more interesting than burgers and the introduction of pistachios and Sumac just adds a little bit of Middle Eastern magic ...

ps after not being able to find Sumac anywhere I can now announce that it is available in Esher Waitrose. Hooray

Serves 4

ingredients

• 500g trimmed shoulder or neck fillet of lamb, chopped into 2.5cm chunks
• 2 heaped tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 level tablespoon ground chilli
• 1 level tablespoon ground cumin
• 4 level tablespoons sumac, if you can find any, or finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a good handful of shelled pistachio nuts
• a few handfuls of mixed salad leaves, such as romaine or cos, endive and rocket, washed, spun dry and shredded
• a small bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked
• 1 red onion, peeled and very finely sliced
• 1 lemon
• a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
• extra virgin olive oil
• 4 large flatbreads or tortilla wraps
• 4 heaped tablespoons natural yoghurt

Method

from Jamie at Home

This dish is best cooked on a barbecue over hot coals, but if that’s not possible, put your grill on to its highest setting or heat up a griddle pan. Either way, get your cooking source preheated.
Place the lamb in a food processor with most of the thyme, chilli, cumin and sumac (reserving a little of each for sprinkling over later), a little salt and pepper and all the pistachios. Put the lid on and keep pulsing until the mixture looks like mince.

Divide the meat into four equal pieces and get yourself four skewers. With damp hands, push and shape the meat around and along each skewer. Press little indents in the meat with your fingers as you go – this will give it a better texture when cooked.

In one bowl, mix the salad leaves and mint. In another, combine the sliced onion with a good pinch of salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice (the acidity will take the edge off and lightly pickle the raw onion). Scrunch this all together with your hands, then mix in the parsley leaves.

Grill the kebabs until nicely golden on all sides.

Dress your salad leaves and mint with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and some salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, warm your flatbreads for 30 seconds on your griddle pan or under the grill, then divide between plates and top each with some dressed salad leaves and onion. When your kebabs are cooked, slip them off their skewers on to the flatbreads – you can leave them whole or break them up. Sprinkle with the rest of the sumac, cumin, chilli and fresh thyme, and a little salt and pepper.

Now either toss the salads, grilled meat and juices together on top of the flatbreads and drizzle with some of the yoghurt before rolling up and serving; or let your friends toss theirs together at the table, then dress and roll up their own, drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil.

monkfish and prawn cous cous in a bag.... revisited.

2010-04-23T17:29:00.004+01:00

I was talking about my lack of blogging this morning with one of my very few followers, yes that's you Will.
He was remonstrating (well maybe observing rather than remonstrating) that I hadn't been blogging much. Sometimes that's because I am in a bit of a revisiting rather than discovery phase. This recipe from Allegra Macavedy, that I have already written about once, is an absolute breeze to make and is really different and delicious.
The salad here is a little spin on the last entry as it has the addition of radish and lemon juice ... definitely an improvement..... and maybe, just maybe, that justifies a second entry.
Lisa and I had this with Joe who returned to Uni today and is therefore unlikely to have Monkfish couscous for some time!

Ingredients (Serves four)

180g cous-cous
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 preserved lemon, golf-ball sized, roughly chopped
10g fresh coriander, washed and roughly chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
700g monkfish fillet, cut into equal portions
12 uncooked prawns
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Big pinch saffron threads
1 bulb fennel, cut in half, core removed, thin sliced
Salt and pepper

Ingredients for salad

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
15 radishes, sliced thinly
200g/7oz Greek yoghurt (Actually I just used plain low fat yoghurt)
1 lemon, juice only
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
(its also meant to include sumac but I've never been able to find it)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. For the monkfish parcels, mix all the monkfish parcel ingredients, except the monkfish, olive oil, saffron and fennel, into a bowl.
3. Place the monkfish fillet onto a chopping board and cut into 1cm/½in thick, angled slices (the idea is to have around 2-3 nice monk medallions per serving.
4. Place a small pan with 180ml/6fl oz water onto the stove to boil. Once boiling, add the saffron and immediately remove from the heat.
5. Cut out six large sheets of kitchen foil and lay them out onto a flat work surface. Fold each sheet in half to create a crease, then open out again.
6. Pour two tablespoons of the olive oil into the couscous mixture and stir well so that all the grains are well coated in oil.
7. Add the saffron water and stir again to combine.
8. Spread a little of the olive oil into the centre of the front half of each of the open foil sheets. Divide the fennel equally among the six sheets, arranging onto the oil.
9. Divide the couscous mixture out equally, placing on top of each of the piles of fennel.
10. Top each portion of couscous mixture with 2-3 slices of monkfish.
11. Drizzle equal amounts of the rest of the extra virgin over each portion of monkfish and season each with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
12. Bring the top edge of foil of each parcel over the monkfish and couscous pile to meet the bottom edge. Seal the edge by folding it over tightly three times and secure by pressing down firmly with your fingers. Turn each parcel 180 degrees and do the same to the opposite open side.
13. Each parcel should be well-sealed on three sides, with just the top open. Carefully place each parcel at a 45 degree angle, so as not to disturb the arrangements inside.
14. Carefully add three tablespoons of water into each bag, then seal the top edge of each parcel by the same folding process as before.
15. Place the parcels onto two baking trays and transfer to the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes. If the parcels are in the oven at different heights, swap over the shelves halfway through.
16. The parcels should have puffed up like pillows. Take the parcels out of the oven and place straight onto warmed plates.
17. For the salad, combine all the salad ingredients together in a large clean bowl and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
18. To serve, present the parcels on their plates and cut them open at the table. Serve the salad in its bowl and allow people to help themselves.

The strange and rather wonderful world of pickling. Part 1. Picallili

2010-04-20T12:52:00.005+01:00

I got the new Mark Hix book for my birthday and one of the things I spied was his recipe for picallili. I love picallili, I associate it with my childhood and in particular a ham and picallili sandwich, which is still one of my favourite things in the whole world..... well ok maybe not in the whole world ... but its pretty damn lovely.
The recipe is very very easy. I can't tell you what it tastes like yet because I have to let it sit for at least a week ... which is torture.
I will report back when I unleash the turmeric hued loveliness from its darkened lair in the cupboard above the pasta.

Ingredients

* 1 medium cucumber, halved and seeded and then quartered
* 1/2 large cauliflower, cut into small florets
* 1 medium onion, diced (I had to use a red onion)
* 1 tbsp sea salt
* 150g caster sugar
* 70g english mustard
* 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
* 1 small red chilli, chopped
* 275ml cider vinegar
* 125ml white wine vinegar
* 1 tbsp cornflour
* 150ml water

Method

Cut the cucumber into 1cm pieces. Place in a bowl with the cauliflower, onion and salt. Mix and leave for one hour.

Rinse well, drain and place in a bowl.

Combine sugar, mustard, turmeric, chilli and vinegars in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer for three minutes.

Mix cornflour and water together and add to vinegar mix. Simmer gently, stirring for five minutes.

Pour hot liquid over vegetables and let cool.

Store in sterilised jars for one week before using.

Makes about 1kg.

Sterilising jars

When pickles and jams are made they should be stored in sterilised jars. To do this, wash jars well in warm, soapy water, then place in a 100C oven for 10 minutes. Alternatively, place the jars in a large saucepan of water, bring to the boil and simmer on the stove for 10 minutes. Lids can also be sterilised in the oven or in simmering water - but use metal lids, not plastic ones or those with rubber seals. If jars are being filled with a hot jam or pickle mixture, make sure the jar is still hot when filled and the filling is above 85C. Once the lid is on firmly, turn the jar upside down until cool.

Sweet potato with preserved lemon and coriander

2010-03-18T13:45:00.005Z

This is yet another simple gem from Bill Granger. This recipe is in the book 'Holiday'.
We had the ingredients to hand and I knocked it up in half an hour, we ate it with his green bean recipe (last blog) and some chicken breasts wrapped in ribbons of courgettes and bunged in the oven for 25 mins.
Not bad for a left over knock up

Serves 4-6

ingredients

1 Tbspn olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
2 tspn grated fresh ginger
1 tspn ground cumin
2 tspn ground coriander
1 kg sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbspn chopped fresh coriander
1 golf ball sized preserved lemon, flesh and pith removed, finely diced

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan over medium heat.

Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the ginger, cumin and coriander and cook, stirring for another minute.

Add the sweet potato and 1 cup of water to the pan and stir well. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 12 minutes.

Remove the lid and simmer for 5-10 minutes until all the water has evaporated and the sweet potato is tender.

Season with salt and pepper and serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with the coriander and preserved lemon.

An excellent Bill Granger green bean salad

2010-03-15T17:00:00.005Z

Had this yesterday with Jamie's Spanish Chicken (elsewhere on the blog) it is incredibly simple but really rather good.I added a couple of handfuls of rocket to bulk it out.
For the dressing you are meant to use pomegranate molasses which I have never even seen, so I added a little honey instead which seemed to work rather well.
It was Mothers day and we had one grandmother, two mothers, one father, one son, one daughter and one grandaughter ... but there were only four of us

Serves 4

Ingredients

350g small green beans, topped but not tailed
1 small red onion finely sliced
Rocket
1 small handful of mint leaves (roughly chopped)
1 small handful flat parsley leaves (roughly chopped)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 heaped tbs pomegranate seeds, to garnish

For the dressing:

2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbs honey
1 tbs lemon juice
pinch of caster sugar

Method

To make the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients and pomegranate seeds.

Blanch the beans for a few minutes in a saucepan of lightly salted water until bright green and tender-crisp. Rinse under cold running water and drain well then mix with the herbs and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the dressing and garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Saturday morning kitchen becomes sunday lunch

2010-03-01T12:54:00.005Z

I saw this recipe on Saturday Kitchen and thought it would be worth a try.It's by Michael Caines and I liked the fact that it used all seasonal ingredients.

Whilst it wasn't an unqualified success I liked the novelty of a boned joint and it tasted very good so I will definitely cook it again. However I might make a few tweaks.

The two things that didn't work for me were;

1. That the lamb needed more than 45 minutes in my oven .... I would suggest an hour is more realistic.

2. The crust is really difficult to stick on the joint in one move, I think maybe I didn't put enough water in .... or maybe I rolled it out too thin as it took a bit of sticking back together..... or maybe I just lack sufficient culinary talent

one other thing

The mixture for the crust needs to be seasoned pretty robustly and don't be tempted to cut back on the parsley.

... and another thing

I added a potato cut into cubes to the roast veg and four of us easily ate it all, so if you're cooking for 8 (which the meat will definitely serve) then you'll need more veg

Roast leg of lamb with garlic, rosemary and thyme and a herb crust
Serves 8

Ingredients

For the herb crust

275g/10oz breadcrumbs
110g/4oz fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
4 tbsp olive oil
15g/½oz Dijon mustard
salt and white pepper
110-150ml/4-5fl oz water

For the lamb

2kg/4½lb leg of lamb, 'tunnel' boned, bone removed and chopped for use as a trivet
2 cloves garlic, peeled, sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
150ml/5fl oz chicken stock

For the roasted root vegetables

2 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 onions, peeled, cut into quarters
2 leeks, cut into chunky pieces
2 heads garlic, peeled
1 tsp dried oregano

Method

1. Blend the breadcrumbs, parsley and garlic in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add the olive oil and Dijon mustard and season, to taste, with salt and white pepper. Blend again until the mixture resembles a smooth paste. (You may need to add a little water.)
3. Place the mixture onto a large sheet of greaseproof paper, cover with another sheet of greaseproof paper and roll out until large enough to cover the leg of lamb. Set aside.
4. For the lamb, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
5. With a sharp thin knife or a metal skewer, make several small incisions into the flesh of the lamb. Press the garlic slices into the holes.
6. Place the rosemary and thyme sprigs into the leg of lamb where the bone has been removed and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roll the lamb up into a cylinder shape and tie with string.
7. Heat the olive oil in an frying pan and fry the leg of lamb, turning frequently, for 4-5 minutes, or until browned all over.
8. Place the reserved bones into a flameproof roasting tin and top with the leg of lamb. Roast in the oven for 40-45 minutes (for medium), or until cooked to your liking.
9. Meanwhile, for the roasted root vegetables, place the vegetables onto a baking tray. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables and sprinkle over the dried oregano. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
10. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown and tender.
11. Remove the lamb from the oven and set aside to rest for 30 minutes. Remove the string.
12. Meanwhile, preheat the grill to high.
13. Transfer the leg of lamb to a clean roasting tray, brush with half of the mustard and cover with the sheet of herb crust. Grill for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown.
14. Meanwhile, place the roasting tray used to roast the lamb onto the heat and stir in the remaining Dijon mustard and chicken stock. Bring the gravy to the boil and remove from the heat. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
15. To serve, carve the lamb into slices. Spoon some roasted root vegetables onto each of 8 serving plates, top with a couple of slice of lamb and spoon over some gravy.

mixed roasted vegetable bruschetta ... much better than crisps

2010-02-04T21:42:00.006Z

This makes a very simple but delicious pre-dinner snack. It's from the ever reliable Jamie's Italy.

To make it really easy I usually make crostini by getting a decent loaf of Ciabatta slicing it fairly thinly, drizzle with olive oil and then roast on a flat tray in a high oven for about 10 mins (keep checking!)

Ingredients

1/2 a bulb of fennel
1/2 a yellow pepper seeds removed
1 red pepper halved seeds removed
1/2 a courgette halved lengthways and seeds removed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
a handful of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
juice of half a lemon
red wine vinegar

method

pre heat oven to 220deg C
Chop fennel and peppers into 1 inch chunks and slice the courgette.
Toss the vegetables with the oregano, mint and a good glug of olive oil and season with sat and pepper,then place on a roasting tray and place in the oven for about half an hour or until nicely golden.
Remove and allow to cool, then pulse in a food processor until the mixture looks like a spreadable salsa.
Season to taste and add another drizzle of olive oil and a little lemon juice and some vingear.
Spread on the bruschette or crostini

Mrs. C's absolutely delicious spirit lifting apricot and pumpkin seed flapjacks

2010-02-02T14:51:00.007Z

Sometimes life can be crap. These flapjacks do not have life changing properties but one of Mrs C's collection of little tins filled to the brim, sent to the right person, at the right time can just put a bit of a smile on their face.

Ingredients

175g (6oz) butter
115g (5oz) unrefined brown caster sugar
15ml (1tbsp) runny honey
250g (9oz) rolled oats
6 ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
handful pumpkin seeds

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C, (350°F, gas mark 4).

Place the butter and sugar in a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the honey, oats, apricots and seeds.

Press the mixture into a cake tray (bun tray? You know what I mean the ones with 6/12 separate indentations) Let sit for 15 – 20 mins - the waiting is Mrs Cooks little secret weapon
Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown around the edges..... Keep checking so they don’t burn.

Allow to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out.

Slow-roasted pork belly with puréed garlic.

2010-02-01T13:33:00.005Z

I made this yesterday. The recipe comes from Skye Gyngell's 'My Favourite ingredients'... I think that's the name of it.
It was just Lisa, my Mum and I as Martha was out in the cold rowing.
We had an 800gm piece of pork so I halved the recipe and knocked about 30 mins off of the cooking time.
The crackling could have been crispier but the meat was not in the slightest bit fatty and absolutely melt in the mouth gorgeous. The combo of garlic puree and broccoli made a really delicious complement.

We had enough to save Martha a piece of pork as it is her absolute favourite thing in the world to eat and she would have gone mad if we hadn't!

I will definitely do this one again, maybe when Martha is not out on the river.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2kg pork belly, with skin on and ribs intact
50ml olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp fennel seeds
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
4 celery sticks, cut into chunks
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
3 bay leaves
Few rosemary sprigs
2 dried red chillies
500ml white wine

For the garlic purée

20 very fresh whole, peeled garlic cloves
200ml whole milk
3 lemon thyme (or ordinary thyme) sprigs
50ml mild-tasting extra virgin olive oil
Few drops of lemon juice

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6. Using a very sharp knife, score the skin of the pork at regular intervals with 5mm-deep cuts. Rub the olive oil into the flesh and season with 1 tbsp sea salt and the fennel seeds. Place the pork, skin side up, in a roasting tray and roast in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes until crackling begins to form.

Carefully lift out the pork on to a platter and scatter the vegetables, herbs and dried chillies in the roasting tray. Pour over the wine, season lightly and stir to combine. Rest the pork on top of the vegetables and cover with foil. Lower the oven setting to 160°C/Gas 3. Return the pork to the oven and cook for a further 2 hours. Remove the foil and cook, uncovered, for a further 20 minutes.

While the pork is roasting, make the garlic purée. Put the garlic, milk and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan over a gentle heat. Add a pinch of salt and bring to just under a simmer, then turn down the heat to very low and poach the garlic very gently until soft, about 35 minutes. The garlic should be very soft and almost falling apart. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic cloves to a bowl and add a tablespoonful or so of the milk. Using a fork mash to a purée, then stir in the olive oil. Add a few drops of lemon juice and season with a little more salt and pepper to taste; keep warm.

Cut the pork into 2-3cm thick slices, sliding out the bones as you do so and discarding the vegetables. Arrange on warm plates with the broccoli. Spoon over the garlic purée and serve.

tapenade. Proof positive that simple can be wonderful

2010-01-25T15:45:00.009Z

I promised I would put this Alice waters recipe (if you can call it a recipe, it's more of an assembly than a recipe) on the blog.

Ingredients

70gms pitted black olives
1 clove Garlic
4 Anchovy fillets (preferably salt-packed anchovies that you have washed and drained. If not use tinned, drain off the oil and pat them dry but don't tell Alice!)
1 tablespoon Capers (drained well)
extra virgin olive oil
a little chopped fresh thyme leaves

Directions

There are no measures for this, it's about tasting, and trusting what you like.
Chop the olives coarsely by hand.
Chop the garlic very finely, or pound to a puree in a pestle and mortar and add to the olives.
Chop the anchovies and add to the mixture.
Chop the capers. Add some to the mix,now the thyme then taste. Do you need more of anything? Add some, taste again. Do you need to balance out the flavour with garlic or anchovies? After all it's your tapenade.
When you are satisfied, add a squeeze of lemon juice and taste. Add more if it needs it.
Now add the olive oil and stir, until you have a smooth consistency. Not too smooth you want some texture.

let sit for 30 mins for the flavours to mingle

Drizzle your slices of Ciabatta with a little oil and bake in the oven for approx ten minutes. Now spread with the tapenade and serve

cooking the Xmas books

2010-01-18T14:56:00.004Z

This is the first outing of one of my culinary Xmas presents.
You can never go wrong with Rose and Ruth although you might argue that now having five books from them is verging on overload, slightly obsessional even.

Anyway here is a sunday night experimentation with this Sicilian classic ... the interesting twist is the slight cooking of the celery before adding to the mix

Caponata

There are as many ways to make caponata as there are cooks in Sicily. The basis of caponata is the popular aubergine, and the dish evolves according to what other vegetables you wish to include. All caponatas have wine vinegar as part of the seasoning and most include capers, olives and pine nuts.

This recipe has celery as its other strong flavour, which makes a light, refreshing version.

Serves 6
1 large round, pale aubergine, about 12cm in diameter, or 2 medium round, pale aubergines
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 whole heads of celery, with leaves
1 large red onion, peeled
2 ripe plum tomatoes, or 3 drained from a tin
Extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely sliced
2 dried red chillies, crumbled
3 tablespoons black Ligurian olives, stoned and kept whole
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed, then soaked in 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons mint leaves, washed
6 slices of sourdough bread

* Cut the aubergine into 1.5cm cubes and place in a colander. Sprinkle with sea salt and drain for 30 minutes. Wash off the salt and pat dry.

* Cut the tender white part of the celery into 2cm lengths. Put them into a pan, cover with water, add one teaspoon of sea salt and bring to the boil. ?Cook for three minutes, then drain. ?Cut the onion into fine slices and peel and core the tomatoes, then chop them into 1cm pieces.

* Heat three-four tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, and add the aubergine pieces in batches so that they just cover the bottom of the pan. ?Fry over a medium high heat for about five minutes, turning the pieces over until brown on all sides. ?Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat this process – you may need to use extra olive oil if it has all been absorbed in the first batch.

* Wipe the pan clean and return it to the heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and the onion. Reduce the heat and gently soften the onion until it becomes golden; this will take 10 minutes. ?Add the garlic and celery, and continue to cook for a further five minutes, to combine the flavours. Season with pepper and crumble in the chillies. ?Add the tomato pieces and just let them warm up in the mixture, but not really cook, then stir in the aubergines. Cook all the vegetables together briefly for five minutes. Test for seasoning and stir in the olives, pine nuts and the capers including the vinegar they have been soaking in.

* Finally, chop the mint and stir it into the mixture with a drizzle of sweet extra virgin olive oil. Toast the bread on both sides to make bruschetta, and serve with the caponata.

a Xmas postscript. Get stuffed

2010-01-06T17:52:00.004Z

I almost forgot to mention how good Jamie's stuffing recipe was this year. We loved his Xmas programmes despite the ridiculousness of some of it. Why, because there were some banging recipes in there Bruvva!

I particularly liked his stuffing, so here it is.

ingredients

• 2 large onions, peeled and quartered
• 50g stale bread
• 200g vac-packed chestnuts
• 1kg shoulder of pork, the best quality you can afford, trimmed and diced (We actually used Waitroses best minced pork)
• a bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked
• 3 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, the best quality you can afford, roughly chopped
• freshly ground white pepper
• sea salt
• 1 fresh whole nutmeg, for grating
• 1 lemon
• 1 orange or clementine

method

Making your own minced pork like I’ve done here really turns your stuffing into something special. It will give you amazing flavour and texture, and it’s wicked to be able to see everything you’ve got in there. Usually I’d sweat the onions off first (ED. I did sweat mine off), but this year I decided to keep it rough and ready, quick and easy. It’s basically bish, bash, bosh but with a bit of love, care and intelligence.

Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Blitz the onions in the food processor until finely chopped, then tip into a large bowl. Tear the stale bread into small chunks and whiz into breadcrumbs. Add these to the bowl, then crush and crumble your chestnuts in there too. Tip your diced pork into the food processor with the sage leaves, bacon, a level teaspoon of white pepper and a good pinch of salt. Finely grate in a quarter of the nutmeg, the zest of half a lemon and just 2 or 3 gratings of orange or Clementine zest. Pulse until you’ve got some chunks and some mush, it won’t even take a minute, then tip into the mixing bowl.

Because the pork is raw, you’re committed to seasoning it well so add another pinch of salt and white pepper, then get your clean hands in there and scrunch it all up until well combined.

Take just under half of the stuffing out of the bowl to use for your turkey, then transfer the rest to a lovely earthenware-type dish that you can serve from. Use your hands to break it up and push it about, then flatten it all down. Pop it in the oven to cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour until bubbling and crispy. If you’re doing it as part of your Christmas lunch, you want to get it on about the same time as your spuds.

When done, you can pour away any excess fat before serving if you want to. It will be soft, juicy and succulent on the inside, then gnarly, crispy and chewy on the outside. Delicious.

Seared fillet of beef carpaccio with roast beetroot and horseradish sauce

2010-01-04T15:36:00.008Z

I 'cooked' this dish for our new years eve dinner.
Whilst you have to pay a kings ransom for this much fillet of beef from Mr Dale (or any other good butcher)it really is worth it.
Obviously this is a dish for carnivores but don't let its raw-ness put you off, it really is delicious and this spin on it using beetroot and horseradish gives it a seasonal and british twist.
Make sure that the beetroot is really cooked as this will bring out the sweetness of this fabulous vegetable ... to test if its done just stick a sharp knife in to the biggest one, if it's done it will slide out easily.
Don't worry if you have any left over as it is absolutely delicious the next day, either on its own or in some ciabatta.

(Alternative: Jamie does a version where he substitutes Cress for the rocket, Rosemary for the thyme and adds a little shaved parmesan at the end)

Ingredients

* 700gms beetroot (10 - 12 'balls')
* olive oil
* 10 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* maldon salt flakes
* freshly ground black pepper
* 1 handful fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
* 1.5 kg fillet of beef
* 100 gms good creamed horseradish
* 200 gms creme fraiche
* 1 lemon, juiced
* 3 good handfuls watercress

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C/gas 8.
2. Wash and scrub the beets, trim the ends, and toss into a large piece of foil with a little oil, balsamic vinegar, and seasoning.
3. Wrap and roast until tender. Cooking time depends on size ... about 1 hour if the beets are of a reasonable size
4. Mix the thyme, salt and pepper on a board. Roll and press the fillet of beef over this, making sure all sticks to the meat. In a very hot, ridged pan,or in a good non-stick frying pan, sear the meat until brown and slightly crisp on all sides, around 3-5 minutes in total.... on no account oil either the meat or the pan ... and for gods sake dont cook it for too long this is meant to be raw!
5. Remove from the pan. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes, then slice it all up as thinly as you can, it can be hard to carve it thinly so press them down on the carving board to make them a bit flatter your knife.. Lay the slices on a large plate.
6. After preparing the beef, sprinkle the roasted beetroots randomly (whole, halved or quartered, depending on size) over the sliced meat.
7. Now mix the horseradish and creme fraiche together. Season well with a little lemon juice. Dribble this over the beetroots.
9. Dress the rocket with olive oil and lemon juice. Then scatter this, all over the plate and tuck in!

Mrs Cook brings the noughties to an end with a fabulous Pear and Almond tart

2010-01-04T15:06:00.007Z

This rather spectacularly bad year for the world was seen in chez Cook by a small but perfectly formed coterie of close friends; Joel and Nushi, David and Cathy, Jerry and Belle and sons Gus (ours) and Freddie (David and Cathy).
With Jools and his Hootenanny in full swing, Lisa's spectacular dessert made the dawn of next decade suddenly look much more inviting.
The River Cafe's pear and almond tart or Torta di pere e mandorle as it is more correctly, and let's face it, poetically described, is one of those confections that will charm even the most hardened dessert hater .... and this particular tart was up there amongst the finest of its ilk .... ok, just one more slice.

btw a little cheat for the time starved is to buy pre-made sweet pastry ...shhhh don't tell Rose and Ruth

Ingredients

350g plain flour
a pinch of salt
175g unsalted cold butter cut into cubes
100g icing sugar
3 egg yolks

For the filling:

350g unsalted butter softened
350g caster sugar
350g blanched whole almonds
3 eggs
6 ripe Comice pears peeled and halved (Waitrose didn't have Comice pears but Conference seemed to be just fine)

Method

For the sweet pastry pulse the flour salt and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar then the egg yolks and pulse.
The mixture will immediately combine and leave the sides of the bowl.
Remove wrap in cling film and chill for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Coarsely grate the pastry into a 30cm loose bottomed fluted flan tin then press it evenly on to the sides and base.
Bake blind for 20 minutes until very light brown.
Cool and place in the pears face down.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/300F/Gas 3.
For the filling cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and light.
Put the almonds in a food processor and chop until fine.
Add the butter and sugar and blend then beat in the eggs one by one.
Pour over the pears and bake for for 40 minutes.

This Recipe Serves 10 but I guarantee that it will get finished how ever many there are of you

Jamies absolutely fantastic pear Tarte Tatin

2009-12-22T11:05:00.004Z

The lovely Rimmers came to see us on Sunday for a lovely lunch.
Lisa made this spectacularly delicious dessert from Jamies Xmas magazine.
Tarte Tatin is one of those things that sometimes is rather disappointing.
The only disappointment with this was that Lisa hadn't made two, or even three tarts. We would definitely have eaten them.

recipe below

Conference or comice - no pear is a spare in this delicious crispy tart with caramelised goodness from Jamie Magazine

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

* 125g caster sugar
* 40g cold butter, chopped
* ½ tsp ground ginger
* ½ tsp ground cinnamon
* 3 large pears, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
* 375g all-butter puff pastry
* Double cream, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/gas 6. Put a 21cm diameter frying pan with an ovenproof handle on a hob over a medium heat. Add the sugar and heat to a lovely caramel colour, stirring constantly. Add the butter, ginger and cinnamon and stir to combine.

2. Place the pears in the caramel and spoon over the mixture. Turn the heat down and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the pears are just tender and cooked but retain their shape. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Arrange the pears prettily in the pan.

3. Roll out the puff pastry to about 5mm thick and cut a disc slightly bigger than your pan (about 24cm). Place the pastry disc on top of the pears and caramel, then carefully tuck it snugly around the outside of the pears and down into the sides of the pan. Bake the pie for 30–40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and puffed up.

4. Remove from the oven and leave for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge, place a large plate over the top and carefully turn the tart onto the plate. Serve with double cream.

Superfood salad for sunday

2009-12-06T21:32:00.002Z

I made this salad for the three of us today. It’s from the Leon cookbook. As they say ’It’s just a perfectly balanced lunch: great, goodie-packed ingredients, some simple cooking and away you go.’

The aioli is particularly moreish and the recipe below will leave plenty left over.

Serves 3
Ingredients

2 tablespoons quinoa
1/2 a head of broccoli
300g free-range chicken thighs, each cut into 4 or 5 pieces
2 handfuls of rocket
2 handfuls of baby spinach
½ an avocado sliced
6 vine-ripened small tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons aïoli
2 tablespoons toasted seeds (I used a combination of sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and pine nuts toasted in a non-stick pan for a couple of minutes)
a hefty sprinkling of chopped mint and parsley
salt and pepper

Method

Put 80ml of water into a little pan and bring to the boil. Stir in the quinoa and boil fast for 5 minutes, then turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes more. Turn the heat off, fluff with a fork, and leave until cooled.
Preheat your grill to very hot, or get your griddle pan smoking. Cut the broccoli into small florets and slice the stalks into 1cm thick circles. Drop the broccoli into a pan of rapidly boiling salted water for 3 minutes, then drain and run under the tap until cold.
Season your protein before you grill it: for chicken, grill for 5 minutes, turn it over, then 5 minutes more; While all this is going on, build your salad: toss the leaves, tomatoes, broccoli and peas in the juice of half a lemon and the olive oil.
Lift them on to whatever you’re serving them on, be it one big dish or individuals, then scatter on the cooled quinoa and alfalfa.
The next layer is the protein and top it off with the aïoli, seeds and herbs.

Chicken Marinade

Marinating your meat is a really good thing to get into the habit of doing. Instead of just letting it sit in your fridge, shrink-wrapped in man-made packaging, why not give it some space and some friends to mingle with? Our recipe is simple and hasn’t changed since we opened; it does exactly what we want – flavour and tenderness.
Makes enough marinade for 1kg diced free-range chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1–2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Combine all the ingredients and leave the chicken to marinate overnight

Aioli

MAKE AHEAD: The aioli can be refrigerated in an airtight container for about 1 week.

Ingredients

• 2 medium cloves garlic
• Pinch salt, plus more to taste
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
• 120ml sunflower oil
• 200ml whole or low-fat Greek-style yogurt
• Juice of 1/4 to 1/2 medium lemon

Method

Mince the garlic with a pinch of salt, then place in a bowl and whisk with a hand-held electric mixer along with the egg and egg white.
Beat on medium-high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
Drizzle in the oil to form an emulsion (as if you were making mayonnaise)
Use a spatula to gently fold in the yogurt, then incorporate the lemon juice to taste. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I cant stand the rain. Fish stew with peppers, almonds and saffron

2009-11-29T17:43:00.005Z

Its that Ann Peebles time of year again.

We were generally feeling a bit rubbish this weekend and the weather was monumentally awful so we needed something comforting to eat on Saturday night.

This recipe is from Moro, not only is it pretty tasty, it is also really easy to make, you could even prepare the sauce ahead of time and only add the fish when you wanted to eat.

This is the kind of food that is made for the guilty pleasure of eating whilst sitting in front of the telly.

Ingredients

serves 4

6 tbsp olive oil
1 large spanish onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 dsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
3 bay leaves
2 red peppers, quartered, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 sweet smoked paprika
1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes, drained of juice and finely chopped
150ml white wine
100ml hot fish stock
50 saffron strands, infused in 4 tbsp of boiling water
150g whole blanched almonds, lightly toasted and roughly ground (I pulsed them in the magimix ... you want some texture but not great big chunks)
650g monkfish fillets (or other firm white fish)
500gms uncooked prawns ( they use 500g clams, rinsed)
sea salt and black pepper

Method

in a large saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add onion, and a pinch of salt, and cook until golden and sweet - 15-20 mins (take care not to burn)
Now add garlic, rosemary, bay and peppers.
When the peppers are softened (at least 10 minutes) add paprika and tomatoes. Simmer for another 10 minutes, then add white wine and bubble for a couple of minutes before adding fish stock and saffron infused water.
finally, thicken the base with the almonds, and taste for seasoning.

when you are ready to eat, add monkfish and prawns (and clams), cover, and simmer until the fish is cooked through - about 5 mins (and the clams have opened.)

We ate it with some nice bread for a bit of 'sauce supping'

Spanish Chicken for a returning son

2009-11-08T22:19:00.010Z

Joe is back from Uni on a reading week, a pleasure for all of us and a perfect opportunity to cook something new.

I have been meaning to make this recipe from Jamieoliver.com for a while.

The chicken came from Dales of Hampton Court and the chorizo from waitrose .... you want the cooking chorizo not the cooked stuff by the way. You will find it in the deli section.

The only thing that went wrong was that I used parchment paper instead of greaseproof and as a result the potatoes got a bit stuck. Next time I might even try it with no paper just cooked in a good non-stick roasting pan.

ed. Recipe now amended following a bit of a burnt chorizo problem for my lovely PA Sophie .. sorry Soph

We also added a few oven roasted vine tomatoes and as suggested served it with a big bowl of rocket salad and some lemon/olive oil dressing

The tastes were great and it certainly filled us all up, even a slightly starved and skinny student.

Ingredients

• 1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5cm dice
• 4 lemons
• a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 x 2kg free-range organic chicken
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 300g good chorizo sausage
• olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Method

serves 4

First preheat your oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7, then place your potatoes with 2 of your lemons into a small pan of water and boil for 5 minutes. Drain, and then prick the lemons all over with a knife. (The reason for doing this is that you are going to put them inside the chicken and their wonderful juices will be released while cooking. They will burst with flavour and fragrance, and the heat from the lemons will help the chicken to cook quicker from the inside as well as making it taste and smell amazing.) Remove the parsley leaves from the stalks and put to one side. Stuff the chicken with your hot lemons and the parsley stalks. Then season the chicken and the potatoes with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, and slice your chorizo at an angle, 0.5cm/¼ inch thick.

Get yourself an appropriately sized non-stick baking tray. Place the potatoes into the centre of the tray, then place the chicken on top . Drizzle with a little olive oil. Cook in the preheated oven for around 1 hour.
After an hour sprinkle with the chorizo and a little of your chopped parsley and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes.

While the chicken and potatoes are cooking you can make what the Italians call gremolata, by finely chopping the zest of your 2 remaining lemons and mixing it with the chopped parsley and garlic. Season lightly and toss together to create a really fragrant seasoning-type garnish. Remove the tray from the oven, take the chicken out and put to one side to rest. Give the potatoes a shake about and put them back in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up.

Carve the chicken and divide between 4 plates, with the potatoes. The potatoes will have taken on the smoky paprika flavour from the chorizo, so if there is any juice left over in the tray, pour every last drop over the plates. When you sprinkle over the gremolata it will hit the hot juice and smell fantastic. You're going to love this one! A rocket salad goes really well with it.

Casa Moro Sea Bass with potatoes and tomatoes

2009-11-08T22:14:00.005Z

Saturday night and Martha is out at fireworks so the three of us can have fish. I wanted to get bream but could only get Bass at Waitrose. However this recipe from Casa Moro worked a treat.

The moro recipe

Baked bream with potatoes and tomatoes - bream cooked this way is a traditional Spanish Christmas dish. It's easy to make and a treat to eat. The method also works well with cod or hake steaks or filleted sea bass - these take about 15 minutes less to cook, so roast the other ingredients for 15-20 minutes before you cook the fish. Serves four.

2 bream (red, golden or black), each big enough for two (ie around 500g), scaled and gutted
Sea salt and black pepper
4 large Cyprus potatoes (about 1kg), sliced into rounds 3mm thick
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
6 medium sweet tomatoes (or 12-18 cherry tomatoes), sliced into rounds about 5mm thick
2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with salt
2 bayleaves (preferably fresh), halved
6 tbsp olive oil
A few parsley stalks
4 slices lemon
half fennel bulb, finely chopped (or half tbsp fennel seeds)

To serve

2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 lemon, quartered

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Season the fish inside and out. Lightly salt the potatoes. Put the onions, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic and bayleaves in a mixing bowl. Pour on half the olive oil, season well and toss together. Stuff the cavity of each fish with parsley stalks, lemon and fennel. Cover the base of a very large, roomy roasting tray with half the onion, potato and tomato mixture. Place the bream on top, then cover with the rest of the vegetables. Drizzle over the remaining oil, and roast in the middle of the oven for 35 minutes, or until cooked. Scatter with parsley and serve with lemon quarters and a salad.

For Suzy. The Ivy's spiced lentils recipe

2009-10-29T09:20:00.010Z

This recipe has long been a big favourite in the Cook house. Joe is a major league fan and has even cooked it at Uni. However it has never made it to the blog.

The eagle eyed of you will notice that a request from Suzy Price was posted yesterday because she had lost the scrap of paper I had written the recipe on many drunken moons ago.

So here it is; remember that things have moved on in the Tuna world since this was written so try to make sure the tuna is sustainable or serve it with another Asian influenced source of protein. If you are feeling particularly virtuous you could just add a handful of chopped rocket leaves and have it on its own.

Thinking about it has made me want to have it again.... 9.00 in the morning might be a bit early though.

Loin of Tuna with Spiced Lentils and Rocket

Serves 8

The best quality bluefin or yellowfin tuna must be used for this dish.

Ask your fishmonger to skin and clean the blood line, and to cut the tuna into 10 cm by 4 cm blocks: the fish will be sliced after cooking.

If you are serving this as a starter allow about 100g per person, or 170g as a main course.

ingredients

The lentil salsa can be made the day before

8 x 10 cm by 4 cm blocks of tuna (depending on serving size)

• 200 g Puy Lentils or small green lentils
• 1 med red onion chopped fine
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 50 ml water
• 50ml soy sauce
• 50ml balsamic vinegar
• 1tbs sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tbs Tomato Ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 40g piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped very fine
• 50ml olive oil
• 2 medium sized mild red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (or to taste
• 15g chopped fresh coriander
• Salt & Pepper

Method

Cook the lentils in salted water for 15–20 minutes or until they are tender. Drain and cool them.

Place the chillies and ginger in a pan with the onion, garlic, ground cumin and seeds, water and balsamic vinegar, and simmer with a lid on for a few minutes, stirring well so that all the flavours infuse.

Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it into a bowl with the drained lentils.

Add the soy sauce, ketchup and chilli sauce, stir well and gradually add the olive oil and chopped coriander.

Season with salt and pepper, cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight (if time allows).

To serve, season the pieces of tuna and fry in a very hot dry non-stick pan

Tuna is ideally eaten blue (almost raw) or rare, which will take only a few minutes.
Once cooked, remove the tuna from the pan and place on a plate for five minutes to ease carving.

Meanwhile, warm the lentils gently in a pan.

With a very sharp knife slice the tuna against the grain of the fish into three or four slices. Serve on the lentils.

garlic, thyme and anchovy baked potatoes.

2009-10-15T09:24:00.007+01:00

This stroke of genius comes from Jamies extremely user friendly website www.jamieoliver.com.The only adaptation I have made is to take this recipe inside from the barbecue and cooked it in the oven instead.
This for me is a perfect example of what makes him so good. He takes the humble baked potato and elevates it to mid-week heaven with the simple addition of anchovy (streaky bacon if you don't like anchovy, but to be honest there's something wrong with you if you don't)garlic, butter and thyme.
This is cooking that anyone can do. It would be great on its own or you could have it as I did, as an accompaniment to some chicken thighs roasted with a little finely chopped garlic, salt and thyme shoved under the skin.
Add a little rocket salad and some roasted vine tomatoes and we're talking feast and kings.

ingredients

• 1 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• freshly ground black pepper
• sea salt
• 4 baking potatoes
• 4 anchovies
. a handful of fresh thyme sprigs

Method

Pre heat oven to 160degrees

Everyone loves a baked potato and this is one of the tastiest ways to make them. Slice, fill, then fit them back together.

Pound the garlic and butter in a pestle and mortar until smooth. Season the garlic butter well with lots of pepper but just a little salt as the anchovy or bacon will act as a seasoning too.

Cut each potato into 8 slices. Coat the slices of each potato with the butter mix then reassemble each potato on a piece of double-thick foil. Cut the anchovies or bacon into strips and put between the slices. Do the same with the thyme sprigs and carefully wrap up the potatoes.

Bung them in a tray, whack them in the oven for an hour to an hour and a half turning every 20 mins or so.....

or if you are cooking outside

Lay the wrapped spuds on the cooler coals at the sides of the barbie for 1–1½ hours, depending on their size, turning every now and then, until tender. If you’ve got a gas barbie, put the potatoes right at the back over a low heat and give them plenty of time to cook. You might even want to give them half an hour’s headstart in the oven first.

... and then there were three. Fish in tomato and tamarind sauce

2009-10-07T11:23:00.005+01:00

Joe has now finally started life as an undergraduate ... after a slightly longer than expected trip to drop him off we needed some emotional and physical restoration.
The eagle eyed of you will spot that this is a spin on Bill Granger's meatball recipe.
All we did was made the tomato and tamarind sauce and then popped the fish in and cooked it through ... about 5 minutes.
We served it with the raitha, the sambal and plain boiled basmati rice.
I suspect it was slightly more nourishing than Joe's first university meal.

Ingredients

300gms Fish of your choice per person (we had prawns and cod)

Tomato and tamarind sauce

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 spanish onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
2 x 425g tins chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tamarind pulp (or 2 tbsp lime juice)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan over a medium to low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin and turmeric and stir for 2 minutes or until fragrant.

Then add the tomatoes, tamarind, sugar, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.

Spinach raita

250g spinach, washed and shredded
500g yoghurt (I use low-fat)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Sea salt
Black pepper

Place spinach in a pan over a medium heat. Cover and cook for 5 minutes until wilted, stirring occasionally. Drain and cool.

Place yoghurt, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Add spinach and stir well to combine. Refrigerate until required.

Mint sambal

150gms finely sliced shallots
big handful of mint leaves
1 small green chilli, finely diced
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sea salt

Fish tagine. Joe's last supper

2009-09-28T09:28:00.007+01:00

The time has finally come for Joe to go off to Uni. This was our last Saturday night meal for a while (sniff sniff)
As Gus had already headed back to Falmouth it gave us the chance to have something fishy for his last supper.
I decide to try this Morrocan dish from the Moro cookbook. There is a little bit of preparation to do but it ends up being very easy and pretty tasty.
The original recipe is for Hake which I think might be better but I couldn't get it on Saturday. Halibut would probably work well too.

To make the Charmoula (marinade)

2 garlic cloves
tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
juice 1 lemon
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
some fresh chopped coriander

Make the charmoula in a mortar and pestle (you could also do it in a blender). Pound the garlic and salt until smooth, then add cumin, lemon juice, paprika, vinegar, coriander, and olive oil. Rub two thirds of this mix into the fish and refrigerate for up to two hours.

Main ingredients

300gms monkfish tails per person, boned and skinned (or any other firm white fish)
15-20 small waxy potatoes (e.g. Charlotte)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 tbsp olive oil
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
Jar of piquillo peppers sliced into strips(this is meant to be two green peppers roasted skinned and sliced but I couldn't get any)
12 or so pitted black olives
100ml water
seasoning

Method

Boil the potatoes until tender then cut in half lengthways.
In a saucepan heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry garlic until very light brown.
Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 mins. Stir in the sliced peppers and remaining charmoula.
Spread the potatoes evenly over the base of your tagine or le creuset or saucepan, then spread 3/4 of the pepper and tomato mixture over the potatoes. Place the marinated fish on top.
Place the remaining mixture over the fish with the olives and add the water.
Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Put on the lid and steam over a medium/high heat for 10-15 minutes or until the fish is cooked.

Risotto Nero.

2009-09-20T19:30:00.003+01:00

I know I have blogged about this before but we took advantage of the fact that Martha was at a party to enjoy this very particular dish on Saturday night. Even Gus, who doesn't really like fish enjoyed this. The ink imparts a delicious depth of flavour to the dish.
The recipe below is from the first River Cafe book. We added finely chopped onion to the garlic and cooked until soft to start the risotto off and as well as the chopped squid we added some flash fried prawns too.
We all ended slightly black toothed but very happy.

Ingredients

1L fish stock (qv)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
75g butter
4 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
300g risotto rice
120ml wine
3 sachets squid or cuttlefish ink
2 tbspns finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Method

Heat fish stock and check for seasoning.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the garlic for 1 minute.
Add the rice and continue to cook gently stirring for a further minute.
Pour in the white wine and cook until it has been absorbed by the rice.
Add a ladle of the fish stock stirring continually until it too has been absorbed.
Continue to add more dish stock until the rice is al dente then add the squid ink.
When there is only one ladle of stock left turn off the heat and add this remaining stock.
Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Variations:
Add about 450g small squid hand size.
Clean (qv) and cut the body sacs into thin talgiatelle type strips and seperate the tentacles.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil until very hot throw in the squid pieces and stiry fry for no more than 30 seconds.
Remove and season.
Make the risotto as above using an extra clove of garlic.
Add the squid to the risotto as you stir in the squid ink.

This Recipe Serves 4 ... they say 6 but as a main course its definitely 4

Super Sunday lunch - Roast chicken with lemon and rosemary roast potatoes

2009-09-20T18:59:00.005+01:00

The Super Sunday refers to the football of course .. although the lunch wasn't half bad either.
Gus is heading back to Uni this week and requested a 'proper roast' before he returns. Joe will be heading off for his first year in two weeks so this was the last opportunity for a while for us to have a proper Cook family Sunday lunch, even if it was timed to work with the footy.
Martha evn decided not to row today just so she didn't miss out.
I thought that I would try this recipe from Jamie. I was intrigued by the whole boiling the lemon thing. Although I reckon we needed about 10 minutes longer than the recipe said I thought that it was pretty damn tasty.
I made a gravy by de-glazing the pan with a little wine( heating on really high and boiling the wine rapidly for a minute or so whilst scraping the nice gooey bits off the bottom of the pan) and then added the garlic flesh from inside the chicken (I didnt spread it on the chicken as per the recipe),some veg water and a tablespoon of Marigold stock powder.
Game between Man u and Man city was also pretty amazing

ingredients

• 1 x 2kg/4½lb free-range organic chicken
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2kg/4½lb potatoes, peeled
• 1 large, preferably unwaxed, lemon
• 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
• a handful of fresh thyme
• olive oil
• a handful of fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
• optional: 8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon - I didn't do this

Serves 4

Method

Roast chicken remains one of our favourite dishes at home. I recently discovered a way to make the chicken taste even better, by putting a lemon in with my potatoes when I was parboiling them. It smelt fantastic and flavoured the potatoes. Then when I was draining them I decided to stab the lemon, which hissed out juice and steam, and quickly jammed it inside the chicken! The benefits of the hot steaming lemon going into the chicken are very obvious as the meat tastes amazing, and the chicken cooks slightly quicker because of it.

Rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do this in the morning if possible, then cover the chicken and leave in the fridge until you're ready to start cooking it for lunch or dinner. By doing this, you'll make the meat really tasty when cooked. Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cut the potatoes into golf-ball-sized pieces, put them into the water with the whole lemon and the garlic cloves, and cook for 12 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for 1 minute (this will give you crispier potatoes), then remove the lemon and garlic. Toss the potatoes in the pan while still hot so their outsides get chuffed up and fluffy – this will make them lovely and crispy when they roast.

While the lemon is still hot, carefully stab it about 10 times. Take the chicken out of the fridge, pat it with kitchen paper and rub it all over with olive oil. Push the garlic cloves, the whole lemon and the thyme into the cavity, then put the chicken into a roasting tray and cook in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. Some lovely fat should have cooked out of it into the roasting tray, so toss the potatoes into this with the rosemary leaves. Shake the tray around, then make a gap in the centre of the potatoes and put the chicken back in. If using the bacon, lay the rashers over the chicken breast and cook for a further 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are nice and golden. (You can tell the chicken is cooked when the thigh meat pulls easily away from the bone and the juices run clear.)

I like to remove the bacon from the chicken and crumble it up over the potatoes. Then I remove the lemon and garlic from inside the chicken, squeeze all the garlic flesh out of the skin, mush it up and smear it all over the chicken, discard the lemon and rosemary and carve the chicken at the table. Heaven!