The Family Cook Book

It's bank holiday Monday and theres just the three of us. Following yesterdays carb overload we are having a simple lunch of roast chicken and new potato and asparagus salad. Ingredients 10 small/medium sized baby potatoes 1 tsp fine salt 1 large bunch asparagus (about 10 spears), woody ends removed, spears cut into 3/4″ pieces Handful of rocket leaves, washed and torn Caper Dressing 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp lemon juice 1/4 c salted capers, rinsed and finely chopped Handful of dill fronds, chopped Sea salt and freshly ground pepper Method Half-fill a large saucepan with cold water and add potatoes and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are just cooked through. Drain and leave to cool completely before cutting into halves or quarters (depending on their size – you want bite sized pieces) Meanwhile, half fill a medium sized saucepan with water, bring to a boil and add the aspar...

I saw this lamb recipe in a recent issue of the Times, it's from Thomasina Miers new book Chilli notes. I thought it would go well with this rice recipe from Ottolenghi. It was a bit carb heavy but delicious. I also served it with a cucumber and yoghurt recipe also from Jerusalem . If I was going to be picky I think I could probably let it cook for a little bit more as it wasn't quite as 'falling apart' as I would like but I thought that the marinade gave the lamb a great taste. Middle Eastern, rose scented falling apart lamb Serves 6-8 Ingredients 1 shoulder of lamb (about 2kg) 2 heads of garlic 2 tsp cumin seeds 2.5cm cinnamon stick 1 tbsp coriander seeds 1 tbsp sea salt 3 tbsp harissa 1 lemon, zested and quartered 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp rose syrup (optional) 1kg butternut squash, peeled and cut into (roughly) 2cm chunks 500ml dry white wine Method 1 Trim the shoulder of lamb of its outside layer of fat and make incisions...

I have just come back from a quick trip to New York for the lovely Gabriella's graduation.... Go Ella!! I stayed at The Marlton and ate at Gemma's , Cercle Rouge, Margaux, the brilliantly named Butchers Daughter and had a pretty serious, five bottles between three, dinner at Il Buco Alimentari e vineria However, one of the things that always makes me smile about eating in the USA is all the great hoopla that surrounds the food business. Every time I go there's a new piece of terminology, everyone is now not only eating 'family style' but are pretty keen that their food is 'farm to table' but in terms of culinary terms my favourite is on the Butchers Daughters website ... they aren't just a vegetarian restaurant they are a ......   “vegetable slaughter house” .... hear them courgettes squeal, watch those avocados suffer! Actually I had a lovely time sitting at the bar with Gus and I thought the food was pretty good but the nomenclature i...

I did this Ottolenghi recipe from "Jerusalem" a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure I put enough love into doing it so the fish cakes didn't hold together very well and i thought that the aubergine was a little bland but I didn't do the lemon pickle and I was in one of those moods where nothing was quite right, so I think this may deserve re-visiting and cooking with a little more care. The recipe Quick Pickled Lemons Ingredients 1/2 red chile, chopped 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 small-medium unwaxed lemons, halved lengthwise and sliced widthwise as thinly as possibly 3 tbsp superfine sugar 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 tsp sweet paprika 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp ground turmeric   Use a mortar and pestle to smash the chile with 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice; you want to get a rough looking paste. Transfer to a large bowl along with all the other ingredients. Use your hands to mix everything together well so that all the ...

Latest I finally tried this on saturday night .... not one of my more successful dishes! I think that the lack of a deep fat fryer probably didn't help ... and maybe the oil wasn't hot enough but my chickpeas were not brown and crispy they were soggy and oily, which made them very, very carb heavy. Yet another recipe from the Morito cookbook. I have had this in the restaurant and the combination of the fresh cool chopped salad and the comforting chickpea carbs is delicious. However it is the surprising twist that the frying of the chickpeas provides that raises this recipe up to another level. I have also have a 'stash' of jars of chickpeas from the brilliant Brindisa  online store which is not only the best place to get your Spanish supplies like Ortiz anchovies and proper cooking Chorizo it is also where Moro get a lot of their supplies, so it must be good. So I definitely will be doing this soon The recipe The gorgeous chef David Cook first enlightene...

We all love tapas or mezze or indeed the lovely cicchetti of Russell Norman's Polpo. If you read my blog you will know that  I have been rather obsessed with cooking Morito recipes over the past few days but there are also some wonderful little bites in Ottolenghi's Jerusalem and indeed the excellent Polpo book. We love lunches and dinners made up of these little dishes and I don't think that's just because the layout of our kitchen makes it look like a tapas bar.Most people seem to love the opportunity to graze on a variety of different flavours from salty to sour, soft to crispy, meaty to veggy not forgetting of course the very,very fishy joys of the oft featured but much maligned anchovy. I have to confess that his beetroot recipe from Ottolenghi should have goat cheese crumbled on top but I'm afraid that just isn't my bag. Serve with some great bread or even better some lovely freshly made flatbreads  Ingredients 6 medium cooked be...

Allegedly Nandos is the food of choice of premiership footballers and rappers alike. I have to say that in this respect, and probably only this respect, I am 'down with the kids' Now courtesy of the new Morito cookbook you can cook this portuguese delicacy yourself at home. Martha and I particularly love chicken wings in all their bony splendour. For me they are lightyears ahead of a drumstick on the finger lickin' good yardstick but I'm sure this will work well on whatever your favourite part of the bird is .....  as long as it has some skin on. It would probably work on skinless breasts too but c'mon what are you doing eating them when there are other gnarly, bony, skinny bits to feast upon? This makes more than you need but it will keep in the fridge. Marinate the wings overnight if possible Ingredients 200ml white wine 3tbs white wine vinegar Pinch of sugar 4 small dried chillies crumbled 2 tsp ground coriander 8 fresh bay lea...