Sugar Rush - Sweet treats for Christmas

Bah Humbug ! I’m not keen on the commercialisation of Christmas, but love the food preparation of the festivities. Gifts are de rigueur, so it’s a perfect time to get the little people involved (your children, not Santa’s Elves).


I’d far rather make homemade truffles or spiced biscuits than shop for something made in a factory. There’s nothing nicer than a homemade gift of sweets, to offer as Christmas presents.


Easy to make (if the children help I must insist on strict supervision – there’s a lot of boiling sugar involved) and all can be prettily packaged wrapped in cellophane tied with a bow, or perhaps folded into coloured tissue paper. The kids will have great fun being Willy Wonka for the day and it really doesn’t matter if the end result is a little less than perfect because each nibble of naughtiness will be made with love.

Chocolate Candied Orange Peel


Note: Peel of one orange will make one gift bag.


Ingredients


1 x large orange
225g granulated sugar
110g dark chocolate


Method


Peel an orange by slicing into quarters and removing the flesh. Cut the peel into fine strips. Boil a pan of water and blanch the orange strips for 2 minutes. Remove, and rinse the peel. Repeat this step once more.


Prepare a simple sugar syrup, 8 fl oz of water to 225g sugar and add the orange strips. Bring to a low simmer and cook for approx. 1 hour. Keep an eye on this so it doesn’t boil dry, if it begins to crystalise add a little more boiling water. Once cooked, place peel strips on a rack to cool.


Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water and dip half of each piece into the melted chocolate. Place on baking parchment to cool. Keep in a chilled environment until ready to wrap into a little bag, and tie with a pretty Christmas ribbon.

Dolce salami

2 large egg yolks
8 oz 65-80% chocolate (I used Green & Black)
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Valhrona)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp fine sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp orange liqueur
3 Milano cookies
3 tbsp pistachios
Icing sugar for rolling

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks gently and set aside. Cut the cookies into small pieces and set aside. I had Milanos on hand but you can use any other kind of white cookie, like petit beurre or sugar cookies, which would mimic all that nice white fat in a real salami.

Melt the butter and chocolate together over a double boiler, stirring every once in a while. While the mixture is melting, add the cocoa powder, chili, sugar, and salt, stirring to incorporate all these ingredients. Take this off the heat and add in the orange liqueur and egg yolks followed by the pistachios and cut cookies. Let the mixture cool down until you can handle this with your hands and be able to roll into a salami like shape. You can firm up the mixture in the fridge or freezer to speed this up, but don’t let it sit in there too long or it’ll be harder to shape.

Using a large sheet of cling film, wax or parchment paper, form your chocolate salami roll and cover it tightly. Cover it with aluminum foil as well and store it in the freezer to continue to firm up.

Before serving, roll the salami in the confectioner’s sugar to give it the further appearance of a genuine hard salami. Let it come to room temperature for at least 5 minutes as this will make cutting the chocolate a smoother process.

Watch Grandpa’s heart melt when surprised with this delicious handmade gift on Christmas Day.


Safety tip: If your children wish to help, do not let them work with knives, boiling water and hot syrups, and supervise them constantly. They can help with the safe tasks such as dipping the peel into warm chocolate and making the gift bags look pretty.


Sweet dreams are made of this, and Merry Christmas one and all.

The WI Victoria Sponge - equal measures of everything

Mrs Nightingale’s Recommended Recipe for Autumn

Trick or Treat

Butternut Squash and Pancetta Gratin

Autumn is upon us. My thoughts have turned turn to All Hallows Eve and grinning Jack-o-Lanterns, and Harvest Festivals with brimming baskets of seasonal produce, especially Squash. Huge fat pumpkins, and golden Butternut. Nothing feels quite as right to eat at this time of year as that soft, sweet, forgiving flesh which is just so adaptable.

Butternut squash has long been a staple on my shopping list; generally more popular than Pumpkin, the nutty deep orange pulp of the Butternut will happily do whatever the cook demands of it.

Squashes can be used to make breads and muffins; it can be stuffed, roasted, toasted; makes hearty soups and casseroles as well as a tasty companion to a roast dinner, and is delicious Italian style with risotto, pasta or made as a gnocchi. In Mrs. Nightingale’s kitchen, Butternut Squash it is more versatile than potatoes.

It lends itself particularly well to spices and herbs; sage is especially glorious with squash. In fact, my repertoire of recipes using this little beauty is probably more comprehensive than any other ingredient. It is most definitely my favourite food.

Try roasted squash & sage leaves, drizzled with olive oil and topped with toasted Macadamia nuts as a base beneath a spatchcocked garlic chicken, or served with spicy lamb koftas on skewers, and these will become family favourites.

With Halloween and Bonfires looming, I have decided on the warmth and comfort of a Butternut Squash Gratin as the recipe to share this month. I tend to vary it with the addition of white beans, chorizo, and spinach – anything that I have to hand. Ham Hock works very well as the additional meat ingredient in place of the pancetta, as the saltiness cuts through the sweetness of the squash.

A delicious recipe that is no ‘Trick’, just total ‘Treat’.

INGREDIENTS

1.25kg Butternut squash (approximately 2 x squash)

100 g Pancetta, chopped

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

125ml dry white wine

2-3 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves picked

1 bay leaf (sage is also a good alternative to bay)

Good pinch dried chilli flakes

450g vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled and chopped

150 ml double cream

Grated nutmeg

100g Gruyère cheese, finely grated

METHOD

Peel and de-seed the squash. Cut into small, chunky pieces. You should have at least 750g – 1 kg of flesh. For this recipe I tend to use two squash.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium-sized pan, then add the onion and garlic and cook gently until the onion is soft and translucent Add the wine and simmer until reduced. Add the thyme, bay or sage leaf, chilli flakes and tomatoes and leave to simmer gently for 15 minutes until thickened. Discard the bay leaf and spoon the sauce onto the base of an ovenproof dish.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C. Heat the rest of the oil in a large pan, then add the squash and pancetta, sauté gently for 3-4 minutes. Scatter the squash over the tomato sauce.

In a small pan, bring the cream, some seasoning and a little grated nutmeg to the boil, and then remove from the heat.

Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the squash, pour over the cream and bake for 30 minutes, until the squash is tender and the cheese is golden and bubbling. Sprinkle with thyme leaves to garnish.

Easy Tuscan Bean Soup

Every year we take a short break in Tuscany and I arrive home with a head brimming full of wonderful Italian recipes. As much as I would love to prepare an aromatic Suckling Pig stuffed full of herbs, whilst juggling Catherine Wheels and making sure the Bonfire doesn’t burn down the shed, November 5^th is a date in the diary when I just want to make any culinary tasks as simple as possible.

There is nothing as straightforward and easy to prepare as a hearty, warming soup.  We produce wonderful vegetables in the Cotswolds, and they are shown off to their very best advantage in this traditional Tuscan recipe. If you grow your own, all the better; if not take a trip to a local Farmers Market for your basic ingredients, to ensure that you use the very freshest veggies available.

This is a meal in a bowl, one that can be prepared in advance and my cheat version, using tinned chopped tomatoes and canned beans, will taste no less delicious.  Particularly suitable for Bonfire Night; after an hour of shivering in the cold, the warmth and comfort of this soup is just ideal. It’s also an inexpensive way of feeding your guests and a little goes a long way. This recipe easily serves 4, so just double up to feed more people.

Ingredients:

I large onion - chopped

A little olive oil

1 very large carrot  - dice into chunks

2 x stalks of celery – chopped

1 sprig of fresh thyme

1 pint chicken stock

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin of cannellini or butter beans

Savoy cabbage (about 1/3^rd will do the job) shredded

Salt & Pepper

Parmesan – grated or shaved

Fresh basil leaves – a small handful

Method:

Finely chop the onion, crush 3 cloves of garlic and saute in a little olive oil with a sprig or two of fresh thyme. Chop a very large carrot and 2 stalks of celery (do not dice too delicately, we want this soup big and chunky) then add to the onion and saute for 3 more minutes. Add 1 pint chicken stock, some black pepper & a tin of chopped tomatoes. Keep topping up with water so it doesn't reduce too much. Simmer on medium heat for 15 mins then add a tin of butter beans (or canneloni beans) and approximately 1/3rd of a finely shredded savoy cabbage. Now add salt to taste. Cook 10 more minutes on a medium heat and serve with some parmesan and ripped up basil leaves. For a heartier and even more authentic “Ribollita” add chunks of toasted Ciabatta to the bottom of the bowl and this will make it a totally satisfying meal.

Hint:

Double up the recipe and blitz any left over soup the next day for an alternative smooth soup and add some pan-fried pancetta to power up the flavours. Alternatively add chicken or meatballs to the mixture for a wonderful Italian stew.

This is a super healthy meal; it’s low fat, low carb, diabetic friendly, it’s your “5 a day”, and the olive oil can be replaced with a spray such as Fry Light or Pam to make it even more suitable for those on a low fat diet.

Buon Appetito !

Casamia Review June 2011

Casamia
38, The High Street, Westbury on Trym, Bristol
(0117 959 2884)



Before they won their well deserved Michelin star, the Sanchez-Iglesias brothers ran a little restaurant in my home town of Cheltenham, which was very well respected but a commercial disaster. I felt a personal investment in their enterprise, and more than a little sadness at its closure. It was on the site of a plot of property previously owned by my family for several generations; I was actually born in the apartment above, and the site is now owned by family friends. For some reason there was no real buzz around town - location, location, location - and it remained instead a "best kept secret". Great to collect the selective plaudits, but would have been better to collect the ten pound notes.

Closing shop and finding themselves back at their parents traditional Italian restaurant in a suburb of Bristol, the boys took the kitchen over and reworked the offer with Italian influenced modernity and fireworks. Their imaginative menu's and undoubtable skills have resulted in critical success, that Michelin star, and winning the competition to find Gordon Ramsey's Best Restaurant in Britain. It really is THAT good. It really is ! But it's also relaxed, unstuffy. Serious about food but unpretentious to the max (hard to say when dining on a 8 course tasting menu at £68 a pop and for those that do not understand moderation there was an unpublicised 14 course menu at £98) The chefs are so lovely, enthused and friendly you immediately want them to be your best friends.

The dining room is entered via a gated courtyard, filled with herbs and flowers, and the appearance is very much of a smart Trattoria. Staff were friendly and professional, without being obsequious. Each dish is delivered to your table by one of the student chefs that has a hand in preparing it, the ingredients and the (de)construction explained. The service is spot on, thorough and attentive, but not at all ostentatious.

Food included a pretty 'art on a plate' wild boar salami salad, stunning beetroot risotto with fennel, succulent salmon cooked 'sous vide', the most tender pork I have tasted outside of Tuscany, and a delicate taste bud tickler in the form of Pine Nut Pannecotta, complete with liquid nitrogen presentation. The appearance of every dish was artistic and exquisite. Everything was delicious and had an understated flair. Wine list is modest in size, but well priced.

I took my son with me; the meal was a 'Goodbye to University' treat. I have been dragging the offspring around Michelin star restaurants for years and he decided that he liked Casamia as much as his personal favourite, Purnells in Birmingham. His memorable moment was enhanced by a long and inspiring chat with Chef Johnray, and a trip around the development and research kitchen they are building above the restaurant. I've run a restaurant and I know the last thing a chef usually wants to do after a long service is spend 45 minutes chatting to a table, but he was so enthused, almost evangelistic about the future of Casamia, that we were both totally charmed and fell a little bit in love with this talented young man.

I am eagerly awaiting an opportunity to return.

We ate :

scrambled duck egg
cured pig, thyme

wild boar salami
sheep curd, carrot, pesto

beetroot, barley,
iced yogurt pickled fennel (2006)

salmon, italian
garnish cauliflower

iberico pork, mushroom
apple sauce, celery root

selection of local
cheeses £10 supplement

pine nut pannacotta
amalfi lemon sorbet

traditional tiramisu
the smell of renato’s numero uno

chocolate and sweets

Lemon & mozzarella salad

Lemon & mozzarella salad, a photo by MrsNightingalesSecretSpeakeasy on Flickr.

LEMON SALAD - chuck it all in and mix it up



3 Little Gem or Romaine Lettuce - shredded
3 or 4 spring onions - chopped

1 finely chopped celery heart

(Optional) bunch of white radishes cut in half

Large ball, or 2 x smaller balls of best quality Buffallo Mozzarella - ripped into pieces

Sea salt & black pepper to season

Big splosh of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Juice of one lemon, use extra if you like it sharp.



It's the lemon. the crunch, and the good Mozzarella that make this really basic salad so nice.

White chocolate & raspberry brioche pudding

White chocolate & raspberry brioche pudding, a photo by MrsNightingalesSecretSpeakeasy on Flickr.

Ingredients:

150 ml double cream

150 ml whole milk

1 split vanilla pod

100g of white chocolate

2 egg yolks

60 g castor sugar

Approx. 5 slices of brioche

200g of raspberries (or blueberries, or both)



Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C. In an oven proof serving dish (a 7 “ dish with approx 2” depth will do nicely) place ripped up pieces of brioche, crusts upwards, to fill the dish. Scatter the raspberries pushing a few into the side, middle and bottom of the dish so that they are evenly distributed throughout.
Place the milk and cream into a saucepan with the seeds from the vanilla pod, and very gently bring to a steady simmer. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and sugar together until pale, in a separate bowl. Add the heated cream to the bowl and whisk. Return the combined mixture to the pan, add the chocolate broken into small pieces, and continue to whisk on a gentle heat until it thickens. Pour the chocolate custard onto the brioche and fruit, then bake in the oven for ten minutes or so, until the top is a wonderful golden colour.
 Serve immediately, and feel guilty but very satisfied!

Crab chilli lime coriander pasta

Crab chilli lime coriander pasta, a photo by MrsNightingalesSecretSpeakeasy on Flickr.

Spaghetti with Crab, Chilli, Coriander and Lime

Boil a pan of salted water and cook spaghetti (or linguine) for four people according to the instructions on the packaging. Chop a couple of large fresh red chillies and 2 cloves of garlic and gently fry in a generous splash of olive oil. Meanwhile open a couple of tubs of fresh crab. I use 1 x white, 1 x brown meat which is sufficient for four meals; add an extra 100g pot if you are crazy for crab. Finally chop a bunch of coriander.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and then add in the oily garlic and chilli, plus the juice of one lime, and season to taste. Top with the crab and coriander and another drizzle of olive oil.  And that’s all there is to it !

Ingredients:

2 or 3 100g pots of crab meat

2 cloves garlic

2 large red chillies

Small bunch of coriander

1 lime

Spaghetti or linguine for 4

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Ginger and coriander meatballs

Ginger and coriander meatballs, a photo by MrsNightingalesSecretSpeakeasy on Flickr.

Meatballs

1 slice toasted white bread
8 oz minced beef
2 cloves garlic
Chilli: use either 2 pinches of chilli powder, a teaspoon of lazy chilli from a jar or 1 very finely chopped red chilli.
1 teaspoon oregano
fist full of chopped corainder
salt & pepper
1 and a half Tablespoon fresh root ginger, finely chopped
1 medium egg

Tomato sauce

Everyone has their own recipe, but I use a very basic tomato, onion, red wine sauce.

Saute half an onion, and unless you want to use fresh tomatoes (it's a heck of an expensive way to do it) add a tin of good quality chopped tomatoes (San Marzano are the best variety but Morrisons organic chopped @ 59p a tin are great and have a superb texture). Splash of red wine, simmer for 10 minutes and add some basil a few minutes before using the sauce.

If you grow your own tomatoes, you can swerve on the tinned option. I like to roast them first with a drizzle of olive oil & some Malden salt in order to intensify the flavour before skinning and using in my sauce.

Tip: Use a bowl and mix by hand for a course burger like texture, or into a food processor for a smoother meatball. This recipe is based on using a blitzer;-)

Into Food processor; Toast. Blitz. Add meat, herbs, chilli, garlic, egg, ginger, salt & pepper to taste. Blitz again.
Roll into balls and coat in flour. Fry until lightly browned. Add to tomato sauce and cook for 45 mins, add coriander at end and serve on top of spaghetti.

Alternative option is to par boil some Penne and add meatball/sauce on top and bake in the oven for about 35 minutes.

Pavlova

Pavlova, a photo by MrsNightingalesSecretSpeakeasy on Flickr.

Chewy slow baked meringue with lemon cream and roasted rhubarb

Roasted  Rhubarb and Lemon Cream Pavlova served with a Ginger Prosecco Cocktail

Firstly, roast some chopped rhubarb. Lay it on a baking tray and sprinkle with a generous amount of brown sugar. Pop into a preheated oven at 200C for 15 minutes. The rhubarb should not be overly sweet as the Pavlova and the lemon cream are sugary, and the sharpness and slightly sour quality of rhubarb is needed to cut through the sweetness.  Meringues are easy – never let anyone tell you otherwise. Personally I don’t bother with recommended tricks such as adding Cream of Tartar or white vinegar into the whipped egg white and sugar. The best tip is to ensure your whisks and bowl are totally free of grease (wash beforehand in very hot water) as any trace of fat will give you flaccid meringues. For an 8” Pavlova, you’ll need 3 egg whites and 55g of castor sugar per egg. Whisk the egg whites on slow speed for 2 minutes, then pump up the power for another minute until the mixture is light and fluffy and forming peaks. Gradually introduce the sugar, one tablespoon at a time as you continue to whisk. Place onto a baking sheet and cook at 140C for one hour. Then leave in the oven overnight (this will prevent cracking)


Next day:
Whip the cream, then add a couple of tablespoons of lemon curd and combine well. You can use the leftover yolks to make your own, but when short of time, I just use a good quality shop bought curd.  Assemble, stand back and admire, then tuck in with gusto.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

6 oz castor sugar

2 tablespoons lemon curd

300ml whipping cream

A couple of sticks of rhubarb

Brown sugar

As a final flourish, enjoy a Ginger Prosecco cocktail with your pudding. This is a slightly sour cocktail, but a perfect partner to sweet Pavlova. Muddle some chopped ginger, approximately 1” of fresh root, a spoonful of castor sugar and the juice of one lemon (muddling is apparently Cocktail Mixology lingo; I bung it in a pestle and mortar and bash it about). Strain this into a glass and top with Prosecco, or if feeling ultra decadent, champagne. Serve with a sliver of root ginger to decorate the glass.

Ingredients:

Fresh root ginger

Sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Prosecco

Mmmmm Chocolate Cake

Mmmmm Chocolate Cake, a photo by soul_babycakes on Flickr.

Hello Boys !


Ingredients

· 200g good quality dark chocolate , about 60% cocoa solids

· 200g butter , cut in pieces

· 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (I like to use Percol espresso powder)

· 85g self-raising flour

· 85g plain flour

· 1⁄4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

· 150g light muscovado sugar

· 150g golden caster sugar
· 25g cocoa powder
· 3 medium eggs
· 75ml buttermilk (5 tablespoons) I have used crème fraiche as an alternative when I couldn’t get buttermilk)


For the Ganache

· 200g good-quality dark chocolate , as above

· 150ml carton double cream (pouring type)

· 2 tbsp golden caster sugar

To decorate

· grated chocolate or curls, to decorate


Method



1. Butter 2 loose bottom cake tins and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break the chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Tip in the butter, then mix the coffee granules into 125ml/4fl oz cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted - don't overheat. Or melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring half way through.

2. While the chocolate is melting, mix the two flours, bicarbonate of soda, sugars and cocoa in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat the eggs in a bowl and stir in the buttermilk. No need to be too lighthanded; the worst results have been when I have gently folded everything. Bung it all in and mix it up !

3. Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tins and bake for between 50 mins / 1 hour depending on the efficiency of your oven - if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don't worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don't worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

4. Make the ganache: chop the chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour the cream into a pan, add the sugar, and heat until it is about to boil. Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Let it cool. If it’s too runny to be spreadable, whisk it with an electric mixer for a few minutes until it is almost like a mousse.




5. Sandwich the layers together with some of the ganache. Spread the rest over the cake and down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days if covered loosely with cling film.

Shooters Sandwich

SDC13223, a photo by soul_babycakes on Flickr.

Picnic Heaven

Eating alfresco is a joy, a simple pleasure that we British embrace with gusto, at any clement opportunity. A picnic in the park with a group of friends, or with the object of your affection, is often a memory in the making. Picnics remind me of past times; sports events and ‘Speech Days’, burgeoning romances and the occasional youthful tipsy excursion to Cranham Woods with a ghetto blaster, lots of beer and a few pork pies.

What is the perfect food to eat “en plein air” I asked my friends? Go to Marks & Spencer was the overwhelming response, and one that I have previously resorted to myself, but surely nothing will taste as good as the food you personally prepare.

As much as I love barbeque, the other mainstay of outdoor eating, I find it a bit tedious, unless someone else is tending the coals. The stereotype of the ‘man of the house’ hovering over the grill, wielding a pronged fork falls short of reality in my world; my husband has never shown any interest in wearing an apron and a comedy chef’s hat, more’s the pity. When it comes to BBQ season – the Nightingales eat at the invitation of others.

So for the purpose of this article I fall back on the staple of the British Picnic; the sandwich. Oh, but what a sandwich, what a truly exceptional example of the genre this is. Ladies & Gentlemen – I give you Mrs. Nightingale’s version of The Shooters’ Sandwich; with the supplement of a glorious Gloucestershire ingredient, Tewkesbury Mustard.

A sandwich is functional, portable and easy to prepare. The magic is in the ingredients contained within. This is something special - a meal in itself, satisfying beyond compare. The Shooters’ Sandwich groans with Edwardian tradition. It is customary to prepare a Shooters’ Sandwich with rare beef and a mushroom & shallot duxelle, rather like a Beef Wellington sandwich; I also like to add blue cheese to jazz it up.

Method

The first process is to make the mushroom mixture. Fry 3 shallots and a clove of garlic in a little olive oil, then add a couple of finely chopped Portobello mushrooms. Add the herbs and a splash of Masala wine if you like, season and cook for five minutes,

Next step – pan fry a couple of pre-oiled & seasoned steaks (not too thick) until they are still fairly rare. No need to rest them – we want the steaks to be juicy. Then take (or make) a round crusty loaf and lop the top off. Hollow out just enough of the bread from the centre of the loaf to make a cavity for your ingredients.

Smear the steaks with Tewkesbury mustard. Use Dijon & horseradish sauce if you can’t find our magnificent indigenous mustard, but in deference to true culinary ‘Cotswold Style’ let’s celebrate this wonderful local product.

Tuck the first steak in the hollowed bread, mustard side next to the bread, then add a little blue cheese of your choice – Stilton works well but you could use St. Agur or Dolcelatte according to preference.

Next comes a generous addition of mushroom duxelle, topped with the second steak. Pop the “lid” back on top, wrap and tie up tightly in greaseproof paper, then wrap again in foil. Weight this down (a heavy chopping board, perhaps with a couple of bricks on top) and keep cool for about 5 hours, or overnight.

Ingredients

3 x shallots
1 x clove of garlic
2 x large Portobello mushrooms
2 x rump steaks
1 x large round crusty loaf
Blue cheese
Tewkesbury mustard
Pinch of Thyme

Take the unwrapped parcel along to your picnic, and slice up into wedges to eat. This is so filling you probably won’t need much else in your picnic basket, bar a meaty red wine. Raise a glass to the King of Sandwiches !

Five Simple Favourites for Summertime

v  Spaghetti with Crab, Chilli, Coriander & Lime

v  Rare Fillet of Beef with Lemon & Mozzarella Salad

v  Broccoli, Raisin, Red Onion & Bacon Salad with Balsamic Mayo

v  Asian Slaw with Peanut Chicken

v  Lemon Cream Pavlova and Roasted Rhubarb served with a Ginger Prosecco Cocktail

At last, it’s Summertime; the season in which I have romantic notions of long, rickety garden tables laden with pot-luck dishes that friends have brought along for a spontaneous summer’s day feast. When the weather is warm I want something light, usually a simple and sensational salad, and I endeavour to make food that take literally five minutes to prepare. The hardest task you will need to perform for my suggested meals of the month is to toss a handful of ingredients into a bowl and keep an eye on the oven timer.  After all, who wants to slave over the proverbial hot stove in a heatwave ?

These delicious suggestions will not tax your cooking skills, and will hopefully give you ideas and inspiration, as many of the dishes are interchangeable. Try the broccoli salad with cold roast chicken, or use the left-over beef cut into strips in the Asian slaw. The salads stand proudly alone as light meals in their own right, and do not demand a meat accompaniment.

So put some flowers in a rustic jug & a crisp white cloth on the table in the garden, alongside a cold bottle of something sparkling, put on an Ibiza chill out CD, and indulge in some easy summer entertaining. Then get on your knees and pray it doesn’t rain!  All meals serve four healthy appetites.

 Spaghetti with Crab, Chilli, Coriander & Lime

Boil a pan of salted water and cook spaghetti (or linguine) for four people according to the instructions on the packaging. Chop a couple of large fresh red chillies and 2 cloves of garlic and gently fry in a generous splash of olive oil. Meanwhile open a couple of tubs of fresh crab. I use 1 x white, 1 x brown meat which is sufficient for four meals; add an extra 100g pot if you are crazy for crab. Finally chop a bunch of coriander.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and then add in the oily garlic & chilli, plus the juice of one lime, and season to taste. Top with the crab & coriander and another drizzle of olive oil.  And that’s all there is to it !

Ingredients:

2 or 3 100g pots of crab meat

2 cloves garlic

2 large red chillies

Small bunch of coriander

1 lime

Spaghetti or linguine for 4

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Rare Fillet of Beef with Lemon & Mozzarella Salad

This is my dinner party signature dish, so simple but never fails to impress. I know beef fillet is a luxury item, but it is worth it. I don’t think you can beat Morrison’s meat counter for value. At just under £24 for 1 kg of fillet, this will feed 4 very generously and leave a decent sized hunk of beef for sandwiches, cold meat platters and salads the next day.

Place the beef in a plastic bag with a huge splash of olive oil and lots of sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, and massage into the fillet within the bag. Heat a griddle pan or similar, using no oil, until smoking hot. Remove meat from the bag and sear the beef on all surfaces, with a couple of cloves of garlic. This process should take 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the steak & garlic and wrap loosely in foil, securing all openings tightly. Pop into a pre heated oven on a baking tray at 220 - 200C (depending on the power of your oven) for approx 15 minutes. Remove - and this is where the magic happens – let it rest for at least 20 minutes in the foil. This will then slice into the softest, most tender rare steak imaginable. The cooking times suggested will give you rare beef, if you prefer it medium rare - another 5 minutes in the oven will do the trick.

The salad that I like to eat with this is a really effortless combination of little gem lettuce, chopped celery, radish, spring onion and ripped up chunks of buffalo mozzarella.  Lavish the salad with lemon juice & olive oil, then season. An Italian tip: My pal Nancy, who lives in Tuscany, tells me that the Italians soak their Mozzarella in warm water for 5 minutes or so before serving.

700g – 1kg of beef fillet

2 cloves of garlic

Sea Salt & Black Pepper

4 heads of Little Gem lettuce

Half a chopped celery heart

A dozen radishes

4 chopped spring onions

200g Buffalo Mozzarella

Juice of one lemon

Olive Oil

Broccoli, Raisin, Red Onion & Bacon Salad with Balsamic Mayo

I cannot stress how delicious this salad is; I almost live on it. I add some nuts (macadamia, pecan) or seeds (sunflower, pumpkin) to give another crunchy texture. Dice the red onion, cut a head of broccoli into small florets, throw in a fistful of raisins, and pieces of crisped streaky bacon. Add your nuts or seeds. Mix up a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar with a tablespoon of sugar, then mix into two tablespoons of light mayonnaise until combined. Stir this dressing into your broccoli et al, and it’s ready to eat. Heavenly, healthy, sweet and salty – good for you but tastes so naughty !.

A head of broccoli

1 red onion

A fistful of raisins

A packet of nuts or seeds

10 rashers of crisped streaky bacon

2 x tbsp of light mayonnaise

2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp of sugar

Salt & pepper

 Asian Slaw with Peanut Butter Chicken

I adapted this from a recipe on the Uma Wylde website (www.umawylde.com). Uma runs a highly acclaimed cookery school in Tetbury. She created this sharp and addictive Asian Slaw and serves it with a chicken satay, the raw chicken having been cooked in mere minutes in the bubbling sauce. However I suggest a alternative; my adaption has the sauce poured over slices of simply roasted chicken, as I like to use the remainder of the bird up over the next few days, and it also offers a chicken & slaw option to those that cannot eat nuts, or don’t like peanut butter.

First things first; roast your chicken. I would hazard a guess that you all know how to roast a chicken therefore I’ve not included the method for this. When the chicken is cooked and resting, finely slice approx 100 g or so of white cabbage, and grate 100g of carrots. Add approx 1 “ of grated fresh root ginger and a couple of crushed cloves of garlic. Combine rice vinegar and fish sauce and sugar to make the dressing and bind together with the vegetables. For the peanut sauce, heat the chillies and a couple of cloves of garlic in sesame oil for one minute on a medium heat, then add the coconut milk, 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter and mix until smooth. Add the juice from 1 lime, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp sweet chilli dipping sauce and 2 tsp ketjap manis and reduce to a low heat. Spoon the sauce over slices of chicken and serve with the slaw, which is incredibly refreshing and “zingy”.

Ingredients for the Slaw:

100g cabbage

100g carrot

15g coriander leaves

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp fish sauce

1 garlic clove

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

1½ tbsp caster sugar

½ lime

Ingredients for the Peanut sauce:

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 red chillies

2 cloves garlic

 1 tin of coconut milk

2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 lime

2 tsp ketjap manis

1 tbsp sweet chilli dipping sauce

Roasted  Rhubarb & Lemon Cream Pavlova served with a Ginger Prosecco Cocktail

Firstly, roast some chopped rhubarb. Lay it on a baking tray and sprinkle with a generous amount of brown sugar. Pop into a preheated oven at 200C for 15 minutes. The rhubarb should not be overly sweet as the Pavlova and the lemon cream are sugary, and the sharpness and slightly sour quality of rhubarb is needed to cut through the sweetness.  Meringues are easy – never let anyone tell you otherwise. Personally I don’t bother with recommended tricks such as adding Cream of Tartar or white vinegar into the whipped egg white and sugar. The best tip is to ensure your whisks and bowl are totally free of grease (wash beforehand in very hot water) as any trace of fat will give you flaccid meringues. For an 8” Pavlova, you’ll need 3 or 4 egg whites and approx 50g of castor sugar per egg. Whisk the egg whites on slow speed for 2 minutes, then pump up the power for another minute until the mixture is light and fluffy and forming peaks. Gradually introduce the sugar, one tablespoon at a time as you continue to whisk. Then add a couple of tablespoons of lemon curd and combine well. You can use the leftover yolks to make your own, but when short of time, I just use a good quality shop bought curd.  Assemble, stand back and admire, then tuck in with gusto.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 egg whites

6 oz castor sugar

2 tablespoons lemon curd

300ml whipping cream

A couple of sticks of rhubarb

Brown sugar

As a final flourish, enjoy a Ginger Prosecco cocktail with your pudding. This is a slightly sour cocktail, but a perfect partner to sweet Pavlova. Muddle some chopped ginger, approximately 1” of fresh root, a spoonful of castor sugar and the juice of one lemon (muddling is apparently Cocktail Mixology lingo; I bung it in a pestle and mortar and bash it about). Strain this into a glass and top with Prosecco, or if feeling ultra decadent, champagne. Serve with a sliver of root ginger to decorate the glass.

Ingredients:

Fresh root ginger

Sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Prosecco

So there you have it – a few of my favourite meals for Summer, but they all taste so wonderful I am certain that they will be added to your repertoire and eaten throughout the year.