In April the weather in dear old London town was so warm, people were talking heat waves. By the time we got to May, the news was talking of the annual hose-pipe ban. Now we're firmly in June and and the weather seems to think its April with intermittent showers. Heavy enough to make one look as though you entered a wet t-shirt contest just before entering the office but not frequent or lasting long enough to make me remember my umbrella. I don't care - I've given up trying to work out what you cook in this weather (certainly not macaroons, the humidity is all wrong). At this time of year my body craves salads and vegetables. This is a great salad to round off the day, as the sun goes down and the rain beats the windows. There are warm components but I wouldn't call it a warm salad as such.
Fig salad with spiced honey dressing Serves 1
Ingredients
For the salad 3 figs 25g rocket A few rashers of Prosciutto ham 1 egg Handful of fresh basil leaves
The dressing 1/4 tsp saffron 1/4 tsp cinnamon Pinch of nutmeg Ground coriander Cumin 6 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp ribena's chili jelly (be careful here, this stuff kicks)- if you can't get this then a mix of cayenne pepper and Thai sweet chilli dipping sauce makes an acceptable substitute.
Start by ripping up the rocket and basil leaves before tossing them together. Place on the plate to create to make a bed for the other ingredients. Cut the figs in a crisscross, almost to the bottom, then squeeze the base of the fig to encourage more of the flesh to expose itself. Doing this will allow more of the dressing to soak into the fruit. Arrange onto the plate.
Weave the ham rashers in-between and around the figs and start poaching your egg. Whisk together your dressing, tasting as you go- adjusting the amounts as required. (There is no salt in the dressing as the ham is quite salty so only add salt if needed once the dressing has been added to the salad.) When ready, place your poached egg in the centre of the salad and drizzle the dressing extensively around the salad, making sure to get copious quantities inside the cuts of the figs.
Yesterday I was bored, no other word for it. So I decided to bake- its a bad look for me when I have nothing better to do on a Saturday. I end up getting up late, sitting around in my pj's with the cats and watching really bad TV for far too long. Before I realise it, the day has gone by and I've achieved nothing except drank lots of tea, looked at lots of nonsense on the internet and hugged the cats. This vicious cycle has to stop
So I baked, at least that way I'm achieving something. Apple cake with maple syrup icing. It's a comforting cake with soft fruit that isn't just another fruit cake. The outside is ever so slightly crunch while the inside is soft and fluffy.
Apple Cake with Maple Syrup Icing
(taken from the Ottolenghi cookbook)
Ingredients
Cake
80g sultanas
4 tbsp water
280g plain flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking power
1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
120ml olive oil
160g Caster sugar
Vanilla pod
2 eggs
3 bramley apples
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 egg whites
Icing
100g butter (room temp)
100g light brown sugar
85ml maple syrup
220g cream cheese
Directions
Grease 2 8inch tins and line with greaseproof paper.
Put the sultanas and water in a small pan and simmer over a low heat until the water has been absorbed by the sultanas. Put aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 170C. Sift together all the dry ingredients except the sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy then gradually add the eggs. Mix in the fruit and lemon zest then fold in the dry ingredients.
Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold them into the batter in 2 additions, trying to loose as little air as possible
Split the batter evenly between the two tins and smooth them out with a palette knife before sliding into the oven for about an hour (or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
To make the icing, beat together to butter, sugar and maple syrup until light and airy. Add the cream cheese and best until smooth.
Assemble the cake when completely cold.
I've often believed that when the universe hands you a gift, it's just plain silly not to use it. When the supermarket decides to sell Duck breasts for less than Chicken (only counting the free range varieties of course), then that has to be not just a gift but also a sign; a sign that its time I cooked something slightly more interesting for dinner. I am fond of duck, but poor experiences have made me wary of ordering it in a restaurant. Like steak, it is often overcooked and tough, or even too greasy. However when treated with respect, Duck has a tender flesh and good strong flavour.
The honey in this recipe is a good contrast to the natural oils of the duck, however as the main flavours are quite complex you want to aim for simple and clean flavours in the side dishes. I've done this recipe a few times in the past now unfortunately this time I wasn't quite patient enough and didn't reduce the sauce enough
.
Duck Breast with Honey and Rosemary
Serves 2 Ingrediants
2 Duck Breasts
100g Butter
Olive Oil
2Tbsp Clear honey
1Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
300 ml Stock (preferably Duck but when pushed i'll use whatever i have in)
3 Sprigs of Rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 tsp All spice
Salt & Pepper
Directions
Score the skin of the Duck breasts with a sharp knife and season well on both sides with a good helping of the salt, pepper, 1 of the sprigs of chopped rosemary and allspice. Let the duck sit for at least 15 mins to help the flavours develop. Heat the oven to 200 C. Place the Duck skin side down in a smoking hot pan with a drop of olive oil. When well browned, turn over and place in the oven for 10 mins. Remove from the pan and leave to rest in a warm place.
In the pan which cooked the duck, add 1.5Tbsp honey and vinegar and place over a high heat. When caramelised, add the stock and reduce to a light sauce. Whisk in the butter and remaining rosemary.
Brush the duck skins with the remaining honey and place under a hot grill until crisp. Carve the duck and serve with the sauce.
... or Coq au Vin as its known to most of the world; is one of my favourite ways to warm myself when the nights are drawing in, the winds begin to howl and you're convinced the drizzle may never leave London anytime before next June. Admittedly it requires some planning as you do have to let the chicken marinade overnight, but this week's trek home from bible study, getting home after 10 in cold, damp weather with cold, damp feet was all the motivation I needed to put some chicken legs out of the fridge and into the marinade before getting into bed and dreaming of warmer days.
The purists amoung you should feel free to cut out the potato slices from this dish entirely and substute them with the more traditional mashed potato by the side. Personally, I've never been a huge fan of mash and I do like the idea of one pot cooking - it leads to less mess and less washing up after all.
(Taken from the Leon cookbook and played with)
Serves 4 Ingrediants
4 Whole Chicken legs (Skin on)
1 Litre Red wine (if its too cheap to drink, its too cheap to cook with)
A bunch of thyme, tied with string
A sprig of rosemary
5 Bay leaves
180g streaky bacon, diced (I prefer unsmoked)
150g button mushrooms (or normal mushrooms, quartered)
2 Carrots, cut into 1cm dice
2 1/2tbsp Olive oil
8 very small Red Onions (think shallot size), peeled and quartered
500ml Chicken stock
400g Savoy Cabbage
4 cloves garlic
200g Potatoes, small and waxy, thinly sliced
2tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
Marinade the chicken with the red wine, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary for around 24 hours.
Next day, take the chicken out of the marinade and drain it but remember to keep the wine as well as the herbs.
Heat the oil in a deep pan until it is hot but not smoking. Fry off the bacon until it begins to brown, then add the mushrooms, garlic, carrots and onions. Keep frying until the mushrooms have started to brown and then use a slotted spoon to left everything out of the pan, leaving the oil on the heat.
Season the chicken well then lay them down in the pan, skin side down. When one side is browned, turn and continue cooking until both sides are nicely coloured. Pour in the marinade that you saved earlier one and simmer until reduced by half. Now add the chicken stock, bring up to a simmer again (skim here if needed) then stir in the mushrooms, onions, carrots, garlic, cabbage and potato slices.
Simmer gently until the meat start to fall away from the bones and the potatoes are cooked but not falling apart , normally 30 - 45mins. Then take off the heat and let rest with the lid on for 10 mins and finish with the chopped parsley.
i found it stores well both in the fridge and freezer, and the flavours seem to develop to be even better after getting time to sit.
So after a long day at work with yet another blinding headache and searing nausea, I suspect I had a moment of madness. I decided to go back to my cooking obsession to ease my aching head. Ribena has been talking recently about a desire to grow rhubarb and i got to thinking what use it could be other than the old school canteen staple - crumble. So in the end, this is what i came up with;
Pork Belly with Rhubarb
Serves 1 (Generously)
Handful of fresh sage
2 cloves of garlic
Olive Oil
Sesame Oil
230g (Aprox.) cut of boneless Pork belly
Lemon pepper
1/2tsp Harissa (As a small side note i would suggest that the quantity of harissa should be judged dependant on the strength of your harissa as this can vary immensely.)
All spice
150g (Aprox.) Rhubarb
Crush a little over half the sage in the pestle and mortar then add the garlic and pound together. Add 2tbsp of the olive oil and 1tbp of the sesame oil along with the harissa, a crunch of salt and black pepper and a healthy sprinkle of lemon pepper. Marinade the pork in this mix for about an hour.
Cut the rhubarb into inch long chunks and group onto the base of an oven proof dish, preferably not a metal one so as to avoid the metal-melting properties of rhubarb. Cover the rhubarb with the pork - tucking the edges of the meat around the vegtable. Scatter any remaining marinade onto the meat and toss over the remaining sage leaves. Drizzle a little olive oil, crunch on some black pepper and add a liberal sprinkle of all spice. Cover with grease proof paper (and a lid if your dish has one) and place into a preheated oven at 220 C for 15 minites. Then remove the lid and greaseproof paper and cook for another 30 minites; watching carefully as the sugar from the rhubarb should caramalise but dont let it burn.
I served this with quinoa (tossed in a touch of maple syrup and harissa), pak choi and roasted baby plum tomartoes. A decided success - i was expecting it to not work or be sour due to the rhubarb but it was wonderful.
Yes I am aware of the huge hiatus that has occurred here. I have a massive backlog of posts so the next few post won't be at all time accurate.
I am often asked what started me cooking, why I have such a passion for it to this day and why I insist on cooking things that I don't eat (like the mounds of chocolate recipes that other people have to test for me). For me, I struggle to see why people don’t want to cook. It’s a meld of my two favourite things - art and science. To be honest, the vast majority of my happiest memories revolve around it and connected to it is the idea that this is how to make others happy, make them feel safe, make them feel at home.
When we were growing up, the entire family would always eat dinner together at the table and it wouldn't be unusual for us to take several hours to finish a meal because of the conversation. Every major event would normally be celebrated with a family meal and the truly important ones, like Christmas or my brother's recent 30th birthday, would be prepared by the entire family. My mother is possibly the best cook I have ever encountered. Originally a chemist by trade, she understands the science behind the cooking and this knowledge is tempered by a flair for originality and a desire for variety. I can't remember ever having a pre-packaged dinner served to us by her, and we'd never have the same thing twice in a month unless it was specifically asked for. There was never a negative atmosphere around food, we were never forced to eat our vegetables or finish our plate. Instead we were encouraged to simply eat until we were full and if we didn't like something then we could experiment with different techniques to improve the flavour and there was always something else to try. The emphasis was always positive, food was good experience and good things happened around food.
Like most of us, there are certain dishes that remind me of home. Dishes that I’m sure I can never do as well as my mother and that I will always request when I go home. These include; Lasagne, roast potatoes, biryani, Aubergine carriages, mutable, satay and many others. It is the magic of the biryani that I wish to share with you today.
My mother's spice cabinet is like a treasure trove, packed full of spices of all colours flavours and smells. Some of which, I'm sure, still date back to when my parents lived in the Middle East. She uses her herbs and spices like a chemist trying to mix some mystery drug. Sometimes she uses other people’s recipes but more often than not these days, I find that she is much better judge of what should be used. She knows that each piece of meat is different and may need slightly different ratios of spices and that recipes are not infallible. Her biryani, reminds me of her mastery of this. Last time I saw her make it, she did it almost completely by memory, taste, smell and feel. I cannot make it as good as hers because I have not yet learnt this mastery of taste, nor her knowledge of spices. What I do know, is that the smell of this dish is for me, the smell of home.
I would like to emphasise at this point that this is not a quick recipe or a small one. Biryani is traditionally cooked for celebrations; large dinner parties that have lots of people and take all day to prepare. This is an all day recipe, I'd really only recommend trying this if you have most of the day free.
(This recipe is originally taken from a Madhur Jaffrey cookbook that has lived on my mother's shelf for the last 20 years)
Biryani (Mughlai Lamb Biryani)
Serves 6 (enough for 6 hungry people)
Ingredients
1 tbsp Saffron
15 fl oz (425ml) long grain rice
3 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons of warm milk
3 medium sized onions (peeled)
4 cloves garlic
2cm cube of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons of blanched, slivered almonds
13 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of sultanas
700g boned lamb shoulder, cut into 2.5cm cubes
8fl oz (225ml) plain yoghurt
5-6 whole cloves
½ teaspoon whole cardamom seeds
2.5cm stick of cinnamon
1/6 of a nutmeg (aprox.)
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 oz (25g) of unsalted butter
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and at room temperature
Wash the rice in several changes of water, you are looking for the water to eventually become clear or nearly so. Drain it and place into a large boil. Add 3 litres of water and 1 tablespoon of salt. Mix and then soak for at least 3 hours (I did warn you that this took a while!).
Put the saffron threads in a small, heavy frying pan set over a medium flame. Toss the threads about until they turn a few shades darker. Put the warm milk into a small cup. Crumble the saffron in and let it soak for 3 hours. Don't forget to smell this mix, saffron milk has the most wonderful fragrance and is rather pretty to look at too.
Cut two of the onions in half, lengthwise, and then cut the halves into fine rings. Set these aside. Chop the remaining onion very coarsely. Put this chopped onion, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons of the almonds, and 3 tablespoons of water into an electric blender. Blend until you have a paste.
Heat 6 tablespoons of oil in a 25cm, preferably non-stick, frying pan over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the onion half-rings. Stir fry them until they are brown and crisp. Remove them with a slotted spoon and spread them out onto a plate lined with kitchen paper.
Put the sultanas into the same oil. Remove them as soon as they turn plump – which should happen almost immediately. Put the sultanas onto another plate lined with kitchen paper. Put the remaining 2 tablespoons of almonds into the oil. Stir fry them until they are golden. Remove them with a slotted spoon and spread them out beside the sultanas. Set aside for use as a garnish.
Now put the meat cubes, a few at a time, into the same hot oil and brown them on all sides. As each batch gets done, put it into a bowl. Don't try to brown all the meat at once, this will lower the temperature of the oil, slow down the process and clog your meat with grease.
Add another 7 tablespoons of oil to the frying pan and turn the heat to medium. When hot, put in the onion/garlic/ginger/almond paste from the blender. Fry, stirring all the time, until the paste turns a medium brown colour. If it sticks to the pan, sprinkle in a little water and keep stirring. Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pan. Add the yoghurt, a tablespoon at a time, stirring well between each addition. Now put in 1 ¼ teaspoons of salt and a little under a ¼ pint of water. Mix and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
While the meat is cooking, put the cloves, peppercorns, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a spice grinder and grind finely. Please don't be tempted to use pre-ground spices if you don’t have to. They loose their flavour a lot quicker once they are ground so you will notice a difference in taste if you do.
When the meat has cooked for about 30 minutes, add all the spices from the spice grinder as well as the cayenne and mix well. Cover again and continue to cook on low heat for another 30 minutes. Remove cover, raise heat to medium, and cook, stirring all the time, until you have a thick sludge (about 200ml) of sauce left at the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and spoon off as much grease as possible. The meat should be pretty well cooked by now.
Spread out the meat and sauce in the bottom of a heavy casserole dish. Cover and keep warm.
Pre-heat oven to 150ºC.
Bring 2 pints of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of salt to it. Drain the rice and rinse in off under running water. Slowly, scatter the rice into the boiling water. Bring to the boil again and boil rapidly for exactly 6 minutes, now drain the rice.
Work fast now. Put the rice on top of the meat, piling it up in the shape of a hill. Take a chopstick or the handle or a long spoon and make a 2.5cm wide hole going down like a well from the peak of the rice hill to its bottom. Dribble the saffron milk in streaks along the side of the hill. Cut the butter into 8 pieces and lay on the sides of the hill and scatter 2 tablespoons of the browned onions over it as well. Cover first with foil, sealing the edges well, and then with a lid. Bake in the pre-heated over for about an hour.
Remove from the oven. If left in a warm place, this rice will stay hot for 30 minutes.
Just before you get ready to serve, quarter the eggs lengthwise (I like to sprinkle the yolks with some freshly ground black pepper and paprika but this is completely a personally preference). Mix the contents of the rice pot gently. Serve the rice on a warmed platter, garnished with the eggs, remaining browned onions, sultanas and almonds.
***There is no picture of this dish because my photography skills are awful, however I enclose the below picture taken from here***
Now I have a thing about pancakes. To be honest, I’ll happily admit that I have a 'thing' for most carbs that then get smothered in unhealthy quantities of either salt or sugar. However, sitting squarely on the top of my list of favourite unhealthy things, is an eternal wrestling match between the many varieties of pancakes and the many-holed joy of crumpets. Both are very happy to be smothered in maple syrup but I think I’d much rather have the pancakes for breakfast.
At this point I should probably let you into a little secret - I’m not that good at pancakes, or crepes to be precise. In fact, I can barely remember a time when I’ve managed to make two good crepes in a row. Thankfully, the world of pancakes is wide and varied and although I struggle to make a decent crepe (or British pancake for that matter; which looks much like a crepe but tends to be thicker and heaver), I can do a decent American pancake, or scotch drop scones or whatever-you-want-to-call-them. Ax mixed copious quantities of blueberries and strawberries with these pancakes and then served them with some rather nice, oak-smoked bacon. All in all, it was a very good, if mildly healthy start to a Saturday morning. But let’s be honest, if you wanted purely healthy then you wouldn’t be reading this blog now would you?
Soured Cream Pancakes
285g Plain Flour
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Salt
55g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs (separated)
250 ml Soured Cream
150ml Milk
55g Unsalted butter
any fruits that you may wish to add (Ax used Strawberries and Blueberries)
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Put the egg yolks, soured cream, milk and butter into a second bowl and beat well, then add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Put the egg whites into a clean bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Using a metal spoon, fold the whites gently into the batter and the fold in the fruit. Do not over mix at this point; a few spots of batter or egg white don't matter.
Lightly grease a frying pan and preheat over a medium heat, add 3 tbsp of batter to the pan and turn the heat down to low to avoid burning your fruit. When bubbles are beginning to form and the underside of the pancakes have turned golden brown, it’s time to flip them. They should take about 1-2 mins on each side. These can be kept warm in a low oven whilst you finish cooking the rest of the batter in batches or can be stolen by the ravenous hordes as when Ax was cooking.
I'm a chronic insomniac who'll do practically anything for a decent cup of tea. The potent concoction of tea and cooking is my drug of choice and, since I tend to forget what I cooked up in the rush of the outside world that follows, this blog exists to chronicle my culinary escapades.
