Sunday 26 April 2009

What glorious weather we've had recently, though I'm writing this looking out into a rain-soaked garden as all changed overnight - such is English weather!   But as for last week - when it's that good early in Spring one can't help but be lulled into a false sense of security that summer is actually here.  We've had perfect deep blue skies, hot sun, cool breezes, fluffy clouds, the temperature hovering around 70 degrees on a good day, blossom in abundance, the smell of freshly-mown grass and the breathtaking sight of shady glades dancing with millions of bluebells in dappled sunlight - what could be better?  It puts one in mind of strolling, picnics, barbecues and general life al fresco. 

And at last the asparagus is here which is just cause in itself for joy and rapture.  Yesterday, after a surprisingly energetic bout of spring-cleaning, we had friends for supper and dunked our lovely slim English stems, wrapped in parma ham and griddled, in soft-boiled eggs from our hens, the huge, deep orange yolks providing the perfect sauce.  Then, fresh crab stirred into crushed new potatoes with lime, creme fraiche and chives to accompany seared tuna and a salad of pea shoots - mmmm.    The evening was a little chilly to risk eating outside - you suddenly remember it's not yet summer when the sun goes down - but we wandered round the garden with our drinks before decamping to the cosy lounge, lighting a fire and tucking into our tasty morsels.  Dark chocolate and orange tarts with sharp raspberries and sweet blueberries balancing on top slightly haphazardly to finish before collapsing into bed well after midnight - way past our usual bedtime!  Today it was a long lie-in, a bacon butty, home-made lemon drizzle cake and papers in the garden, the distant mosquito-like hum of the Grand Prix emanating from the house in proper Sunday fashion.

Last week, the "post-operative" and slightly wimpy week, meant an abundance of comfort food zone and also involved an important job interview, so all the more reason to be comforted!   We had lunch out after the scary event at a super gastro pub in Mark Cross.  Husb had a big pot of steaming fresh moules and I had huge prawns in lemon, garlic and parsley and we sipped chilled, dry rose in the sun - it did a good job of calming the nerves!  So now we have to plan suitable menus for the two possible scenarios of getting the job or not getting the job.  Actually, if it's time to celebrate I'd like to go out for dinner somewhere special, either to Thackeray's or to the Hotel du Vin in Tunbridge Wells.  If commiserations are in order then I'd still like to go out!   But probably somewhere a little less snazzy or pricey - the little pub that does fantastic Malaysian and Thai food perhaps.  Looks like nothing much from the outside, or even from the inside really, but the food is superb and there's a beautiful garden.

Outings aside, and especially if the weather continues to be good, we'll be having food for the grill - lamb chops marinated in garlic and mint with salsa verde and Jersey Royals, juicy chicken thighs rubbed in cumin and coriander seed with a spicy pilaf, homemade beef burgers with chilli.    Lots of easy, quick, tasty possibilities that don't mean slaving over a hot stove while everyone else is enjoying the sunshine.    Next week it will be May already - my absolute favourite month - when everything is bursting with greenness and promise, the evenings are lengthening further and the vegetable garden is sprouting almost visibly - fantastic.

Meanwhile we have another few days of April to enjoy so why not spend them dusting off garden furniture, scrubbing decks and balconies, cutting the grass and planting some geranium pots to decorate the patio?  Then you can be totally ready to shift into the next gear of outdoor living.

Happy cooking!

AMT

Nil By Mouth

Sunday 19 April

 

 

Nil By Mouth … the words any self-respecting greedy guts most dreads to hear …. swiftly followed by Hospital Food.  Hmmm, very distressing.  Sadly, both of these applied to me this week, but I got through it without the need for counselling, hurrah! Seriously, appendicitis isn’t much fun and one’s appetite is definitely impaired but 24 hours without any food or water or tea or cold sauvignon blanc is a heck of a lot to ask for.  Intravenous drips just don’t do the trick I’m afraid.  The scoop of dry instant mash (thinly disguised as “creamed potato”) didn’t quite hit the mark when I finally sank my weary jaws into it, but it was the beginning of normality so I didn’t complain and finished every last bit.

 

So now my thoughts are turning to comfort food and all those lovely things you crave when you’re under the weather or chilly or woeful.  My lot treated me to delicious homemade pizza last night, the aroma of proving and then baking bread with melted cheese and chorizo wafting about so enticingly was divine and just what I needed - though I couldn’t wolf down quite as much as I’d have liked to! 

 

Marmite on toast, crumpets with honey, a bacon sandwich.   Egg and chips, tinned tomato soup, anything involving slowly-fried onions, mushrooms in butter and garlic.  Spaghetti carbonara, tuna mayonnaise with slices of apple or red onion, a hunk of cheese.  Mashed potato, on its own or with some  plumptious sausages, grilled salmon or atop one of three pies – creamy fish, shepherd’s or cottage.   Homemade, if you can be bothered, is always best with plenty of seasoning, lots of butter, some freshly grated nutmeg and perhaps a dollop of crème fraiche or fresh herbs.  But I now happily admit to keeping some Aunt Bessie’s discs in the freezer for real emergencies – thank you Delia for alerting us to these gems!

 

 Or how about some lovely soothing noodles with a spicy, creamy sauce.  Thai curry is one of the things I often crave and it takes very little time to make for satisfying results.  Of course you can use a ready-made curry paste (I find them too salty), but if you keep some jars or tubes of ready-minced garlic, lemon grass, ginger (or galangal) and chilli in the fridge you can knock up a pretty good semi-cheaty version in minutes.  All you need to do is finely chop an onion and plenty of fresh coriander, add a couple of teaspoons each of the above aromatics (maybe less chilli if you don’t like it too hot), stirfry the mixture in a little oil with about 350g of chopped chicken breast for a few minutes, then add a tin of coconut milk, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a tablespoon of salty, savoury nam pla (Thai fish sauce).  Simmer for about 10 minutes, taste and add a little salt if you need to or a glug of concentrated liquid chicken stock.  A teaspoon of sugar also adds an authentic note.  Meanwhile cook your noodles or rice as per packet instructions and serve with your lovely curry sauce and a sprinkling of coriander on top, sink into the sofa with the bowl up to your chin and slurp away happily whilst you watch comfort TV.  This works well with prawns, cod or haddock too, though the fish should only be added 5 mins before the end.

 

Then there’s always chocolate …

 

Happy cooking!

AMT

Thursday 9 April 2009

Much as I love to cook when I have plenty of time and energy - and much as I find cooking relaxing and a great stress-buster - sometimes I just can't get inspired or am too ravenous and tired to think about anything remotely creative.  When I was commuting all those hours to the other side of London, weekday cooking sometimes became virtually impossible or we'd still be eating at 10pm which was past our bedtime!   The shock of going back to work on a Monday after a weekend off the grind often meant a "blue plate meal" that evening, ie whatever we had was going to be fairly basic and therefore worthy of the willow patterned plates bought 20 years ago for a £1 (the kind that bounce if you drop them, none of them are yet chipped).    So this blog is dedicated to the humble blue plate meal and long may it live!  

Number one has to be beans on toast, one of our all-time favourite fast food meals - and it has to be Heinz and with  a knob of butter stirred in till the sauce goes orange and served on thick, uncut white bread, toasted with plenty of Lurpak melting in and maybe a sprinkling of mature cheddar on top.  Or some of that bendy smoked German sausage, sliced and crisped in a frying pan, hidden in the lovely beany depths (we call this version Bean Surprise).  Yum.  The next worthy contributor is the divine fish finger sandwich.  I love mine on white bread, the fingers grilled till crispy and starting to char round the edges, cod fillet steaming within, with mayo and crisp iceberg lettuce.  Husband just has his with generous dollops of ketchup - 8 fingers and four slices of buttered white bread.  Either way it's one of the best meals ever.

On a Tuesday we might be a little more inventive and have the strength to crack open a bag of penne or fusilli.  Pasta and pesto is one of those dishes I absolutely crave if I haven't eaten it in a few weeks.  Fresh pesto from the chiller cabinet rather than the long-life jars is preferable, but it's even better home-made and takes a few seconds to make so there's no excuse really. Take lots of fresh basil leaves (a large growing tub has a good amount) a handful of grated pecorino or parmesan cheese, another of pine nuts, a juicy clove or two of garlic, the grated zest of a lemon (optional but cuts through the richness beautifully) and some extra virgin olive oil added slowly as you whizz everything in the processor till it's a lovely, thick, vibrant green paste.  This stirred into hot pasta is the best fresh sauce in the world in my opinion.  Jazz it up with a few crisp pancetta cubes or some roasted peppers and courgettes, with a little creme fraiche stirred in and it goes into the realms of gourmet comfort food (and therefore automatically graduates to a black (Habitat scraffito) bowl meal).  More parmesan and lots of cracked black pepper on top, mmmmm.  With your leftover pesto, the possibilities are endless - add more oil and you have an instant salad dressing or spread it thickly onto salmon fillets and roast in the oven at 200C for 12-15 minutes.  Served with boiled or crushed new potatoes and salad this would make a delicious supper for perhaps a Thursday.

Then there's cheese on toast - the smell of grilled cheese is so homely and mouth-watering. There's nothing wrong with ordinary sliced bread and Red Leicester or Double Gloucester, but if it's Wednesday and your taste buds have gone beyond the relative blandness of beans and fish fingers, you can knock up something very quick but slightly more decadent in a few minutes. Some decent bread helps here, perhaps a small ciabatta split horizontally or something else rustic and open-textured.  Thick slices, drizzled with olive oil, toasted on a hot griddle pan for a few minutes then topped with sunblush tomatoes, basil leaves, parma ham and some oozy cheese of your choice - perhaps taleggio, provolone or gorgonzola piccante - under a hot grill for about 3 minutes ... absolute bliss with chilled pinot grigio or a glass of cool, light red.

And last, but certainly not least, a bowl of homemade soup.  Hot and steaming with a chunk of crusty bread on the side, it's filling, nutritious and quick for lunch or dinner.   Thank goodness for the frozen pea - often so much better than a fresh one, which unless you grow your own are past being good once they reach the supermarkets, too starchy.  Frozen ones are picked and thrown in the ice within minutes and haven't a chance to ruin.  So use them without fear of reprisal!  Pea soup - bright green and velvety is lovely at any time of year but I particularly love it in the Spring.  Again, it takes minutes to make.  Sweat half a chopped onion in a little butter till soft, then then throw in 500g frozen peas and 500ml hot vegetable or chicken stock.  You can add parsley or mint leaves if you like.  Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and puree with a hand blender, adding more hot water or stock gradually till you have a thick, smoothish soup.  Stir in a dollop of creme fraiche and season.  Optional extras - finely chopped ham or crisp bacon sprinkled on top, or some chopped chives.   Scrumptious.  For a more substantial meal serve with a sandwich, perhaps cheese and salad on brown bread (and on a blue plate of course ...)

So there you are, there is no need ever to resort to the flabby, salty, microwave meal again. Most of the above take no more time to put together than it would for you to wait for the dreaded ping and you'll certainly feel mores satisfied and no doubt save a few quid too...

Happy cooking and Happy Easter! 

AMT

Saturday 4 April 2009

Whatever the weather, the sight of a magnolia tree in full bloom always lifts the spirits.  What a shame the word "magnolia" so often conjours up the bland, neutral walls of the student flat or boring show home - how it ever got relegated to this lowly status is beyond me.  Our tree is at its most magnificent right now and so here I pay it - and its close neighbours the azalea and the rhododendron - a well-deserved homage.

Over to more edible items now .... this weekend, while the others brave the chilly waters of the lake for day's sailing, I head for Hastings old town, to wander along the misty beaches and browse the fishing huts.  Gnarly old men selling the freshest dabs and flounders, gurnards and gleaming irridescent mackerel.  I pick up a few tasty morsels - a huge plump crab to be potted in clarified butter, fragranced with bay and a tiny pinch of mace and cayenne pepper, hot buttered toast to go with.  For those as don't like crab, some fresh squid lightly floured and briefly fried in hot oil, sprinkled with sea salt and lemon and dipped in sweet chilli sauce.  Crisp, hot, salt, sour, sweet - perfect combinations.  And then huge fillets of just-landed wild sea bass, baked in a hot oven for 12 minutes and served on a pile of herby mashed potato - more lemon required of course.

But when the little sailors first return windswept and rosy from their galleons they'll be starving for other things, so huge mugs of steaming hot chocolate and a tray of homemade flapjacks will be waiting for them to wolf down while they warm up in front of the fire.  Later on we will tuck into our fish supper and I'm sure we will all sleep well tonight.

Sunday fayre this weekend will be nothing too elaborate, just yummy "Sunday stuff".  A lie-in followed by a lazy brunch of juicy chipolatas and smoked bacon from the farm down the road, our own hens' eggs with their gorgeous deep orange yolks, grilled vine tomatoes and warm home-made soda-bread will set us up for the day nicely.  Swimming and cycling in the afternoon for those as wants to work it off - gardening an loafing about in the sun with the papers for others.  We won't need lunch but will have afternoon tea and chocolate cake and then an early evening supper.  Remember the '70s TV advert "Du vin, du pain, du Boursin"?   I think one of my favourite meals is good bread and cheese.  The smell and texture of a real French baguette freshly baked in France cannot be replicated over here for some reason, but there is a very passable new part-baked rustic baguette in the supermarkets at the moment that is extremely good despite not being quite the real thing and it's perfect if you're feeling lazy.    One of these, with a couple of good cheeses and some rough venison pate, a few pickles and a tomato and red onion salad will be just the thing, washed down with a tumbler of local ale or red vin de table, mmmm....  Happy cooking!  AMT

Monday 30 March 2009

The clocks are springing forward and things are definitely looking up.  People are emerging from hibernation and the cafes and bistros are dusting down their garden tables and chairs and putting them outside.  Even on a blustery day there are hardy folk encased in their woollies, sitting and watching the world go by with their gloved hands wrapped around their cappuccinos.  It's lovely when you can start to think about dining al fresco - maybe it's still a little way off before we can be sure of a shiver-free experience but it's the thought that counts!

In the meantime we can still enjoy the cosiness that late winter/early spring has to offer as regards mealtimes.  Roast chicken has to be one of the most comforting dishes ever.  I love it with creamy mashed potato and cauliflower cheese - this could be construed as a "beige too far" but I don't care, sometimes that's all you want.  Last weekend we were feeling a bit more vibrant and in need of colour so we roasted a beautiful butternut squash with olive oil, rosemary and thyme, steamed a few green beans and broccoli and baked some Hasselback potatoes.  Hedgehog potatoes the kids might call them.  You just cut deepish slits into each large baking potato (Maris Pipers or King Edwards are good for this), rub them in a little olive oil, sea salt and maybe a few chopped herbs and roast them for an hour or so while the chicken is cooking.  Lovely and crisp on the outside and soft in the middle - yum.  Our huge free-range bird was juicy and tender with its rough stuffing of lemon, onion, garlic and thyem and amply served four of us with more to spare for sandwiches the next day.

If the weather holds out this weekend we might even fire up the barbecue but that could be a little optimistic!  We were even talking about camping the other day ....

Happy cooking! 

AMT

Thursday 19 March 2009

Hello and welcome to Lobster Cards! Spring is in the air, the days are at last noticeably longer and lighter, the daffodils are in bloom and the little lambs are gambolling in the fields…. So much promise at this time of year and it’s the time to think of spring in terms of cooking too. Some tasty lamb from our superb local butcher will be on the menu in our house soon, that’s for sure...

A lovely plump leg of lamb for Easter can’t be beaten in my book – either slow-roasted with lemon and cinnamon until the meat just falls off the bone and melts in the mouth, like a Greek kleftiko, or cooked at a high temperature so that it crisps on the outside and stays pink and juicy in the middle – either way it’s perfect. Studded with slivers of garlic and sprigs of rosemary and roasted straight on the oven bars over a tray of thinly sliced seasoned potatoes which absorb all the garlicky, lamby juices dripping on to them is pure heaven. We grew up with this dish for Sunday lunches or dinner parties - and mum always called it “gigot qui pleur”, or Crying Lamb. Served with some “squeaky” green beans, it is just to die for (or cry for) and is so easy there’s barely any need for a written recipe.

The weather this week has also been great for photographing food outdoors – hazy, diffuse light is perfect as it doesn’t throw destructive shadows. This week I’ve had great fun with cabbages and beetroot and, call me strange, but I really believe that the Savoy cabbage is the most photogenic vegetable in the world with its lovely veining and gorgeous jade hues and shape. And the colour of beetroot is just pure magic. After the photo session we rubbed them in olive oil and salt, baked them until tender and had them with a melting venison casserole – a blissful combination. And the cabbage – sauteed with dry-cured smoked bacon, garlic and a little cream made a perfect accompaniment to some plump pork sausages. Any cabbage we don’t finish off our chickens will gobble up like there’s no tomorrow so nothing goes to waste!

More anon – time to sow some seeds in our new vegetable patch and hope they grow into giant beanstalks and juicy carrots. We’re new to this so tips are always welcome! Meantime I look forward to sharing more recipe tips with you soon and I hope you enjoy browsing the card selection.

Happy cooking!
AMT