More Amazing Salads

I have always been looking for a good salad recipe to use up left over chicken. This Thai Chicken, Coconut and Coriander Salad with Crispy Shallots is the best one I have found yet. If you don’t have any left over chicken, poach the chicken in the dressing as in the recipe., Coconut and Coriander Salad with Crispy Shallots

Thai Chicken, Coconut and Coriander Salad
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
Fresh or frozen lime leaves
2 Thai birds eye chillis, lightly bashed
Small bunch coriander
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar, or brown sugar
2 chicken breasts, trimmed
40g toasted coconut chips (try Ocado)
½ a cucumber
3 carrots, peeled
1 red pepper, cut into very thin rings
1 lime
3 shallots, peeled
Sunflower oil
Sea salt

Place the coconut milk, fish sauce, the stalks of the coriander (saving the leaves for the salad), the chillis, the sugar, a teaspoon of salt and the lime leaves in a saucepan. Add the chicken breast and bring to the boil. Gently simmer to poach the chicken for 12–15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove chicken from the pan and rest. Turn up the heat on coconut milk and reduce until a few tablespoons remain. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Strain and add the juice of the lime. Taste and adjust seasoning. It should be fragrant, spicy, sour and sweet.

Meanwhile, shave the cucumber and carrots, leaving just the cores, with a peeler. Put in a large bowl with the coconut chips, the red pepper and coriander leaves. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken.

Slice the shallots as thinly as possible. You can use a mandolin or food processor. Place in a small saucepan and just cover with oil. Over a high heat, stir the shallots frequently until they are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper. Spread out thinly and allow to cook. Lightly season with salt and fluff up so that the shallots go crispy.

Celery Salad with Dates, Almonds, and Parmesan

When you get to my age and you have been cooking as long as I have, it is really hard to find recipes that are fresh, exciting or different but this simple celery salad is really exciting. I’m not even that keen on fruit or nuts in savoury dishes but the celery, lemon and the chilli really balance out the sweetness. It made a very tasty lunch!

Celery Salad with Dates, Almonds, and Parmesan
Serves 2
½ cup/large handful raw almonds with skins8 celery stalks, thinly sliced on a diagonal, use leaves too
6 dates, pitted, coarsely chopped
Zest of one lemon plus 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chunk of Parmesan, shaved
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Very small pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Toss almonds, celery, celery leaves, lemon zest and dates in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Mix the lemon juice and olive oil together well. Add a small pinch of chilli flakes and mix through the salad. Serve with shavings of parmesan.Add the chicken to the bowl with the vegetables and then dress with the dressing (you may not need all of it.) Pile onto plates and top with the crispy shallots.

Warm Salad of Avocado, Baby Spinach and Bacon, Poached Egg

Salad Tiede was all the rage about 10 years ago. Literally translated as “warm salad” it is one of those culinary terms which just sound so much more exciting in French than it does in English. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have to taste exciting. Super quick and simple it relies on really great ingredients to transform it into something really special, so use the best bacon, avocados and eggs that you can find.

Warm Salad of Avocado, Baby Spinach and Bacon, Poached Egg
Serves 2
8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, cut into lardons
2 organic, free-range eggs
Large handful or two of baby spinach leaves
2 ripe avocadoes, cut into large chunks
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Splash white wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Put a small pan of water onto boil. Fry the bacon in a little olive oil until really golden and crispy in a heavy bottomed frying pan. Remove the pan from the heat from the heat. Put the spinach leaves into a large bowl with the avocado chunks. Add the red wine vinegar to the pan with the bacon and allow to bubble away. Add a dash of white wine vinegar to the pan of boiling water, turn down the heat and carefully crack in the eggs. Poach until the whites have totally cooked but the yolks are still runny. Remove with a slotted spoon onto some kitchen paper to drain. Stir the mustard into the pan with the bacon. I should have cooled a bit by now. You want the mustard to amalgamate with the bacon fat and the vinegar, not cook. Season and pour the bacon and dressing over the spinach and avocado. Toss well and tip into bowls. Top with the eggs and a good grind of black pepper. Serve straight away.

"Radical Lunch" and "Alpha Supper" for Omega 3

 Recently, I rather rashly decided to give up milk. Apart from suffering a week or two of hideously disappointing coffee at breakfast, I noticed no positive results. Alpro Soya can do many things but it just will never make nice coffee. I have often considered cutting out all sorts of other foods from my diet but recently I decided to concentrate not what you could cut out, rather than what I could put in. I decided to concentrate on an "Omega 3 and High Antioxidant Diet."

We all know about good fats and bad and that Omega 3 is super good for you. It lowers cholesterol  and risk of heart disease, it is an effective anti-inflammatory, is good for Arthritis as well as lowering levels of depression and some say that it is good for Eczema too. Think of it as moisturising your body from the inside.

Trouble is we never seem to get enough of it. The changing way that our food is evolving means that foods that used to contain high levels of Omega 3, no longer do. Cattle and chickens must be grass fed, not bulked up on corn and therefore meat, eggs and dairy which also used to contain high levels, no longer does. The same goes for farmed fish which will not contain the high levels of omega 3 as wild. Wild fish is expensive and often unsustainable. I have however found that Wild Alaskan or Pacific Salmon is often available, sustainable, not too expensive and high in Omega 3 and not only is its diet better but having lived wild, it has had to swim harder and it is therefore so much nicer and less fatty than its farmed cousins. 

I then trawled through a few lists of the highest rating foods in Omega 3 and picked my favourites - berries, wild and brown rice, edamame beans, spinach, walnuts and linseeds (also known as flax seeds), all sorts of beans, butternut squash and green vegetables, such as brussels sprouts, kale, spinach and salad greens.

Foods high in Omega 3 are high in antioxidants which neutralize your free radicals - most berries, avocados, apples and lots of other fruits. Some of the richest vegetables sources include artichokes, broccoli, red  and white cabbage, squashes and sweet potatoes. Small red, black, kidney and pinto beans are also high in antioxidants. Many herbs, including cinnamon, cloves, ginger and oregano and other good sources include nuts, such as walnuts, pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts and almonds, green tea, coffee, red wine (hurrah!), pomegranate, oats and dark chocolate (another hurrah!).

Amazingly, I found that I had already posted, just by chance a few recipes in the past which were packed with key ingredients - Chipotle Spiced Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli with Guacamole on top, could not be more perfect or how about Baby Spinach, Black Rice, Butter Bean, Broad Bean and Pomegranate Salad.

But I decided to devise a new, simple daily menu to max out on as many of my favourite sources of all this goodness as I could. 

For breakfast I simply added a handful of walnuts and some fresh berries to my Granola Recipe, which I could now enjoy with a proper cup of coffee having thankfully reintroduced the milk. 

For lunch, a "Radical Burritos" and finally for dinner," The Alpha Supper" brimming with Omega 3. And the great thing about this diet is, because you are not actually cutting anything out, you never feel hard done by!

Radical Burritos
Feeds a generous 2
1 small butternut squash, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes 
100 cup uncooked short grain brown rice
Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 knob of fresh ginger
1 fresh red chilli. finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cinnamon
1tbsp. tomato puree
1 red pepper, chopped in 1/2 to 1cms cubesOne can black beans, drained and rinsed

4 tortilla wraps (large or x-large)
1 avocado

handful of baby spinach or lettuce

Fresh coriander

Preheat oven to 180C. Cover the rice with plenty of cold water in a saucepan and a pinch of salt and put on a medium-high heat to cook. It will take about 30-40 minutes and is done when it is tender with no hint of chalkiness. Drain when ready. Meanwhile, toss the squash in olive oil and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast for 30-45 mins until tender and beginning to caramelise.

In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat add a good plug of olive oil and the onion. Cook gently without colour for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic, the fresh red chilli, the cumin and cinnamon  Fry for a minute or two. Add the tomato paste and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fry a minute more before adding the red pepper and the beans. Add a little water and cook all together for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cooked rice and check the seasoning. Finally stir in the butternut squash and a good handful of freshly chopped coriander.

Add bean filling to the tortilla with desired a handful of spinach and some freshly sliced avocado.  Wrap and serve. Leftover filling can be reheated the next day.

Alpha Supper

You can easily buy ready made Teriyaki sauce in the shops or make your own. The bought varieties vary massively from the rather healthy Clearspring Organic Teriyaki to much sweeter and stickier varieties such as Waitrose own, which I have to admit to being rather fond of. I like to season the fish with a sprinkle of Togarashi which is a traditional Japanese seven-spice mixture is a blend of red peppers, sansho pepper, roasted orange peel, black and white sesame seeds, seaweed, and ginger. You can find it is a good Japanese or oriental supermarket but if you can't find it, never mind, just use sesame seeds.

Supper for 2

2 pieces of Wild Salmon
50g wild rice
100g frozen edamame (shelled) you can buy soya beans in the freezer section of large supermarkets
3 tbsp teriyaki sauce
1-2 tsp sesame seed
Pinch Togarashi (optional)1 bag of leaf spinach (200g or two large handfuls)
1 tbsp. sesame oil
wedge of lime

Place salmon in a bowl and pour over 2 tbsp. Teriyaki and turn to coat. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to marinate. 


Put the wild rice in a saucepan with plenty of water and a pinch of salt and boil for about 20 minutes until the rice begins to crack open and has a chewy consistency and a nutty flavour. Add the edamame and bring back to the boil. Cook for one or two minutes and drain. Add the last tablespoon of Teriyaki sauce. Preheat the oven to 180C.


Put the salmon in a oven dish and sprinkle with sesame seeds and a pinch of Togarashi is you have some. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until the salmon is firm and just cooked.

Meanwhile, put another large saucepan on the heat. Add the sesame oil and the spinach with a good pinch of salt. Cook until just wilted. Stir with tongs and remove from heat as soon as it is done. Pile the spinach onto two plates. Scatter with the wild rice and soya beans and place the salmon on the top with a wedge of lime on the side.

Baked Eggs - No Ham!

Another food scare which once again confirms that we just do not know what is in our food unless we prepare it all ourselves.  Hugh, the other half, has taken this one to heart. Even though we never eat ready prepared meals he has decided to not only give up nasty supermarket ham (as I have been telling him to do forever) but to go from one extreme to the other (as always) and give up meat all together (apart from free-range chicken!) 

This is an admirable principle but since it is me that does all the cooking, one that I am obviously going to have to endeavor to cook on my own. Not that it is really such an undertaking.  We don't eat that much meat anyway, preferring to let the vegetables be most prominent and predominant. 

Plus, my current series of cookery lessons  with Riverford, are all vegetarian, so I am always looking for new and exciting ways with vegetables. The challenge will do me good. Hugh expressed an interest in some baked eggs but there are so many variations, it was hard to know where to start. So many countries have there own take. In France alone, they not only have Oeufs en Cocotte but I distinctly remember having to learn endless page after page of variations in Escoffier for my catering exams, from Meurette to Florentine to a la Truffe

Then there is the Basque Piperade - Tomato, Red and Green Pepper Stew with Eggs, or the spicy North African variation of Shakshuka.  Mexico has Huevos Ranchos which is a similar concoction but with the addition of a Tortilla, more of a tomato salsa than a sauce and re-fried beans. But there is no need to stick to a particular recipe - you can add all sorts of herbs or vegetables - Tarragon, broad beans, courgettes, potatoes or kales work particularly well.

If you don't fancy a tomato based sauce then they are equally delicious with Spinach and Parmesan or even some smoked fish.  And of course you could add meat - crispy Parma ham, bacon or Chorizo all work super well with eggs but obviously not if you are a vegetarian who only eats free-range chicken!

Shakshuka
Seves 2
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion (thinly sliced)
3 cloves garlic (very finely chopped)
1 (28 ounce) can good quality plum tomatoes
1  red pepper (cut into thin slices)
1 fresh red chilli (very finely chopped)
2 teaspoons cumin
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 handful fresh coriander (chopped)
4 eggs

Heat the oil in a all metal frying-pan. Add the onions and saute gently until tender, about 5-10 minutes. Add the red pepper, some salt and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Add the garlic, red chilli and the cumin and saute until fragrant, about a minute. Add the tomatoes and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes. You will need to add  a cup or so of water to stop the sauce over-reducing. Stir in the coriander. Check the seasoning and adjust. Preheat your oven at 180 C. Make a little well in the sauce, where you want to eggs to go and add them carefully. Put in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs.

Huevos Ranchos
I like to make a huge batch of beans because I love them.  I use them up in Tortillas or Soup but you can half the recipe if you like.
For the Spicy Black Beans

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 Spanish onion, chopped 
3 sticks of celery, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons) 
1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt 
1 tablespoon Chipotle Chilli Paste ( try Trees can Dance)
2 teaspoons ground cumin 
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
1 teaspoon dried marjoram or handful of fresh oregano
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
500g dried black beans, soaked overnight
Small bunch of coriander, finely chopped
Tomato, Chilli and Coriander Salsa (Pico de Gallo)
Flour Tortillas
Nice ripe avocados

Heat oil in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat; add onion and celery. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomato puree and the Chipotle paste, the salt, the herbs and spices. Stir and cook 1 minute. Give everything a good mix and add the drained black beans. Cover with cold water and simmer, uncovered for about 30 - 45 minutes until the beans are cooked. You even want to slightly over-cook the beans for this dish. Remember, they are meant to be re-fried, which is not necessary but they do need to be creamy in texture to bring the whole dish together. Taste and adjust seasoning.  Add more chilli, salt, pepper or cumin if necessary. Finally add the coriander.

Place your tortilla in an all metal frying-pan. Pile some beans on top.  Make a well in a couple of places and crack in your eggs.  Bake in a medium oven until the eggs are just set (or how you like them.)  Serve with plenty of salsa and slices of avocado.

Eat Your Veg

As I may have mentioned, one of my many jobs is trying to inspire people how to use up a weekly organic veg box. I go to peoples houses and in two hours cook up a lunch for up to 10 people, from a medium veg box. None of the recipes are complicated, but I have to admit that when I get home from work, often the last thing I feel like doing is cooking. So I am going to share with you the ultimate easy, quick recipe for using up lots of veg, which also keeps kids and adults happy alike and it is none other than "a bake".

A "bake" really doesn't conjure up a good image for me - vegetable bake, tuna bake, cheesy bake - just the names fill me with repulsion. But there is no reason why a bake should not be a beautiful thing and happily it is always all baked in one pan, which saves on washing up.

I don't know about you, but when it comes to it my kids, aged 5 and 7, they are happiest eating nothing more complicated that some meat or fish, some potatoes and some vegetables. But it is so important to keep it varied, interesting and full of flavour. So this first recipe is just very simply a selection of all your families favourite vegetables, baked all together with a lovely piece of fresh wild salmon.. Choose a selection of seasonal vegetables which compliment rather than overpower the fish. This dish also makes a great alternative to a roast at the week-end especially when entertaining. If you want to impress, make a lovely Salsa Verde , some Salmoriglio or even a delicious Anchovy and Rosemary Sauce to drizzle over your fish.

The second recipe is similar but involves sausages instead of fish. I choose a selection of sausages. Some plain ones for the kids, some spicy ones for the adults. Chorizo style sausages work particularly well and add a smoky note. The sausages stand up to stronger flavoured vegetables - onions, shallots, swede, celeriac or parnips. This is a really good way of using up vegetables at the end of the week from your veg box. And, if you have got a lot of veg to use up, you can always leave out the fish or meat and just have the baked veg. It is just delicious on it's own.

Fillet of Wild Salmon and Vegetable Bake 
I only eat wild salmon, when in season, as I find farmed salmon is too fatty for me. There seems to be a good supply of sustainable Alaskan Wild Salmon available, very reasonable and full of flavour. ObviousIy I would prefer to shop more locally than Alaska so If you are worried about your carbon footprint then at least make sure that the vegetables are locally sourced. The selection of vegetables is up to you but the is my favourite. Beetroot or bitter leaves such as Radicchio or Trevise are also lovely with salmon.  One last tip about salmon: don't over cook it.  As soon as you see white liquid coming out of the salmon, that is albumin and it’s a protein, and is a sign that you salmon is done. Remove immediately from the oven and your fish should be still pink and juicy inside.

2 generous slices of wild salmon, with or without skin
2 bulbs fennel, trimmed of excess outer leaves, save fronds 
2 baby courgettes, cut in half
Large handful of cherry tomatoes
Couple of handfuls of New Potatoes, boiled in salted water until cooked
1 Bunch of Asparagus, woody stem snapped off
Extra Virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Cut the fennel into 4 or 6 pieces lengthways, depending on size.  Cut the potatoes in half or if very small leave whole. In a large baking dish toss all of the vegetables with 3-5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Make sure the tin is big enough.  If the vegetables are too crowded they will sweat instead of bake. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Try and make sure that the potatoes are facing down and that the fennel is also flat side down.  The more surface area that comes into contact with the bottom of the pan, the easier the vegetables will brown. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Remove the pan from the oven and push the vegetables to one side. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and place it in empty space you made in the baking dish. Return the dish to the oven and bake
for another 10 minutes, based on thickness of the salmon. Scatter with the chopped fennel
fronds.

All sauce recipes are adapted from The River Cafe.
Salsa Verde
I vary this recipe according to what I am serving it with.  I prefer to go easy on the mint as it can end up tasting a bit toothpasty and instead I opt for basil, dill, chives or the fronds from the fennel tops.  Just get a good tasting balance.
1 large bunch Flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 bunch Mint leaves
Very good extra-virgin olive oil
3 Garlic cloves
100g Capers
50g Anchovy fillets
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Red-wine vinegar

In a food processor chop the garlic, capers and anchovies. Add the mustard and vinegar, season and add some olive oil and purée until well amalgamated.  Add all the herbs and whiz and more olive oil to achieve desired consistency.

Salmoriglio
In a pestle and mortar, pound 4 level tablespoons fresh Thyme or Marjoram or a very good quality dried Oregano with 1 teaspoon sea salt until completely crushed. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Pour 8 tablespoons of very good, peppery extra virgin olive oil slowly into the mixture. Add a little freshly ground black pepper. 

Anchovy and Rosemary Sauce

2 tbsp. fresh young rosemary leaves, very finely chopped
12 anchovy fillets
Juice of 1 lemon
150mls very good extra-virgin olive oil

Place rosemary leaves in a mortar and grind as finely as possible. Add anchovy fillets and grind to a paste. Add lemon juice, mix well, and then, stirring constantly, add oil, a few drops at a time. Transfer sauce to a small bowl.

Sausage Bake with Vegetables
You can use all sorts of vegetables in this dish. I like to use up whatever I have left in the fridge.

Some good quality sausages
1 Red Pepper, cut into largish chuncks
A handful or two of cherry tomatoes
1/2 a butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2 cms chunks
2 parsnips, cut in 4 or 6 lengthways, depending on size
4 small shallots, pealed
1 or 2 Red onions cut into 8 wedges
A handful of New Potatoes, cooked in pleanty of salted water, cut in half
1 Bunch of Asparagus, woody stem snapped off
Extra Virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
A bunch of thyme

Preheat your oven to 200°C. Toss all the vegetables in plenty of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in a large roasting tray with the sausages.  Make sure they are not overcrowded or they will sweat rather than bake.  Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring well half-way through.

Less is More!

People at the moment seem to be choosing to eat less meat. It has become a bit fashionable to concentrate more on the vegetables, hence the massive serge in celebrity chef cook books about vegetables, as they all fight to jump on the bandwagon. Admittedly Jane Grigson wrote her vegetable book a good while ago and then her daughter Sophie followed suit with her own version some years ago. Nigel Slater has been banging on about growing and cooking your own for quite a while now, but then Sarah Raven, the queen of gardnening pawn, has just published her "Garden Cookbook" and even Hugh Fernley-Whitingstall dumped his signiture meaty dishes for the veg. And mark my words, there will be a glut of more veg books to come, in the near future. 

Some of this veg revival is economical. Growing your own is de riguere right now and shame on you if you are not on an allotment waiting list. Also the price of meat is demanding a reassessment in how much and how often we can afford to eat it. The fashion is to eat better quality meat but less of it and let the vegetables take pride of place on the plate. Secondly of course there are many good health reasons to eat less meat, mainly in an aim to cut down on the dreaded saturated fats.

Apart from vegetables, other great ways of making your meat go further, is to add carbohydrate such as grains, pasta and rice. Poorer cultures have learnt out of necessity how to make a little feed more and it is to these cuisines which we should turn if we want to learn a thing or two. So I have relentlessly been researching dishes from all around the world to bring you the very best ideas in saving money, saving your health and yet still producing delicious food. I have come to the conclusion that rice is a very good place to start.

Rice is such a fantastic food. It is an excellent source of fuel for our body and easily digested so the energy it supplies becomes quickly available to our working muscles, brain and body organs. Carbohydrates fill you up and around 85% of the energy that rice supplies comes from carbohydrate. Carbohydrate powers the body and helps to keep us moving. It is stored in our muscles and liver and released when we need it. Rice does actually provide a little protein as well but it is low in fat and cholesterol free.

I am convinced that although fad diets will come and go, eating a well balance diet of mainly fruit and vegetables and carbohydrate with a less amount of protein and dairy, is and will always be, the healthiest and most sensible way to not get fat and to loose weight if you need to.

Rice is present in so many countries cuisines that you can find fantastic recipes from all over the world. One recipe which seems to turn up in several different countries alone is Arroz Con Pollo, simply meaning Chicken with Rice. I found recipes from pretty much every country which Spain ever colonised at one time or another and that is quite numerous, including Central and South America, North Africa, the Caribbean, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. I love it when a recipe, clearly from one county, in this case Spain, turns up, almost identical, across the other side of the world in a country such as the Philippines. Why has it been passed country to country, one generation to the next? Because it has stood the test of time and it works.  

Arroz Con Pollo

I cooked mine in the slow cooker but you can just as easily cook on the stove top.
Serves 4
4 free-range chicken thighs, skinned, boned and all excess fat and sinew removed

Olive oil 
3 good quality chorizo sausages, about 200g, cubed
3 fat cloves of garlic, crushed
2 medium onion, finely sliced
Few sticks of Celery, finely chopped

2 red peppers, cored and finely sliced

1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, finely chopped or dried oregano
2 cup water
Large pinch of Saffron

A few fresh bay leaves
2 cup uncooked paella rice (or Risotto rice)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat up a large heavy bottomed saucepan and add a good glug of olive oil. Add the onions and celery and fry until the onions are translucent and just turning golden brown. peppers and cook for five minutes more.  Add the chorizo, herbs and garlic and fry for a few minutes more.  Don't cook for much longer as all the fat will come out of the chorizo. Season to taste. Meanwhile, heat the cup of water in a saucepan and when boiling add the saffron.  Add a teaspoon of salt and remove from heat and allow to infuse. Add the chicken to your peppers, the saffron water and the rice.  Add your bay leaves.  Cover and cook slowly on the stove top for one hour or tip the whole lot into a slow cooker and set on low for 3 hours. 

Winter Warmer

I don't really think of Winter as a season for peppers but Riverfords are amazing at the moment and keep turning up in my veg boxes.  They are so huge and fat and bursting with flavour that I could almost smell summer.  Admittedly, they come from Spain but when you are longing for a little bit of warmth, in this really cold dawning of February, a bit of sunshine from Spain can really cheer you up.  It's as close as a holiday as I will be getting this half term so I am embracing it with arms wide open.   

So fed up am I with Winter and my north facing back garden, which will not see a glimmer of sunshine until at least March, that I booked a holiday in Sardinia.  It is not until June mind but it did not stop me getting out all my favourite Mediterranean cookbooks to get me in the mood.  Flicking through Elizabeth David I could almost taste the Peperonata and before I knew it I was back in the kitchen.  Peperonata is a Sicilian pepper stew and amazingly, for such a simple recipe, no two versions seem to be the same.  I add not only capers and basil but Balsamic vinegar to mine, just to really nail that sweet and sour kick but I also leave out the tomato which is often present in other versions.  Use the best Balsamic you can, which not only means one obviously from Moderna, the home of  Balsamic vinegar but also one that has also been aged at least 12 years.  A decent one will set you back at least £12.00 for 250ml but it will be worth it.  You will not need very much and it's mellow sweetness and integrated acidity will add an amazing depth and complexity to many sauces especially tomato based ones.  I love this pepper stew, not only on its own with a rocket salad but also with meat or fish, especially wild salmon or mackerel.  The acidity works really well to cut the oiliness of the fish.  All you need is a few boiled new potatoes and you have a little taste of much needed sunshine.

Peperonata 

6 red peppers
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium-sized bunch of basil, roughly chopped

A handful of baby capers
A splash of very good balsamic Vinegar (Aged 12 years at least)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Start by slicing the peppers in half, scooping out the seeds and slicing into one-inch strips lengthwise. Now place a medium-sized heavy- based pan over a gentle heat. Add a tablespoon of the olive oil and allow to warm through. When the oil is warm but not hot, add the onions, a pinch of salt and sweat for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Once the onions are soft and translucent, add the garlic  and sweat for a further 10 minutes – the onions should not have browned at all. Add the peppers and stir to combine. Cook until the peppers are soft and almost falling apart; this should take about 45 minutes. Give the capers a good squeeze to get rid of any excess vinegar and add to the peppers. Drizzle with balsamic  and season with freshly ground black pepper and salt.  Cook until the vinegar has the right sweet and sour balance.   Add the basil and taste for seasoning.Serve either warm or at room temperature.

Hot and Spicy

I am determined to enter my first challenge.  I have been desperately trying to for about six months but it would appear that I am woefully ill-informed in the world of blogging and every time I hear about a challenge, it is because it has just finished.  I have a suspicion that other bloggers try and keep challenges secret, so less people enter and they have more chance of winning.  I know! Shocking!  It's a dog eat dog world, this blogging business.  You can trust no-one.  On the other-hand, maybe I am just completely paranoid.

Anyway, thanks to Farmersgirl and her great new group UK Cooking and Baking Challenges I am no longer in the dark.  Unsurprisingly however, I missed the first Sweet Heat Blogger Challenge set by Lyndsey of Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops fame.  But I am super-excited to say that I am in time for challenge Sweet Heat # 2 - "Spicy Soup."

This soup, interestingly enough started life as a made-up recipe for Harissa.  I make it exactly the same way as the soup, roasting the peppers, garlic, chilli, onion and cumin and then whizzing up the whole lot up with some olive oil, lemon juice (or preserved lemons) and fresh coriander.  I would use this to maybe marinade a chicken or stir into cous cous with some roast winter vegetables.  But somehow along the way this recipe evolved into a soup.  With just the addition of chickpeas it has been a winner at my Riverford lunches and a great way of using up peppers. And it is really delicious.  I made a a little extra effort for my first challenge and added some of my crispy roasted chickpeas.  I blogged about these a few weeks ago but this time I seasoned them with some delicious Ras-el Hanout from Seasoned Pioneers.  The combination of the soothing, earthy spices and the floral notes of the rose petals really enlighten this bowl of comfort.

Spicy Red Pepper, Chickpea and Coriander Soup

3 large red peppers (cut in half and de-seeded)

2 red onions (peeled and quartered)

4 cloves garlic (peeled)

1 -2 Fresh Red Chilli (de-seeded and roughly chopped)

3 teaspoons of cumin

Extra virgin olive oil

2 tins of chickpeas

Bunch coriander (roughly chopped)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Put the peppers, onions,  garlic and chilli in a dish.  Sprinkle with cumin, salt, pepper and drizzle with a good slug of olive oil. Wrap in tin foil and put in the oven for about one to two hours until really soft.  Tip into a saucepan and cover with water.  About  2 pints.  Add the drained chickpeas and bring to the boil.  Add the coriander and give a good stir.  Liquidise with a hand blender or in a liquidiser.  Adjust seasoning to taste. 

Something to look forward to...

The kids are back at school and I just have to face it.  Summer is over. Or as more accurately described it to Hugh, the other half, yesterday; "The months June, July and August - formally known as Summer."  I have heard some desperately trying to fool themselves that we may have a miraculous sunny September and that this is somehow going to make up for another wash-out summer.  Lets face it.  It's not going to happen.

I need something to cheer myself up between now and Christmas.  Something to look forward to.  I put this to Hugh, suggestively, even though I know that we are currently completely broke.  I saw him stop and think.  Had I hit a note? Finally he replied. "How about we have an Indian takeaway one night".  Indian takeaway!  I had more in mind a sneaky late sunny week in India.  Alright maybe not India. How about Lanzarote?  Sadly not to be.  The truth of it is that we need to start saving now if we want to have a summer holiday next year. 

Still, maybe a curry was the very thing to cheer me up.  I had a glut of peppers in the fridge so I knocked up a Chicken Jalfrezi and I really had forgotten how quick and easy making a good curry is.  It was fresh, aromatic, spicy and vibrant.  So much better that anything you are going to get in your average Indian restaurant.  "God that was good", exclaimed Hugh, "We certainly won't be getting any takeaways anymore".  Great! So now I don't even have that to look forwards to.

Chicken Jalfrezi 

2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 Red peppers, seeds removed and sliced
2 Fresh Green Finger Chillis, thinly sliced (more if you want)
6 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
4 Breasts of  free-range or organic chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1 teaspoons ground turmeric
3 teaspoons ground cumin 
1 teaspoons ground coriander 
1 large knob of fresh ginger, grated
Handful of green Cardamon Seeds, crushed, seeds removed and then roughly ground
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (400g) tin whole plum tomatoes, roughly chopped 
Small bunch of freshly chopped coriander

Heat the ghee or oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken which has been seasoned with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.  Fry, until golden brown on all sides.  Remove with a slotted spoon and add the onions to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften and then add the peppers. Cook for a further 10 minutes or so.  Next add the garlic and ginger.  Stir well and then add your spices apart from the cardamon. Fry for a few minutes more and add the chicken back.  Next add the tinned tomatoes and some salt to taste.  Allow to cook uncovered for about 20 minutes.  The idea is to thicken the sauce, cook the chicken through and allow the spices to mellow and  integrate.  It doesn't need hours on the stove.  Once the spices have lost their harshness and become melodious, add the cardamon and fresh coriander.  Cook for a few minutes more.  Serve with plenty of steaming basmati rice.

A little taste of Summer

If Spring makes me think "Italian", then Spain is Summer to me.  I don't know why.  Maybe because that is where I spent my holidays as a child, with my family.  This morning was one of the few days this year so far, that I awoke to a clear blue sky, that brings that excited feeling inside and I thought "Summer".  The next thing that sprang to mind was "Gazpacho" but that is the way I am.  Food is never very far from my mind. 

When I used to make this in restaurants we always used to serve separate garnishes of finely chopped red onion, cucumber, red pepper and chopped egg which was quite fun but this soup is so delicious it honestly need no accompaniment.  I personally do not add breadcrumbs to my version so I have made some little crispy olive oil fried croutons, just to add some texture. All you need is a hot summers day or evening and maybe a sunset and a glass or two of Rioja.
In South West London, I really miss having a Spanish Deli anywhere nearby.  It is a right schlep to trek to Garcia or Brindisa although both have online shops if you are stuck, so I was quite pleased to see that Unearthed had included quite a few Spanish products in their range.  I picked up some Hot Spicy Chorizo and I had some squid in the freezer which I usually pick up in Oriental Supermarkets for a really good price, so I thought I would concoct a Spanish Style Salad.  You can't beat the combination of Chorizo, Sauteed potatoes, Char-grilled red peppers, garlic, Sherry Vinegar and Squid.  If it had been Winter this combination would have made and equally fantastic stew, maybe with some chickpeas too.  But add some Rocket of Pea Shoot and you have a delicious lunch for a hot summers day.

When you do find a good Spanish Deli stock up on Sherry, Paella Rice, Almonds, Pimenton (Smoked Paprika) and Saffron, Sherry Vinegar and Navarrico Piquillo Peppers and you will have the store cupboard staples to make hundreds of amazing Spanish style dishes.  Then of course there are the wonderful hams, cheeses and salamis but these obviously do not keep.  In fact, in our house they may not even last a few hours.  

Finally don't forget that Sherry is not only fantastic for cooking but that Dry (Fino) Sherry is also very fashionable as an aperitif and a delicious accompaniment to any Spanish dish and the sweet  variety such as  Pedro Ximenez make wonderful dessert wines, ice-creams and puddings.

Gazpacho

This recipe takes no time at all.  Because you peel the ingredients before whizzing them up, there is no need to pass the soup and it has a really great texture.

1kg really ripe tomatoes

1 small red onion , roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves

1 fresh red chilli, seeds removed
3 Red Peppers, peel of as much skin as possible with a peeler, de-seed and roughly chop

1 cucumber , peeled and roughly chopped

A generous glug of extra virgin olive oil

A generous glug of sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For croutons

an old piece of rustic or sourdough white bread

some extra virgin olive oil

Make a small cross on top of each tomato with a sharp knife.  Blanch the tomatoes by placing them into a pan of boiling water for a few minutes.  Romove them and refresh in cold water.  Remove the skins.  Add all the other ingredients and either puree in a liquidizer or simply use a hand held blender.  Whizz until completely smoothe.  Check seasoning and add more salt, pepper or vinegar to taste.  Chill in the fridge.

 

For the croutons, tear the bread up into 1cm pieces and gently fry in a little olive oil until golden brown.  Remove and drain on some kitchen paper.  Season very lightly with salt. Serve the Gazpacho very cold with the garnish.

Char-grilled Squid, Chorizo and Rocket Salad with New Potatoes and Sherry Vinegar

1 lb cleaned squid
200 g small potatoes, either New or a waxy veriety. Both are nice.
100 g rocket
1 Red pepper, char-grilled and peeled, torn into strips
or 150 g Navarrico Piquillo peppers, torn into strips

150 g Cooking Chorizo, cut into bite sized chunks (I like Hot Spicy ones)
1 fresh red chilli, very finely chopped (if you are not using spicy Chorizo, or if you just like a little extra)
1 Clove of garlic, very finely chopped
Good glug of Sherry Vinegar
Good glug of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a frying pan, sauté the potatoes with some olive oil until golden brown on every side. Add the chilli, if using, and the garlic. Saute for a minute more and add the sherry vinegar. Toss well and remove from the heat.

Next, pre-heat a griddle over a high heat or light your barbeque. Meanwhile, prepare the squid. Slit it on one side and open it out to give two flaps (retaining the tentacles). Pat dry with kitchen paper. (It's important that you dry the squid properly, otherwise it will stew rather than grill.) Now, using a small sharp knife, lightly score it on the inside – if you score it on the outside, it won't curl properly. Score diagonally in one direction, then do the same in the other direction, to give little diamond shapes, taking great care not to cut right through the squid

When the pan or barbeque is searing hot, lightly brush the squid and the tentacles on both sides with some oil, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Only season the squid the moment it goes into the pan – if you do it in advance, the salt will draw out all the moisture. Now add the squid and tentacles in batches to the hot pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, turning halfway through, until lightly charred.

In a large bowl mix your rocket with the strips of pepper and the potatoes. The oil and vingar from the pan should provide ample dressing but check. Pile the salad onto plates and top with the squid.