Presentation is everything

Presenting food is sometimes just as hard as preparing it. 

We all cook, not only for ourselves and the pleasure of it, but also for friends, family and, for some, for clients.

In many ways, its just as important to take time to present your food as prepare it.  And of course, if its for clients, we want them to come back to us!

I'll admit, I am one of those annoying people who go to charity shops and flea markets buying pretty single or dual pieces of china, just because I may need it "sometime".  But of course there are always the "bargains" for 3 plates or for 5 cups without saucers, and I do refrain, most of the time.

I've only a few pieces readily available at any one time because you need space to put the regular china as well but displaying my recent recipes I have found a new lease of life for the collecting bug and then it occurred to me what do other cooks or chefs use?

Many chefs in 4 and 5* restaurants and hotels (and those who aspire to be them) will use white, but looking through my not insubstantial number of cookery books, I seem to have found at least a few themes.

If its a country style recipe (read French, Spanish or Italian country cooking etc) these seem to be brightly coloured small bowls of gorgeousness or large white platters and serving dishes of stews and baked fare.  Although the more we venture to the east of the mediterranean or to North Africa, the bowls seem to come in three varieties, silver servers, brightly coloured terracotta and beautiful white china with elaborate edging.

The more sophisticated the dishes, it would seem, would invite a layered approach with a base plate of a colour or with pretty edging and then a simple white serving plate on top.  Plain or coloured clothes are used to dress the table and, in some cases, the amount of silver out numbers the china and the food.

But it doesn't stop there, serving bowls can be anything at all, pieces of moulded metal, pressed glass or carved wood.  I have been inspired, but what to do, without space to store it all?

And then there is the question of the shape of the bowl/plate/server, oval, circular, square or something different still?

My own thought is to present food as well as it can be.  If at a dinner party, especially an informal one where the party is all about the food, at least one main part of each course should be presented on a platter or large bowl.  Or if not at a table, then in an array of baskets, servers, bowls and plates.

For a more formal setting, white tablecloths are a must, but that doesn't mean smooth and starched, and you know that antique lace one that your great aunt, grandmother, or next door neighbour gave you all those years ago, well it was made to be used.   I've seen crape paper and crushed velvet used on tables before, and I must admit, having a white base tablecloth along a plane oak table with a roll of gold wall paper down the middle as runner, may sound cheap, but add your candles, your flowers and your place settings and funnily, it can look fantastic.

Roll on my early Summer: some old favourites

I thought re-introducing some favourites from a couple of Summers ago wouldn't go amiss.

Who likes black olives, the ones which are stored dry in salt.  Such a great salad for this is this salted black olive and tomato salad, just something really salty and fresh tasting at the same time.  Try serving this as another topping for bruschetta or with a green salad with some cold meats and cheese.

Or, to go with the olive theme, how about some tapenade, this is rather a luxurious recipe and not for the faint hearted.  The butter alone will clog your arteries, but this is a great recipe for entertaining, although it really needs to be eaten on the same day as chilling it and then softening it again, makes it loose its fresh taste.

If you want a good bean dish this baked peppers with mint and black eyed beans is extremely versatile, a great alternative to vegetables and potatoes to go with roast meat on a Sunday or as great packed lunch.

How about the ultra-red tomato salad - a very good dish to serve with some pan fried fish, and it looks just the picture for entertaining, perhaps lunch on a Saturday with friends?

My final one from memory lane, at least for now, is a five part hints and tips for sweet Summer Basil, from tea to a great sauce for a quick pasta supper.

My early Summer: Bruschetta, tapas and more tomatoes

Travelling around the mediterranean, most countries have their versions of topped toasted bread, whether tapas from Spain or bruschetta in Italy.  Going to Nice or Marseille, there are always a few cafes serving small morsels in a very similar way too.

Summer is for snacking, or at least that's what many of my friends say who really don't want to eat a full meal in the heat of high Summer in Spain, Italy, Malta or Greece.  Snacking, along with the these heady days, equals sustenance in small portions that will keep you fuelled for a hard day at the beach or the pool.  It just so happens that many of these small meals are quick and rather cheap to make too.

An easy topping for Bruschetta is chopped tomatoes, chopped capers and a little olive oil and a pinch of salt.  The Bruschetta can be as large or as small as you like (the smaller they are, canapé sized, are called Crostini in Italian) and are perfect for a night in with friends and bottle of wine.  Just make your rounds of toast, sprinkle with good olive oil, and brush with a clove of garlic and top with the tomato mixture.  I normally grind a little black pepper just before serving.

If you want a little bite, add some chilli flakes or add some hot or smoked paprika.

If you have the time, other toppings are a sure way to get your friends attention by arranging them on a platter in an alternate pattern.  One of my other popular toppings are baked aubergine.  Halve the aubergine, sprinkle with olive oil and a scattering of sea salt, and bake in a medium oven for 30/35 minutes.  Spoon out the centres, the resultant pulp will need a little rough chopping, add some dried oregano and lemon juice.  Add these to your grilled or toasted bread and some crumbled feta is a nice finishing touch.

My early Summer: Stuffed tomatoes with wild garlic and Poitou Charente

Red ripe tomatoes are the epitome of Summer to me.  The bright red and the fresh taste.  Joy, especially when another colour, or colours, come along to increase the excitement.

In this recipe I'm using large red and yellow varieties, together giving that summertime feel-good factor.  With the wild garlic, nothing goes unused, and if you fine it a little limp on your return to the kitchen, just leave the tips of the stalks in a glass of water for 30 to 40 minutes and it will be just as luscious as when you bought it. 

Any small pasta can also be used for this recipe, I've used orzo because it was readily to hand.  Green lentils or black eyed beans could be used too, but if using the latter, only use half the amount and roughly chop them before they are put in the mix.

This recipe also works particularly well with fresh mint instead of flat leaf parsley and if this is your herb of choice, add the same amount as you would parsley, but also add a half teaspoon of dried as well.  It give this dish a little heat, so great as a dinner dish.

The proportions are just right for a main for two or a starter for four people.

Ingredients:

• 4 good sized tomatoes ("topped" and contents removed)
• Knob of salted butter
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin oil
• 6/7 sprigs of wild garlic, including flowers (stalks and flowers, finely chopped and separated from the leaves, which are chopped more roughly)
• half a medium white onion, finely chopped
• half a yellow courgette, chopped into quarter-inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 6-7 tablespoons of cooked orzo pasta (cold)
• Pinch of salt
• 4oz of good semi-hard sheep or goats' cheese (I've used Poitou Charente) (chopped into quarter-inch cubes

In a frying pan over a medium heat, melt the butter and add the olive oil.  Add the wild garlic stalks and flowers along with the onion.  Heat through and then add the courgette and continue to cook until the mixture is slightly softened, leaving the onion with a little crunch.  Set aside and leave to cool.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade.

Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with kitchen foil, dull side up.

In a large bowl add the cooled vegetables and the remaining ingredients, combine well, ensuring the orzo pasta are still separate rather than clumped together.  Then, using a dessert spoon, add the filling to the tomatoes and place in the oven for approximately 30 minutes.
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Serve with salad and/or with grilled fish.  This time around, I've served with sprouting broccoli and chilli flakes.

My Early Summer: Tomatoes with Caraway seeds

I thought I would start my series of inducing an early Summer with one of my favourites.

There is nothing quite like ripe tomatoes, but around now, when the first flavoursome ones come onto the market, this is the perfect opportunity to bring Summer to your lunchtime or supper time with the minimum of work.

In this recipe I'm using flat leaf parsley that has simply been washed, dried and de-stalked as salad green rather than a herb.  Hopefully, if its young (rather than later in the year when its pretty tough) it will have softer flavour.  However, if you think it tastes too strong, halve the amount and instead rip a few young leaves of spinach.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 large ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped roughly
• half a large bunch of flat leaf parsley, washed, dried
• 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
• 2 tablespoons of good olive oil or rapeseed oil
• 1 small onion, chopped very finely
• 2 tablespoons of your favourite vinegar, balsamic or otherwise (in my case rosemary infused)
• a pinch of salt

Place tomatoes and parsley in a large bowl.

Heat a small frying pan on medium and dry fry/toast the caraway seeds until they start to change colour.  Keep moving them around in the pan so that they don't burn. 

Add the onion and the oil and heat through, stirring constantly.  This is just to take a little bite out of the onion rather than to soften it as there should be a little crunch left.

Add the vinegar and salt and allow to bubble for just a couple of seconds on the heat and then tip directly over the tomatoes and parsley.  Mix through thoroughly and serve.

A very good accompaniment to some freshly made falafel or served with wholemeal toast as a starter.

Roll on my early Summer, a few suggestions

Roll on my early Summer

Now for some tricks and suggestions to make your fresh ingredients taste a little fresher.

Try buying your fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs from a greengrocer or an independent store that doesn't automatically chill everything.  Although cold preserves the shelf life, it diminishes the flavour and, even if these early harvests have been forced and then travelled in a cool lorry, the fact that they aren't in a chilled isle or in a cold cabinet means that when you buy them, their flavour will approximate fresh.

Tomatoes, herbs and green vegetables will certainly benefit and when you bring them home do not put them into your own fridge.  For example, put your tomatoes in the bowl on the counter along with your lemons, courgettes, peppers, limes and garlic.  You will use them all in a few to four days so there is no need to store them in a fridge.

If you buy olives - marinated or otherwise, taste before you buy if you can.  The disappointment will be avoided when you get them home.  How many times have we all brought them home and they have been too waxy or the lack of flavour has tempted us all to just throw them away?  If you are in this position, a possible way to eek a little flavour out is to marinade them overnight in some extra virgin olive oil and some chopped fresh herbs, but this will only help flavour them, if they are hard and waxy, you may want to soak them in brine with a little added cooking soda for a couple of days, then marinade them over night.  Not perfect, but better than simply throwing them away.

Fresh herbs should be bought in bunches larger than you think you need, especially parsley and mint.  Add them to a shall vase or tumbler out of direct sunlight with fresh water every day (and again, not in the fridge).  You will use them in less than three days and if for any reason not, on the third day chop finely and freeze in small portions or, my personal favourite, mix into softened butter and then place in the fridge.  Use as a simple dressing for hot plain pasta or for that quick baked potato one evening.

Whole spices, dry fry first before you pound them, they smell and taste so much better this way and along with many seeds, this is a sure way of invigorating the taste buds ready for the warmer months.

Roll on Summer!

Roll on my Early Summer

I'm writing this in blazing sunshine in mid April, sitting in a park in Beckenham, on the fringes of the South London.  So forgive me for me wanting Summer to begin right now.

Summer days, albeit a very warm April, will be with us soon and my mind and taste buds are looking forward to the abundant fresh produce and the bright colours that Summer always brings to our meals, life and gathering of friends.  After all, what better way to enjoy the good weather than to entertain friends or to organise an impromptu banquet at a local park or beach?

I've turned to my diaries and notebooks for inspiration, what were my partner and I doing for the last few Summers, what get-togethers did we arrange, what food did I cook, what made Summer?

Some of the spices and herbs, the smells and tastes, evoke memory and I can't help smiling, sunshine, good food and great company, can do this. 

Bright tomatoes and oregano came immediately to mind and then lemon zest merges with orange and then this morphs to more exotic combinations and flavours.  Yellow courgettes with caraway, especially those only a few inches long, if that, stuffed with cheeses or a fish medley and baked in an oven ready to be served with a luscious green salad and griddled ripe tomatoes, halved and sprinkled with ground pepper, perhaps some seared orange segments served with toasted almonds.

Already the smells are coming through with colour and I turn back to green salad and think of coriander, both seeds and herb and think of thick Greek yogurt gorged with them, with fillets of monkfish or chicken marinating overnight in the fridge only to be cooked over a charcoal embers the following evening, surrounded by friends with glassed of wine and beer.  To the side I see feta salad, perhaps Greek, perhaps just with melon or cucumber and fresh bread served with tapenade.

I have other dreams of Summer, some from 1976 and 1977.  The Summers of the great drought that made the summer holidays just that bit more fun and the Silver Jubilee year just a little like being on a film set.  The Brotherhood of Man won for the UK in 1976 with "Save all your kisses for me" and in 1977, Marie Myriam who represented France, won with her song "L'oiseau et L'Enfant".

I remember people smiling a whole lot more, especially when I think of the Winters we had all in a row, I remember one of them being so bad Dad had to dig our way out of the house (it was mid-Wales and I think it was the 77-78 one.  I can remember one of them without electricity, thank our parents for being a coal and wood household, we certainly weren't cold.  Friends in town had to stay with relatives because they lived in houses with only electricity.  The plus side to this, for us kids anyway, was not being able to get to school. snow fights and teasing your little sister about snow monsters and frost giants. 

But my dreams of Summer prevail and they always borrow facets from other places, namely other places where I've seen happy faces and experienced warm sun really.  Our holidays in Thassos, my visits to Malta and most recently our visit to see Susan and her family in Australia.

Although my body (heat and sun-stroke) isn't too keen, I am happier on a Summer day.  I have to go and sit in the shade on a regular basis, and I have learnt that even if I am in the shade but temperature is over 35 degrees, I need to go indoors, no mater well I feel, and drink plenty of liquid.  But it doesn't stop me watching others enjoy the heat and it gives me respite to go into the kitchen and prepare something light and tasty for others to enjoy.

With all this said, I want Summer to happen sooner, so if the weather doesn't hold out, at least we have the food and the smiles to look forward to.

Over the next few weeks, I will be endeavouring to bring forward Summer and the enjoyment it brings.

Bear with me, I may miss a few times, but hopefully the spirit of Summer will be felt along the way.

Welcome to my Early Summer

Mung Bean Salad

Mung beans, either sprouting or cooked as a bean itself, are rather fresh tasting.


The mung beans are soaked overnight and then need to cook for 40 minutes before drained with the added chopped ingredients to make a very fresh and very spring like dish.  The vibrancy of this salad is perfect with fish, cheese or light meats.  It is also a perfect companion to Falafel and other similar bean based patties.

Ingredients:

• 7-8 ozs of dried mung beans (covered in cold water overnight)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 tablespoons of chopped parsley
• 2 large spring onions, chopped roughly
• 3 small green peppers, chopped roughly
• 1 lemon for its juice
• Equal quantity of olive oil

In a large sieve, drain the mung beans and then wash through with plenty of fresh cold water until the water runs clear. 

In a large saucepan, bring water to a rolling boil and then take off the heat.  Add the mung beans and the salt, turn down the heat and then bring water to a simmer.  The beans should take about 40 minutes or until tender.

Drain the beans again and briefly wash through with more fresh cold water, but not so the beans lose all of their heat.

Add the parsley, onions and green pepper and combine well.

Whisk the lemon juice and oil together and also combine well.

Serve as it is with pitta bread or chilled for later. 

Keeps well for a couple of days in as the fridge and is a really good base for packed lunches.

Simple Turmeric Salmon

Turmeric is one of the three spices I must admit to over using in my youth. 

I learnt early on not to roast vegetables with it because it gave them a bitter aftertaste.  This spice loves moisture and with that in mind, this baked salmon dish is not only simple but it is one of the tastiest around.

Ingredients:

• baking foil, a piece two and a half times the length of your baking tray
• 2 large spring onions, cut lengthways
• 4 salmon steaks or portions
• 1 lemon for its juice
• An equal quantity of olive oil
• half a teaspoon of salt

On your baking tray, lay your baking foil centrally.  Add your slices of spring onion to make a bed for your salmon.  Then lay the fish on top.

Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil and salt together and then brush the mixture over the salmon.

Bring the sides of the foil up so that the fish are in tight parcel.  Ideally allow to stand for about 30-40 minutes,, but not essential.  Preheat your oven to 160 degrees centigrade.

Place in the oven for approximately 15/20 minutes.

The fish should be moist, serve with a green salad or salad of choice.

Kitchen tales: Falafel, Dara & Leather Lane

Falafel, for me, conjures up quickly caught lunches by Leather Lane when temping back in the late 80s.  It was cheap and tasty and, as a lover of hummus and hot sauce, this was a perfect break to a very conventional day.

I remember telling my immediate neighbour of this and Dara, who lived a few doors further down overheard and decided in her very thick French accent, to show me how to make it myself, "then it will be even cheaper".

Every Jewish household has a recipe for falafel.  Depending upon where the household is, the recipe will change.  In Dara's case, her family moved to Tangier in the early 1930's and then, as some of her extended family fled Germany later that decade, they moved to Marrakesh, to a bigger house.  Her father had been a jewellery maker and had worked silver and gold, and the house, at least to begin with, was also his workshop.  In later years he moved his work to the back of his shop.  Dara insisted on giving me a full history of her family before she started showing me culinary expertise.

Her little one bedroomed flat was colourful.  We had all moved into this block of flats after it had been refurbished and everyone had put a little or a lot of individuality on the magnolia standard that Lambeth council had decorated the rooms.  In Dara's case, this meant a burnt umber living room, with panels of her art, silk and paper collages which she sold at different markets, and throws of a similar style thrown over two low settees. 

Her kitchen was a mirror image of my own but packed with so much more.  She had added shelves and cupboards to the walls, thankfully hiding the acidic green for the most part.  But she had beads in the window, which filled the room with stars on a sunny afternoon and she still had space on a bit of a wall, to hang an old photograph in a very ornate frame of her family.  Taken in the early 1950s and gleefully pointing out who was who, the three youngest of the family, sitting proudly on adult's knees, the middle one so obviously Dara herself.

In Dara's recipe the chickpeas were soaked overnight with slivers of raw onion and chilli, but she admitted this was her addition as then it was difficult reduce the heat later on.  Her mother and aunts had insisted that the chickpeas be soaked on their own.

Dara obviously made falafel at least twice if not three times a week judging by the covered bowls on a wide shelf above the draining board and sink.  But she was also sprouting mung beans and other things so, falafel and hummus weren't the only regular visitors to this kitchen.

The following day the chickpeas are pounded into a rough paste along with the onions and chilli as well as two table spoons of chopped parsley and a clove of garlic for every 4 oz of pre-soaked peas.  A number of other spices and dried herbs were also added (which I found out later would change depending upon the mood, the time of year and what was in the cupboard) along with 4 or 5 tablespoons of olive or Argon oil and a little water.  Corn flour and a little baking soda is then added to the paste.  All of this was then placed in a covered bowl, in the fridge (if there was room)or left on the side (if not) for about an hour.  Patties were made and then deep fried for a few minutes.  The result was amazing, but Dara had warned me, they were spicy!

Falafel

My falafel recipe has developed over a number of years. 

Influenced by my neighbour Dara, mainly because she taught me that no recipe, no matter how ensconced by a cookbook is actually written in stone.  You are allowed to substitute ingredients and put your own take on it.  It was a invaluable lesson to learn.

My falafel is slightly more simple, I think, than a lot of recipes out there.  I don't have as many ingredients and once you get past the overnight soaking stage, the actual prep time can be less than 30 minutes and cooking time, depending on how many people you are making these for, can be anything from 10 minutes (including the heating of the oil) for one person, to under half an hour for four.

Ingredients:

• 7-8oz of dried chickpeas (soaked overnight)
• 5 tablespoons of chopped parsley
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 4 tablespoons of olive, argon or rapeseed oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of capers
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of corn flour (or regular plain flour)
• 2 teaspoons of Ras El Hanout
• 1 teaspoon of Sumac
• 3-5 tablespoons of water

Also add, if you feel the urge:

• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons of dried marjoram or thyme
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin

If you do, add a further tablespoon of oil.

The process is in two stages

Stage one:  Grind up the chickpeas, uncooked, with half the oil and water, separate and do this in batches.  For this amount, probably three or four batches are necessary.  The paste should be quite dry and you will need to do this a couple of times.  Depending on your method (a food processor is obviously the quickest and less arduous - but pulse the mixture rather than grind it continuously), the paste should be relatively smooth but with some granular quality.  If the processor is making hard work of this, add more of the oil and water, but be patient as initially it does take a few minutes for the results to show.  Some recipes stipulate to add some of the onion and parsley at this stage as well, but I normally wait until the second period of grinding.  In this case I add the onion, parsley and capers for this second stage.

Stage two:  Once this is done and you've checked that there are no whole chickpeas remaining, I then thoroughly stir in the dry ingredients, and if necessary, add a little more oil.  The resulting paste should be pretty stiff and you should be able to mould  small patties in the palm of your hand.  Now set aside in a clean bowl and cover and put in the fridge.  Ideally, the mixture should be left for a few hours and can be kept in the fridge in this way for about 3 or 4 days,  So, if you're on a falafel-fest, and are cooking these for lunches the following day, this is ideal.

When you are ready to fry these, have two pairs of spoons at the ready and a plate with kitchen paper sheets to one side.

If using a saucepan for your oil, fill to half way up and put on a medium heat.  As a general pointer, my hob goes up to "6" and I set the large ring to "4".

To test if the oil is hot enough just pinch a little of the paste and roll into a small ball and lower it on one of the spoons into the oil. If it doesn't bubble immediately, take it out of the oil and re-test a couple of minutes later.

For the falafel themselves, I normally use two spoons to mould them and place them in the oil and a further two, to take them out.  Not sure why, but it seems to keep the amount of free floating paste to a minimum if cooking a large batch.     In this way, I normally allow 4 falafel to each person, but five is good for hungry people and I normally cook an extra few for the fridge the following day for snacks.

Serve with lemon wedges, salads and hummus. 

Kitchen diary: Butter potatoes

Buttered potatoes - should they be fried or is the butter just supposed to dress the potato?

I've looked through my food diaries and my array of recipe books and depending upon the cook, the style or the country which the recipe comes from, it would seem that butter and potato have a close relationship wherever they are.

The most popular coupling seems to be frying your potato in butter.  Whether raw or cooked, the purpose of the potato is key.  If as an accompaniment to a roasted or braised meat, the potatoes seem to be raw at the outset or at least partially cooked.   This method seems to be a very northern European and Scandinavian trait. 

Fully cooked whole potatoes, albeit small potatoes generally, seem to be a mediterranean trait.  One recipe for Valencian potatoes, uses half butter/olive oil to first soften onion, garlic and tomatoes, then the cooled cooked potatoes are added with a sweet wine and then braised slowly.  The butter and wine making a relatively thick golden sauce.

Further east, cooked potato, rough cut into pieces are added to butter or gee that has been weighted with cumin and mustard seeds first along with a little turmeric and finished off, once cooked thorough, with chopped parsley.

And then there is the question about gnocchi, this lovely Italian creation was first served to me simply coated in a sage butter and, strangely, just a week later, and completely separately, new potatoes were also served in a similar way.

So, the question remains, are buttered potatoes supposed to be fried?

Quick Suppers: Spiced Lamb Pinches

These are highly spiced and a great alternative to meatballs.

Preparation time is just 15 minutes and cooking time is for a similar length of time, so whether you have these with a salad or with a batch of savoury or plain rice, this can be a very quick supper.

This quantity should be just right for two people or with a small salad as a base and topped with a little yogurt, just great for 4 starters.

Ingredients:

12 oz (300 grams) of minced lamb
2 tablespoons of dried marjoram and thyme
1 tablespoon of Ras El Hanout
1 finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 oz of salted butter
2 large tomatoes (cored, and diced)

Take a large bowl and place the dried herbs and spice in the bottom, combined together.

Drop small pinches of the lamb, and drop into the mixture, toss lightly and leave to stand.   The dry mixture should fully coat the pinches.

Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan on a medium heat.  Add the pinches to the pan and brown adding the onion and garlic at mid-point.

When done, toss the diced tomatoes into the pinches and serve.

Puy Lentils with Roasted Beetroot & Red Peppers

Lentils with roasted beetroot

One of my favourite accompaniments, although I love mashed potato, sometimes a lentil or three hits the spot just a little bit more.

With this recipe, the beetroot and red peppers are sweet and the earthy lentils compliment them marvellously.

Ingredients:

• 1 large overgrown organic beetroot or three or four regular sized ones (peeled and cubed if the former, cut into quarters or eighths depending on the size of the latter)
• 2 medium sized red peppers (roughly chopped)
• a good glug of olive oil
• a good pinch of ground sea salt
• 2 ozs of salted butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced thinly
• 1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 dessert spoon of dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 4 dessert spoons of chopped fresh sorrel, plus a few ripped leaves set aside for later
• 6 oz of puy lentils
• 1 pint of stock
• 1 large glass of white wine

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade and prepare the beetroot and red peppers in a bowl,  adding the salt and oil and tossing in the bowl before placing on a baking tray and place in the oven on the middle shelf for about 30-40 minutes.  The beetroot should a little crisp on the outside and soft centred.

In a deep sided frying pan (with a lid) or a saucepan, soften the onions and garlic over a medium heat with the butter.  Add the lentils and stir through to evenly coat with the onion mixture and then add the dry herbs and half of the chopped fresh sorrel.  Stir well and then add the stock and cover the pan and lower the heat.  When the liquid is simmering slowly, uncover the pan and continue to cook through until almost all the liquid in gone.

Add the wine and recover.  Again, as the liquid comes to simmer uncover the pan and this time add the remaining chopped fresh sorrel. Continue cooking until almost all the liquid has gone.  Take off the heat and recover the pan.

Test the beetroot and if ready add these to the lentils.

Serve with the remaining ripped leaves.

This goes very well with many kinds of protein and non-protein pairings.  Handmade sausages, pan fried fish, as do halumi and falafel.

Leave these lentils to go cold and this is a very tasty packed lunch.  Add some pine nuts and some chopped feta.

Leftover Mondays: Boiled Ham and Roast Chicken pasta with Puntarella

Leftover Monday, such a treat after the weekend!
 
Ingredients:

• 8oz of dried trompetti pasta
• 2oz of salted butter
• one large clove of smoked garlic, finely chopped
• one small onion, finely chopped
• one head of Puntarella, divided and chopped as described below
• one glass of white, dry wine, a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
• 10oz of boiled ham, roughly chopped
• 6oz of roast chicken, roughly chopped
• 2 dessert spoons of chopped sorrel
• 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil

Puntarella, an Italian chicory, for those in the know has a bitter quality.  Although not unpleasant, the beautiful celery like stalks surround a heart of under-formed stems that look a bit like pyramidal arrows pointing to the sky.

The shape of the leaves look a little like rocket, although attached down the sides of the celery like stalks.  Overall the plant tastes like mild aniseed so the overall experience to the cooked vegetable is rather lovely I think.

I cooked this like I do rainbow chard, stripping the greenery off the stalks, roughly chopping them and placing them aside for later use.  The stalks I chop to inch lengths and with the heat I cut away the base and separate the buds.  In this case there were a little over twenty of these.

As I am doing this, I am bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and start cooking the pasta.

Separately, in another large saucepan, I melted the butter over a medium heat and whilst this is warming through I add the chopped garlic and onion.  As these soften, I add the chopped stalks and the baby stems, stirring the mixture until evenly coated with butter mixture.  As this is warming through, I lower the heat slightly and cover with a lid.

At this point I test the pasta to see if just under cooked.  Depending on how rapid your boil, this may almost be done.

As the Puntarella mixture has had a few minutes covered, I now add the meat and the wine.  Stirring well and waiting until the mixture is heated through.  Again cover and lower the heat a little more whilst you drain the pasta, sprinkling a with a little olive oil to help separate the pieces.

Check on the vegetable and meat mixture to ensure this hasn't begun to stick to the bottom of the pan.  Now add the pasta to this, mix through with the chopped leaves and half the sorrel.

If the leaves are fresh then at this stage, just take off the heat and leave covered to rest for a few minutes below serving.  If the leaves have wilted or are couple of days old, keep the heat on for two minutes more and then take off the heat.

Divide the pasta between three plates for generous portions and dress with remaining chopped sorrel.