Simple Asparagus rolls

Preheat your oven to 180 c.

Take one large day old, white bloomer, ideally leave in a plastic bag overnight on the side - carve the crusts off and then thickly slice lengthways,   You should have five, large, thick slices.  Butter on one side.

Take some Parma ham and lay these on each slice of bread, you will need four, possibly six slices of ham for each slice bread, depending on the size of your loaf.

Take your asparagus which has been blanched and slice lengthways.  Place these end to end and side by side from about an inch from the long edge of each slice of bread.  Roll the lengthways and fasten with cocktail sticks. 

Place on a baking tray and brush with olive oil and cook until brown - this should take no more than 20 minutes.

Allow to cool and cut into appropriate lengths.

Also see:  Baked Mediterranean Asparagus with Parmesan

Food Snap: Green Sauces

There are all kinds of variations of green sauces, including ones that aren't so green.  The most famous I guess, are the Italian/Spanish salsa verde but South and Central America also have their share as well as German and UK contributions. 

Two of my personal favourites is a German style sauce which is made from finely chopped hard boiled eggs, sour cream and a lot of chopped chervil and sorrel.  There seems to be an "English" version of this which is served with boiled ham which I tried in Norfolk a few years ago made with lovage and sage, although I had suspicions of a Gallic influence as caper berries were also used.

My other, and I must admit, and most frequently used variation is made with mint, thyme and flat leaf parsley.

• 20 grams each of mint, thyme and flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Two heaped teaspoons of caper berries
• 50 mls of good olive oil
• a good pinch of salt
• a good pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• two large crushed and finely chopped cloves of garlic
• a dash of cider vinegar

All mixed together. 

This is such a no brainer as a dressing for hot new potatoes or freshly cooked pasta (of any type).

Paccheri Rigatai with Chorizo de Leon

Paccheri Rigati with Chorizo de Leon and Mahon cheese

 

A fantastic way to bring Italy and Spain together on a plate.   The warmth of this dish really brings the Mediterranean sun into your home.  Great for sharing with friends and so easy to size up for parties to serve cold alongside other treats.

Ingredients:

250 grams of Paccheri Rigati
220 grams of chorizo, 1/2 cm (or slightly less) slices, the chorizo is only a couple of cm thick
500 mls of passata
25 grams of lovage, roughly chopped
three small to medium red and green peppers, thickly sliced
five small onions, quartered
five small aubergines, halved lengthwise
125 grams of Mahon cheese, thinly sliced
100 mls of cold water
50 mls of olive oil
50 grams of sun dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
100 grams of roughly chopped Spanish olives

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 c

Cook your Paccheri Rigati in salted boiling water for only half the 10-12 minutes it normally takes, drain and use half your oil to coat the pasta and leave aside.

In a large, hot frying pan, add the remaining oil, the onions, chorizo and peppers, until the chorizo has started to release its spicy treasures, the onions have started to brown around their edges and the peppers have started to soften only slightly. 

The aubergines go in next and these are added to just warm through.  Set the pan aside and retrieve a large oven proof dish, about five centimetres deep and 25 to 30 centimetres square/oblong.  Add the pasta and the chorizo/vegetable mix to it along with the passata which has been combined with the cold water.  Mix well and add the olives, lovage and sun dried tomatoes evenly on the top.   Arrange the cheese on top of this and place in the middle of the oven for approximately 30-35 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.

This should make a generous starter for six, or a main course with braised lettuce for four. Also, incredibly good cold with sour cream on the side.

Kitchen diary: Herb Butter

"Herb butter", a term that either makes us, as food lovers, cringe or tingle with joy.  Is it really that simple and does the combination really provide added benefits to the cook.

Soft butter mixed with chopped herbs and then reset is great to serve with cooked vegetables, grilled fish and meat as well as simply served with fresh bread or crumpets for afternoon tea.   But then, most would say this isn't cooking, just presentation.

Most of us don't think of taking the idea any further, but if you take a moment, especially if you're planning on a larger than average dinner party or get together, then actually it can pay to think ahead.  After all butter is relatively good preserving agent in its own right and will preserve your fresh ingredient a little longer than if left to their own devices.   Even without the large party, what if you're just busy, full stop.  Preparing a batch of garlic and parsley butter, portioning it and freezing it has a number of uses.  Whilst the pasta is cooking, a portion of this melting on a medium heat is all you need, with no additional peeling or chopping, as precursor to adding your vegetables of choice.

How about adding plain flour and freezing portions of that as well.  Great for instant thickeners for soups, gravies and stews and if you add your herb of choice as well, there will also be added accent of flavour brought to your dish in the final stages of cooking, that can't be a bad thing.

The formula works just as well with some spices, although not all.  Try smoked sweet paprika, perfect with game and even better for Tagines.  Fresh butter mixed with cumin, paprika, garlic and lemon zest is a particular favourite.  Marinate the meat overnight, the effect is lush.

I also use herb butter in bread dough along with feta and goats cheese the above tagine combination works particularly well.

And finally, combining butter with olive oil in tapenade is an old favourite of mine that, when used in moderation is a great and effective stuffing for an array of traditionally dry mean dishes,  Try it with large turkey breasts and you'll see what I mean.   

Kitchen Diary: Saturday, 1 August 1992

Today, twenty years ago, I bought my first le creuset, blue and the largest I could afford.

I had twenty people (I had invited thirty-one) to my little flat in Kennington, for food and drinks, for a Saturday chatting and intermittent shouting at BBC coverage of the Olympic games.

The dish I cooked in my new purchase was ratatouille.  It was the first time I had had invited more than a dozen people. 

Apart from the aforementioned "rats", I also fed the hordes with homemade bread sticks, tarragon chicken parcels, Greeksalad, tapenade, bean dip and stuffed aubergines.

I had borrowed another telly, so there was one in the living room and another perched in the bedroom and last person left a little after midnight.

As well as the Olympic games being held in Barcelona that Summer other major news over the previous weeks included:

• Iraq had refused a UN inspection team;
• Denmark had (narrowly) rejected the Maastricht Treaty; and
• Two skeletons had been discovered in Yekaterinburg, they were later identified as being Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarina Alexandra

On lighter news…

• The first nicotine patch was released publically
• And the Space Shuttle Endeavour successfully made its maiden voyage.

This was also the year that the Queen paid taxes for the first time and also the year when Windsor Castle caught fire.

Three best dips

These are great to have on standby and very straight forward to make.

Three dips which are great to make and full of flavour.  Using three types of bean/pulse.  Use a large tin of chickpeas and butterbeans for ease rather than all that soaking overnight.

For roasting:

One bulb of garlic, three large red peppers, a large white onion and some good olive oil.

 

To a medium sized baking tray add:

• the garlic cloves, but don't peel them
• the peppers (whole but de-stalked)
• one onion, peeled and quartered
• olive oil to coat the above
• a couple of pinches of salt

Bake in medium to hot oven (190c) for 25-30 minutes.

 

For the dips:

• One tin (220 grams) each of chickpeas and butterbeans.
• 300 grams of cooked broad beans
• 20 grams mint
• 20 grams parsley
• three dessert spoons of honey
• one teaspoon of ground cumin
• the juice and zest of one medium lemon
• 50 grams of freshly grated parmesan

For the chickpea dip:

In a food processor add the drained chickpeas, the garlic (which should easily come out of their skins), onion, parsley and honey.  Process until smooth.

 

For the butterbean dip:

Again, in the food processor, add the drained butterbeans, the roasted peppers (after putting them in a plastic bag to cool, the skins should easily come away), salt to taste and the cumin.  Process until smooth.

For the broad bean dip:

 

After first shelling the beans and using a potato masher, add the mint and parmesan.  Add the lemon juice and zest.

Tapenade

Depending upon which part of France you are, this can be highly fragrant with mountain herbs and fresh, almost acidic olives or rich and creamy, more butter than olive.

The former is made with finely chopped green olives, cultivated and wild herbs alike, anchovies in some and with capers and olive oil.  Salt and pepper to taste and each household seems to have its own recipe proportions.

My particular favourite is really a very salty, butter based tapenade that took me three or four months to perfect.  My neighbour, Gerri, was half French and half Irish.  A single mother with two jobs and a talented artist, but who never had time to cook like "Mama" who, on only two occasions, did I meet, before finally giving in a few years later, Gerri moved to France to live with her.

I was already experimenting with food and having not met my food mentor Collete yet, my cooking for Gerri was out of books and the travel writings of Elizabeth David.   

Gerri had said how her mother tended to use a lot of butter, the tapenade was quite bitter but also doubled as a flavouring for roast birds and simple fillings.

Finally I came up with a very moist (and must admit not very healthy) tapenade.  The amounts below will make approximately 500 grams of tapenade.  It should last more than a couple weeks in the fridge and if you are using it for toast or crudités or as a base for tapas, I would leave it out for 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.

• One block (approximately 250 grams) of softened unsalted butter
• 150 grams of mixed green and black pitted olives, chopped finely
• 20 grams of parsley, finely chopped
• 10 grams of thyme, finely chopped
• 10 grams of marjoram or oregano, finely chopped
• A small jar of anchovy fillets in oil, chopped and then mashed
• 10 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• Three dessert spoons of capers, chopped
• One medium onion, finely chopped
• One large chilli without seeds, finely chopped (optional)

All of these ingredients are combined thoroughly.  No salt is obviously required and the proportions, especially the amount of butter interchangeable or partly imitable with olive oil.  If the tapenade is to be used for roasting, especially to cover chicken, turkey or game, I tend to exchange half of the butter for olive oil and, if used on red meat, add rosemary and crushed bay leaves.

Retro starter: Leek vinaigrette

Leek vinaigrette, a blast from the past and after my first taste of it was not impressed.  Thankfully, someone came to the rescue.

A very well spoken friend of a neighbour of mine cooked this dish for me as an evening dinner.  I wasn't sure that this could be meal in itself.  The leeks were boiled into submission and the vinaigrette was corn oil, sherry vinegar and Dijon mustard.   I think there was some dried herbs sprinkled over it as a nod for garnish.  Neither my neighbour or I didn't want to look ungrateful so we tucked in.  The best part of the meal was the wine, a very good Cote du Rhone and the company, of course.

A little later, probably a few weeks, I mentioned the experience to a work colleague, I think I must have blocked it out of mind until then.  Margaret, one of the senior administrators who was always (or seemed to be) bringing in cake, laughed a very croaky laugh and wrote down a list and I still have it to this day.

• Two large sized leeks, the outer layers taken away and divided according to the leeks' size
• Olive oil, few spoons
• One clove of garlic, finely chopped
• Two tablespoons of chopped parsley
• One pinch of salt
• One pinch of pepper
• Three tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• Three tablespoons of good white wine
• Two large "knobs" of very cold butter

The leeks are steamed for fifteen to twenty minutes, depending upon their thickness,  Ideally two regular sized leeks cut into thirds should serve a two as a starter.  About 100 mls of the water should be kept for the following stage and the leeks drained and kept warm.

A small amount of oil is put in small saucepan to warm through and the finely chopped garlic is put in first.  The wine and vinegar, along with the reserved water should then be added, along with just over half the parsley, the salt and the pepper.  The liquid should be reduced by half and then taken off the heat. 

With a "firm hand" the first knob of butter should be whisked in and then the other.  This should allow for a thick, warm, vinaigrette.  Whisk a little more butter into the liquid if the thickness isn't to your taste.

In addition one chopped anchovy fillet along may be added along with the garlic and is cook until anchovy has started to melt.  The other stages are the same, except you do not add any further salt.

The leeks are then served on warmed dishes with the thickened sauce spooned over and a small scattering of fresh chopped parsley over the top.

Baked Peppers with Mint & Black Eyed Beans

The small (and not so small) family run food stores across London have started a new revolution in choice over the past ten years or more.  Slowly, local residents have woken up to the fact that spices, herbs (both dried and fresh) and fresh vegetables are cheaper and that in many cases are of better quality and variety than the big supermarkets.

Across my small part of South East London, Penge, Sydenham, Beckenham and Crystal Palace, not only are there good quality small food stores that have been run for years by families, but also a new breed of Deli and specialist food shop.  In fact, if you have spare money to spend these days, there are is a shop for all pockets.

My current favourite (and has been for some years now) is the Penge Food Store, funnily enough opposite Sainsbury's on the same road.  I go there most Saturdays, buying an assortment of peppers, fresh herbs and other vegetables as well as my supplies of spices, olive oil and cheese.

One of my favourite dishes to serve with grilled meat is a mixed pepper and black eyed been bake, which takes less than 40 minutes to cook but tastes like it should have been in the oven for a lot longer.

The quantities below are enough for two people as the sole vegetable, or if serving with additional greens, possibly four.

• 500 grams of mixed peppers (I normally include both red and green paprika and the almost luminescent green sweet peppers for this dish.  The green paprika has a kick - not as much as a chilli, but a warmth that cuts through the sweetness of the rest of the dish).  Chopped across the peppers so you have an assortment of multi-coloured rings
• 100 grams of small aubergines - chopped
• Three large garlic cloves - chopped
• One regular tin of black eyed beans
• 20 grams of mint - chopped
• One teaspoon of dried thyme
• A good pinch of salt
• A good pinch of black pepper
• 100 grams of courgettes - sliced
• 50 ml of good olive oil
• 50 ml of cold water

In a deep oven dish, place all the ingredients (minus the water) and combine thoroughly, cover and leave to marinate for about an hour at room temperature.

Then pre-heat the oven to 180c.  Add the water just before you place the covered dish into the oven.

About half way through your 40 minutes, stir and check that the bake has not become too dry.  Return to the oven and then switch off after 40 minutes.  Allow to settle until you are ready to serve.  

Great with Lamb chops or thick slices of roast beef.

For something a little different, about 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add slices of goats or ewes cheese on the top and bake with the lid off.  Serve unleavened bread or pitas.

Fresh vegetable stock

Flicking through old diaries and old scraps of recipes is always one of the things that I find most enjoyable on a lazy day.  Sometimes, it can be very frustrating though, as my notes have not always been complete.  My recent rediscovery of some notes about the differences between Spring and Winter stocks has made me scratch my head about some of the origins of my diary entries.

 

However, one thing I do regularly, sad as it may seem, is brew Spring stock.  It tends to be light and vegetable based as I find I can add a chicken carcass or fish bones to it for meatier recipes as required.

 

However, a good light, herby, vegetable stock is always my base.  This recipe makes approximately 600 mls of stock.

 

• Three medium sized leeks, cleaned, topped and tailed and cut in half
• Three medium carrots, cleaned, topped and tailed and cut in half
• Four or five large cabbage or kale stalks
• Some mushroom stalks or a small handful of dried mushrooms
• A bunch (approximately one and a half cms diameter worth of stalks) of "woody" herbs.  Amongst these I would include oregano, marjoram, parsley, borage, lovage, thyme
• A dozen black pepper corns and a couple of bay leaves
• Two litres of cold water

If you want a little more punch (perhaps its early spring so you'd like a little more heat, add a stick of ginger and a dozen or so, cracked, coriander seeds).

 

Put all in a pot. Bring to a rolling boil. Turn down the heat to simmer and reduce the quantity of liquid by half.  Strain the vegetables and then reduce the liquid further to taste.  I normally reduce it again, by just under half (hence the 600 mls).  Allow to cool and then divide into either 150 ml or 200 ml and freeze.

Kitchen Diary - Spring and Winter Stocks

This is a note I've found from one of my diaries, not sure where it came from but having looked through some of my more traditional cook books, the sense is there:

"A Spring stock is full of flavour, but light and fragrant; sometimes with a little heat, but not of the kind too hot to outshine the warmth of spring.  It is given its fragrance with Spring and early Summer herbs and with a lightness of touch to bring harmony to the freshest of produce."

Conversely;

"A Winter stock is made with body and a warmth to provide confidence through the coldness of change.  The changes of Autumn through to the emergency of Spring once more, should be eased through the foundations of a robust foundation that this stock provides."

Strangely, I don't have a note of either a Summer or an Autumn one.

The recipe for my own Spring stock is here.

A Royal Sunday - Hever Castle

We were just going out for a drive and heading for blue skies on Sunday, we had no predetermined plan.

After a great breakfast at Crystal Palace, we pushed south down Anerley Hill, back through our new home turf of Beckenham and headed towards Biggin Hill.  Beyond this we passed over the M25 and through Westerham and saw the clouds part with blue skies over  Limpsfield way.  The wind direction must have changed and as we drove through the green canopies, the rain began to fall and we drove down towards Tunbridge Wells.  As we came out of our emerald tunnel the sun shone once more and we saw the sign to Hever Castle, it only took us moments to decide our destination.

Having only been there once many years ago, this was new to me.  My previous visit was as an events manager and the visit itself had been cut short due to my director at time needing to leave, and I with him.  So I hadn't actually seen much more than the gardens approaching the main castle itself.

We parked and walked down the hill.  The rolling clouds played patchwork tricks of light across the valley below the castle shone against the shadows around it. 

My partner and I headed for the main building, only being delayed slightly by the show of knights on horseback. 

No cameras are allowed inside the castle so the variety in the maze of rooms you will need to experience for yourselves.  But worth the visit, especially the insights to the histories of the ancient residence and the more current family backgrounds of the Astors, made an excellent backdrop to such a grand building.

The gardens were the crowning glory (no pun intended).  The Tudor gardens being framed by hedges and the rose garden and Tudor chess inside these being the focal point for me.

The water maze, a great treat for the kids and adults alike was compact, but very good fun.

However, the one thing that did strike me, and which I hadn't had any experience of before was the Italian walled garden.  I think the pictures (at the end of this blog) speak for themselves.  But with its hidden alcoves, its swathing lawns and beautiful vistas, it was where we spent the most of our time.

Overall a great afternoon and less than an hour from home in Beckenham. 

An experience I would definitely recommend.

For more details go to the Hever Castle website.

Sauce Ravigote

I've been thinking a lot about cold sauces lately.  Not the vinaigrettes or mayonnaise but some more classic ones that can be used with cold meats, fish and vegetables.

I came across this when having one of my impromptu "teas" with Colette.  I had known her for few months by this time and it was soon after her son returned to Paris after Breouch -gate.  I had poached chicken the previous day, used all but the two legs and a wing and had mentioned this to Collette early that morning.

"Come over for tea" was in the invitation and "bring your chicken and you shall see what the French do with leftovers!

So there, about five o'clock on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon, we sat down to fresh bread slathered with sauce ravigote and pieces of poached chicken placed on top.

You will need:

A pinch of salt
two dessert spoons of red wine or sherry vinegar
six to eight dessert spoons of extra virgin olive oil
three or four dessert spoons of chopped parsley, thyme and/or tarragon
a small onion finely chopped
two small gerkins, finely chopped
two to three dessert spoons of capers, also finely chopped
a little more salt and some pepper to taste

All the ingredients should be chopped quite small.  I've had "chunky"  before and it's not the same.  I've also had a version that was blitzed and smooth, again not the same.

The initial pinch of salt should be desolved in the vinegar first (if you like your sauce a little more tart, I would add a maximum of an additional spoonful, otherwise add more capers and gerkins instead.

Combine well and this should serve three or four people of with enough for a starter or two people to accompany a main course of cold meats, fish and raw vegetables.  Lovely...

Halloumi and grape salad

I'm not sure where this salad comes from specifically.  I had assumed Malta as this was the first place I had seen and tasted it.  But since those early days I've come across versions of it when on holiday in Spain, Greece, Morocco and Turkey.

It's fresh, and I like the salty/sweet sensation you get and it's relatively quick and very good to eat as a starter or as a light lunch.

The first time I came across this brilliantly good dish, I must admit, I was a little worse for wear.  I think I was nineteen or twenty and it was one of my first trips travelling on my own.  I'd had a few too many wines the previous night and was staying in a family run b&b in the old town of Valletta.  I was more than a little dehydrated and had already consumed at least two litres of water in the hour I had been awake (it was noon and I was sitting in a little shaded courtyard feeling very sorry for myself).

MaMa took pity on me, and made me this little lunch and served it, with very cold, very small, very sweet, rose.  To this day, I am not sure whether it was the salty halloumi or the hair of the dog that actually did me the best service.  I like to think it was probably the a little of both.

For the dressing:

Five or six dessert spoons of good extra virgin olive oil
The juice of a large lemon
Four grams of chopped thyme and/or dill
A good pinch of freshly ground black pepper
A good pinch of fine sugar

For the salad:

150/200 grams of mixed leaves
200/250 grams of halloumi (cut in 1/2 cm slices)
75-100 grams grapes (halved)
Four grams of chopped thyme and/or dill

In a large bowl, place the dressing ingredients and whisk. 

In a large frying pan, fry the halloumi until brown on both sides and place on kitchen paper to cool slightly.

Back to the bowl, refresh the dressing by whisking lightly and take about a third out and reserve.  Add the leaves, grapes and remaining herbs and toss.  Divide and place on your serving dishes and place the halloumi on top.  Drizzle the remaining dressing over the cheese and serve.

Variations:

There are three additions to the above that I've experienced so far. 

In Greece and Turkey, thinly sliced red onion has been added to the dressing and "cooked" at room temperature until the Halloumi is ready.  The Halloumi is tossed with the salad and not lain on the top.

In Morocco, the salad has sliced onion (although rather large pieces) with the leaves and is tossed in the regular way.  In Agadir, they add chopped dried fruit in addition to the fresh grapes.

In Spain, I've had a similar salad, except with rather large watermelon pieces are used and not grapes, and the salad leaves are not prevalent, instead they seem to be there to add colour, so not really a variation and more of  a melon and halloumi salad instead.

I hope you enjoy it.

Gorgeous Roasted Vegetables and Feta

Gorgeous roasted vegetables never tasted or looked so good.

Using finger aubergine cut into short lengths, their skins retain some of their bright purple hue if you only bake them for 20 minutes or so.  The addition of red and green paprika and some slices of courgette, bathed in fresh, extra virgin olive oil, this is a real treat.  To maximise the flavours just sprinkle a little salt and leave covered to one side for up to an hour before putting into the oven.

The oven should be pre-heated to 180c and should take no more than 20 minutes.  Add your feta after this and place back into the oven for 10 minutes with the heat switched off.  As the oven cools the feta will become soft and the will partially melt with vegetables.

As you put these into the oven, take a cupful of couscous or bulgur wheat and add warm water and cover for 30 minutes.

Great served with a simple tomato salad.  Very ripe tomatoes, chopped up roughly, with a small pinch of salt, a generous helping of olive oil and two dessert spoons of good sherry vinegar.  Stir and leave to stand for 20 minutes before serving.  For a little punch, grate an inch stick of ginger into this too.