Sublime sorrel sauce for salmon

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Louise

My health has recovered and with it my hunger and, as is often the case after a few days of enforced fasting, I want certain things. Like, and I know it’s odd, salmon with sorrel sauce. Sorrel isn’t something easily found, unless you grow it yourself, so you’ll have to bear with me on this one but it makes the most divine sauce for fish, and with the most minimal of effort. I first tasted it in France, in the Loire-Atlantique, where it is often made into sauce à l’oseille and served with white fish or salmon, and loved it. But, for some reason, until today, I have never made it myself, probably because it’s quite difficult to get hold of. However, this being the first year that I have planted and grown herbs, I took to heart the recommendation to avoid growing things that are easy to buy and cheap and went for stuff that I can never find, like sorrel. Unlike my radishes and lettuces (suffering from cat-friendliness…) it is flourishing and, with a bit of defrosted salmon, some butter and cream I turned it in minutes into something not far short of that legendary Loire supper. Continue reading →

Posted in Fast food fixes, Fish recipes, Gluten-free, Larousse Gastronomique, Summer recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Health in a glass

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Louise

What do you eat, or drink, when you’re recovering from illness, the sort of illness that knocks you out and defies appetite? Dry toast, steamed rice or miso? Or perhaps just mint tea or water? When I was a child my parents’ default solution was sweet milky tea (which nowadays would make me gag) then, if that seemed to be okay, I was allowed a bit of dry toast then maybe some packet chicken noodle soup…and so on. When I had scarlet fever (yes, I know it sounds Dickensian but it was somehow still about in the 80s) I couldn’t eat for a week and the first thing I wanted was scampi and chips. I remember my brother coming into my bedroom with a handwritten menu that he had made for me. Since I had been quarantined from my siblings for seven days, this was a clear sign of recovery. Nowadays my default is miso followed by either steamed rice or dry toast.

This weekend, however, it has, for once, been rather sunny and my first thought after two days of eating nothing was not soup or bread, but a smoothie. What could be better than fresh fruit, all spun to liquid, for restoring energy and health? I’ve had two of these a day for two days, plus more sleep than a new-born, and the combination has left me bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked. Highly recommended for recoveries, breakfast and just general yumminess.

For 1-2 depending on the size of your glasses and appetites

Shopping list
apple juice, 100ml
orange juice, 100ml (I used stuff from a carton for both of these, but if you want to be extra-healthy then juice your own)
raspberries or strawberries or both, a good handful
banana, 100g (so ½ to a whole depending on the size of the banana)

How to
1. Easy. Put everything in a blender and blitz to a liquid.

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An Interlude of Not Eating…

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Louise

A very brief post to say that I am rather under the weather today, as is my cat (who woke me with the awful hacking sound that all cat-owners fear…) and, therefore, not eating at all. Horrible timing since I am supposed to be on my way to Port Eliot and helping Peter Gordon prep in the kitchen tomorrow. Very very annoying. So, if I’m not cooking and eating then I can’t write about it…apologies for the interlude. Hopefully normal service, and appetite, will be resumed by Monday. Have a healthy weekend!

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Unexpected baked aubergines with cream and basil

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Louise

Every so often I have a cull of the paper recipes I have collected over the last twenty years. And, when that happens, since I’m usually overwhelmed by the volume of rubbish and unusable ideas that are clogging up my flat, I’m brutal. Something that stays has to be really good, or completely unexpected or, in most cases, brilliantly fast for me to keep and try it (because, oh yes, I hang on to some for years without even making them). This recipe, which is, I think, from Nigel Slater in the Observer, survived the cull because I had never heard of baking aubergines with cream before. Aubergines seem almost, well, too fatty, to be put with dairy. Mind you, even though it survived several culls it has taken me an age to make it. Which is a shame, because it’s delicious. Continue reading →

Posted in Aubergine recipes, Cookery writers, Nigel Slater, One pot, Spring vegetable recipes, Summer recipes, Tender, Vegetarian recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

RTFR: Ottolenghi’s Kosheri

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Louise

Do you remember how, at school, you were always taught to read the instructions before starting an exam? You know the sort of thing: ‘You may lose marks, and even fail, if you don’t bother to find out what you are expected to do before doing something completely different.’ I felt a bit like that today when I was making this. For some reason I registered that it was very cupboard-friendly and light on the shopping (well, light if you have some spices) but, since I hadn’t read the f…ing recipe (RTFR is my new motto) I didn’t notice that it uses four, yes four, different pans! I also didn’t register, until it was too late, that the lentils, onions and sauce can all cook at, and for, the same time which makes it much quicker.

Perhaps my laziness was a blessing though; if I’d bothered to read it I might not have made it since I am averse to any recipe that uses more than two pans. And that would have been a shame because this is the sort of food I often eat out but can never replicate. Until now. Continue reading →

Posted in Chefs, Ottolenghi The Cookbook, rice recipes, The Cook Shelf, Vegetarian recipes, Yotam Ottolenghi | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Nigel Slater’s baked feta with thyme

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Louise

In the winter I often bake some cheese; the likes of Vacherin Mont D’Or lends itself beautifully to being shoved in the oven whole, with a bit of white wine poured over it and then eaten with bread or potatoes, gherkins and some ham. Not a cheap dinner but all you need is a woolly jumper and you have a home-made version of après-ski. In the summer I live on the likes of feta and halloumi but I have only ever baked them in bits with other stuff, not whole and although I don’t think halloumi would lend itself to such treatment, feta is perfect. This is from Nigel Slater’s Real Fast Food, probably the best after-work cookbook there is, and all you need is three ingredients, some bread and ten minutes. Glorious. Next time I might try marinating it as well (yet another use for lemon zest!) and then baking it but that requires some forethought. Continue reading →

Posted in Cheese recipes, Cookery writers, Fast food fixes, Nigel Slater, Real Fast Food, Summer recipes, The Cook Shelf, Vegetarian recipes | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Arancini…sounds grander than the reality

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Louise

What do you make with leftover risotto? Arancini of course. Or fried risotto balls to the unitiated. I almost never have any leftover risotto so this was a first for me but, since I’ve been working on a Sicilian cookbook full of such delicious treats I thought I’d try them. Now the proper way to do them is via deep-frying and with something like mozzarella stuffed inside them. Since I have neither deep-fat fryer nor any mozzarella in the fridge I followed the cheat’s way: Continue reading →

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Bill Granger’s citrus risotto with prawns

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Louise

More lemons today, and a wonderful way to lighten and brighten risotto. Love it as I do, I sometimes find the butter-cheese overload a bit much. Not often, I grant you, but enough to be interested by Asian-inspired versions like this. Bill Granger’s has no cheese but I didn’t miss it because the chilli and garlic prawns are a revelation with the lemony rice. Whole, fresh prawns might seem a bit of an extravagance but you don’t need many: I bought six for £2 and although, greedy guts that I am, I ate the lot, eight is probably enough for two people. And many supermarkets sell them fresh and frozen so they’re not difficult to find.

However, for lots of reasons you might want to find a substitute for the prawns. I kept wondering, as I cooked and ate them, ‘why don’t I eat prawns more often?’ They’re really fast, easy to freeze and packed with protein not fat. Then I remembered I’ve read lots of horror stories about how most of them are farmed full of hormones in far-flung countries like Indonesia or Thailand…hmm. If you, like me, are a bit bothered by this, the great thing about this recipe is that I’m sure it would be easy to swap in an alternative fish or seafood. Next time, for example, I might make it with some Scottish (more local non-farmed) squid from the cheap fishmonger down the road. Continue reading →

Posted in Bill Granger, Bills Open Kitchen, Cookery writers, Fish recipes, Seafood recipes, Summer recipes, The Cook Shelf | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Ottolenghi’s roasted aubergines with saffron yogurt

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Louise

When I want a new idea for the relatively mundane, I turn to Ottolenghi. Whether the chef, the restaurant or the cookbooks, it is, for me, a name synonymous with reinvention, particularly of vegetables. There is no limp lettuce or cotton-wool tomato in an Ottolenghi salad, no flat textures or dull flavours: the Ottolenghi effect is to take something well known, like asparagus, cucumber, or cauliflower and turn it into something completely unknown and almost always delicious (well, I’ve not had a dud yet). So, to take those three examples, asparagus is served with samphire (a coastal plant often known as sea asparagus), cucumber with poppy seeds and that white, safe and bland brassica becomes cauliflower and cumin fritters served with lime yogurt.

I’ve been lucky enough to eat in one of the eponymous restaurants and I highly recommend them but there are also, for the non-London-based, two books which are brilliant. I own the first, not the second, and every time I look at it I’m inspired. Today it taught me how to turn a couple of aubergines into dinner, via some yogurt, saffron, basil and pine nuts. It should have pomegranate seeds but they’re not in season so I left them out. I think it could do with something else red or jewel-like though, if only for the colour, so next time I make it I may add some slices of red chilli when I’m toasting the pine nuts. This is easy and fast, very light on the shopping and gorgeous.

Roasted aubergines with saffron yogurt (adapted from Ottolenghi: the Cookbook)

For two you will need:
Cupboard (or things you may already have)
sea salt and black pepper
olive oil
garlic, 1 clove
hot water, 3 tablespoons

Shopping list
aubergines, 2 medium
pine nuts, 2 tablespoons
saffron, small pinch
Greek yogurt, 180g
lemon juice, 2½ tablespoons (from ½ to a whole lemon depending on how juicy it is; remember to zest it first!)
basil leaves, about 20
pitta breads, to serve or a good white bread would be delicious too

How to:
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7.
2. Toast the pine nuts and leave to one side, peel and chop the garlic and rinse the basil leaves.
3. Cut off the stalk end of the aubergines, cut each in half widthways then cut the two halves into wedges not slices as per this photo…

4. Put the aubergine pieces into a bowl with a good splash of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Toss together until evenly coated then put the pieces into a roasting dish. Roast for about 20-25 minutes until a nice toasty golden brown. Leave to cool.
5. For the dressing, mix together the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a little sea salt. Put the saffron strands into a bowl with 3 tablespoons of hot water and leave to infuse (you’ll end up with orangey water). Then beat the saffron water into the yogurt dressing, add a little more salt if needed and put in the fridge to chill (I confess that I didn’t chill mine, being an impatient sort…).
6. When you’re ready to eat, divide the aubergine wedges between two plates, pour over the dressing, sprinkle on the pine nuts and basil leaves and serve. Any extra dressing will keep in the fridge for a couple of days but it’s also lovely as a dip.

Posted in Cookery writers, Gluten-free, Ottolenghi The Cookbook, Salad recipes, Spring vegetable recipes, Summer recipes, Vegetarian recipes, Wheat-free, Yotam Ottolenghi | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Gremolata or how not to waste a lemon

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Louise

I have always loved lemons. When I was little, so I am told, I used to grab any little piece of one and suck out the juice. I still do it now because I love their sharp taste, the way they almost make you wince with both pleasure and pain. This weekend I bought six of them (a bargain at £1 in my local Turkish shop) which was a bit bonkers since I’ll never use them all in a week but I find something quite reassuring about having loads of them in the fruit bowl. I can imagine making a lemon cake, a risotto or squeezing them over fish and half the fun is the anticipation of such delights even if I don’t quite manage to make them. Continue reading →

Posted in Fast food fixes, Salsa and sauce recipes, Summer recipes, Vegetarian recipes, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments