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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Green beans with an anchovy, caper and cherry tomato sauce

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged on August 22, 2013| 8 Comments »

Seasonal vegetables are at last piled high in the markets now–everything is late this year–and haricot verts [green beans] are perennial favorites here.

Alice, our generous French neighbour, delivered a bagful, freshly picked this morning from her pottage. We’ll eat them today unadorned, apart from a little salt and a swirl of the best olive oil we have.

This is a handy alternative.

Our friend, Jane, made these for us recently and reminded me that the recipe is based on one in the little vegetable book from the River Café collection.

The beans are lightly coated with an anchovy and caper sauce with sweet cherry tomato quarters and basil added. If you are not keen on anchovies, leave them out–it’s still worth doing.

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We had them as a starter last night.

for 4

1lb/450gms green beans–the connecting top nipped off

8 anchovy fillets–snipped into bits with a pair of scissors

1 tbsp capers–fat ones are best

4 tblsp olive oil + extra if needed

juice of a lemon

handful nicoise olives–stoned

handful ripe cherry tomatoes–carefully quartered; watch out for your fingers!

basil leaves to scatter

  • Cook the beans in plenty of salted water to just tender.
  • Drain them, put them in a mixing bowl and coat them with two tablespoons of olive oil (best you have available).
  • In another bowl combine the lemon juice and the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil.
  • Snip in the anchovy fillets and add the capers and the stoned olives.
  • Season with black pepper and salt–bearing in mind the saltiness of the anchovies and olives.
  • Add another tablespoon of olive oil, if needed.
  • Spoon this sauce over the beans and mix.
  • Carefully transfer the beans to a favourite serving plate and scatter over the tomatoes and basil.

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Left-over chicken salad

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , on August 20, 2013| 5 Comments »

“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” 
― Calvin Trillin

One suspects–hopes even, that there were other remarkable things about Mr. Trillin’s mum!

Maybe you have some leftover chicken waiting patiently in the fridge for its turn at table. We had some from niece Alice’s birthday dinner (the original meal!) a couple of nights ago. (She just turned 15.)

This yogurt and Dijon mustard sauce bathes the bite-size pieces in a lightly piquant sauce flavored with tarragon vinegar.

Add other things you might have left in the fridge and you have an interestingly textured light salad for lunch–and an emptier fridge.

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I used:

left-over chicken–off the bone

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1 tbsp dijon mustard

2tbsp yogurt

2tbsp white wine tarragon vinegar

6tbsp olive oil

1 medium spring onion/scallion

half a ripe avocado–diced

salt and pepper

1tbsp chopped parsley and chives

pan roasted sunflower seeds

  • Whisk the mustard, yogurt and vinegar together.
  • Whisk in the oil tablespoon by tablespoon–taking care it doesn’t curdle.
  • Season to taste and add the herbs.
  • Fold in the onion, avocado and chicken.
  • Turn everything onto a favourite plate and sprinkle over the sunflower seeds.

Other possible additions: radishes and/or half a peeled, seeded, diced, salted and drained cucumber, diced celery, walnuts…

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Spaghettini carrettiera

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , on August 18, 2013| 12 Comments »

Sicilian cart drivers pasta, apparently–in olden times.

Certainly brightens up a person’s day, after a long haul–see “post meal” image below!

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Long haul–just arrived in town…

Summer fare often made with uncooked ingredients that are in season–new garlic, fresh basil and ripe tomatoes. In winter switch to tinned tomatoes–drained.

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It is simple and quick.

Presumably there were as many versions as there were carts and horses–this time the sauce is cooked for a short time to let the hint of heat kick in and the garlic to meld.

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for 4

  • 6 tblsp olive oil
  • 6 medium garlic cloves–chopped fine
  • a good handful of basil leaves–chopped
  • 1 small red chili–chopped
  • 700gms/1.5lbs fresh tomatoes–skinned and seeded then chopped.
  • salt and pepper
  • 400 gms spaghettini

Heat the oil in a medium pan.

Add the next five ingredients and cook them for fifteen minutes at a simmer.

Turn off the heat.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta.

Drain when done to your taste and add to the sauce.

IMG_8273Serve with grated parmesan if you wish (Meredith did); I was happy with the garlic and chili and a swirl of best olive oil.

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my word that was tasty, let’s play some music!

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Post from Edinburgh

Posted in Diabetes, other sides to this life, Poldark, Recipes, Robin Ellis on August 13, 2013| 11 Comments »

Time to “festival”!

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Here for a week in Edinburgh.

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First festival visit for nearly a quarter of a century–hard to believe how quickly the time flies.

We have achieved a modest total–for festival goers–of five plays, a variety show, a stand-up comedian, an art exhibit on the subject of witches and a talk by a lobby correspondent dishing the dirt on politicians, so far.

Meredith can count a visit to the book fair, a visit to the jazz club and ride on the bumper cars on top…

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…while I was taking 24 hours to go to London to be the studio guest on SATURDAY LIVE on BBC Radio 4.

Click below to listen to the programme (just until the end of the week!).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0381fm9

p.s. Oh yes and a whisky tasting too!

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With our host, Steve, at the Scottish Malt Whisky Society Tasting Bar

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Simple gazpacho

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged on August 4, 2013| 18 Comments »

In a comment today Sheila England asks if I have a recipe for gazpacho soup.

This was published a year ago.

As the tomatoes are ripening–at last, here it is again.

It’s worth waiting for the sun to work its magic on the tomatoes before making this simple garlicky version of the classic summer soup–served cold.

A few whizzes of the food mixer then the addition of oil and vinegar and it’s done.

Chill it for as long as possible–if you can make it the day before all the better–and serve it with some finely diced peeled cucumber and spring onion (scallions to our north American friends).

Best served on a hot, sunny day.

Best eaten in the shade.

for 6

800gms/4lbs ripe tomatoes–chopped with their juice

a medium size red pepper–chopped coarsely ready to put in the mixer

3 cloves of garlic— crushed with a teaspoon of salt

  • Mix these in a food mixer–but not too smoothly.
  • Transfer to a serving bowl and add:

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons cider vinegar–organic if you can get hold of it

salt and pepper to taste

  • Chill for 4 to 5 hours–or overnight.
  • Serve with an ice cube in each bowl (optional)
  • A garnish of cucumber and red/spring onion–diced small–in bowls on the side for people to add as they please.

  • You might chill the empty bowls in the fridge two hours before serving–for perfection!

The level of acidity varies with the tomatoes and the vinegar.

You could start with 3 tablespoons of both oil and vinegar, then add more vinegar if it needs it.

(I did today–an extra tablespoon!)

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A bold vinaigrette..with hint of Piaf!

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , on July 31, 2013| 11 Comments »

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A baby gem lettuce salad for lunch today

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , on July 26, 2013| 9 Comments »

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It’s hot here and there’s not much incentive to go anywhere, even to the Friday market in Lautrec–to pick up a fish.

There are two left over stuffed peppers in the fridge that are ageing well!

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And three little gem lettuces under wraps.

So–stay home and…

Gently heat through the peppers and free-up the crisp baby gem (sucrine) lettuces.

Discard the outer layers–quarter, wash and spin them and spread them on a pretty plate.

Scatter over slivers of red onion, some juicy black olives (optional) and a few anchovy pieces.

Dress with a swirl or two of best olive oil–our friend Keith’s wonderful Tuscan oil (http://www.boggioli.com/)–a couple of pinches of sea salt and a shake of the red wine vinegar bottle.

To continue the olive oil theme and with fond memories of my first taste of food cooked in extra virgin–for that’s what it must have been back then in 1953 in Lloret del Mar

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–I fry an egg each, in more of Keith’s oil.

Please, nobody tell him I used it for cooking though!

We sit outside in the heat, cooled by a breeze, with a glass of crisp pink toasting my parents–intrepid Molly and Tony–for bravely taking me and brother Peter to Spain’s Brava coast, an amazing sixty years ago.

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Grilled aubergine rounds with two cheeses and a tomato topping

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , on July 24, 2013| 11 Comments »

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Scrabbling around for a starter to serve Friday week at the Garlic Festival lunch–and with three aubergines sitting looking at me expectantly, I got to flicking through some well-thumbed pages.

The idea for rounds came from Antonio Carluccio’s Vegetables cook book.

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The key ingredients, doubling as casino counters!

So…

for 2 (on the 2nd, I’m upping the ante and cooking for 22!)

1 largish aubergine–cut across in half inch slices, salted and left to drain for at least an hour

2 ripe tomatoes of similar circumference–sliced a little finer

6oz/150gms feta cheese–crumbled

a few fresh leaves of basil, parsley and mint–chopped together

parmesan cheese–grated

olive oil

salt and pepper

heat the oven to 220C/430F

Cover an oven tray with foil and brush it with oil.

Brush both sides of the aubergine rounds with olive olive and lay them out on the foiled tray.

Place the tray in the uppermost part of the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until they are thoroughly cooked through and soft.

Add the chopped herbs to the feta and using a teaspoon, spread a little on each cooked aubergine round.

Sprinkle the tomato slices with a pinch of salt and little olive oil.

Lay one on each aubergine round and top them off with a pinch of the grated parmesan.

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Return the tray to the top of the oven and cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes.

Take them out when the tomato has a melted look and the parmesan has browned a little.

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Serve them straight away or at room temperature.

Increase the odds of a wow–with a leaf of basil or other herb–if you have any.

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Pork tenderloin–marinaded and roasted

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged on July 19, 2013| 15 Comments »

It’s all in the name!

This is the tenderest part of a pork loin.

It spends the night–or several hours at least–in a plastic box or bag in the fridge, bathed in a simple marinade.

Then it’s cooked in a hottish oven for between 15 and 20 minutes.

A pound-and-half will feed four easily, maybe six–and as tenderloins are usually of similar dimensions this allows you to double-up easily for big groups.

A good dish for company then–and delicious cold the following day too.

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Another recipe from my new book Healthy Eating for Life to be published in January 2013.

1 tenderloin of pork–most of the fat cut away

for the marinade:

1 clove of garlic--pulped with a teaspoon of salt

1 tsp dijon mustard

the spears of a branch of rosemary–chopped

the leaves of several thyme branches

salt and pepper

3 tblsps olive oil

  • Combine the marinade ingredients in large bowl and whisk together.
  • Bathe the tenderloin in the marinade.
  • Place in a plastic box or plastic bag and store in the fridge overnight.

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  • Let it come back to room temperature before taking it out of the bag/box and allow the majority of the marinade to drip off it.
  • Set the oven to 200C/400F.
  • Heat the oil in an oven-proof pan; when it’s hot, “seal” the tenderloin in a tablespoon of olive oil.

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  • Put the tray in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes.

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  • After 15 minutes, check for doneness by gently presses down on the meat with a finger or thumb. It should be supple–but not too supple. Alternatively, slice into the centre of the loin to double-check. If the juices run pink, cook on for a couple of minutes.
  • Try not to overcook as it renders the meat leathery.
  • Trial and error kicks in here–the inexact science of when meat is ready! (It was ready in 18 minutes last night–depends on the thickness of the fillets.)

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Quinoa salad

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , on July 15, 2013| 28 Comments »

Quinoa is grown in the Andes and has shot to fame–though how to pronounce it is still a question. We’ve settled for keen-wa (sometimes I revert to keen-o-wa!). It comes in a number of colours though so far I’ve only seen red and white and has a reputation for being easily digested. It is gluten free.

A salad for all seasons this. Light and fluffy white quinoa is laced with thinly sliced red onion and flavored with lemon juice, olive oil, mint and parsley.

It looks good on a favourite plate and has surprising depth of taste.

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It’ll feature in my new book, Healthy Eating for Life (to be published in January 2014).

Serves four

1 cup/6oz quinoa (white preferably, for the look)

2 cups/12 floz vegetable stock—I use organic vegetable stock cubes

1 small bunch each parsley and mint–chopped

Half a small red onion—sliced thin

1½ tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place a saucepan over a low heat and pour in the quinoa.

Let it dry roast for 5 minutes–stirring all the time.

Add the stock and bring to a simmer.

Cover and cook for about 20 minutes–until the quinoa has absorbed the liquid and has puffed up.

Set aside to cool.

Add the oil and lemon juice to the cooled quinoa and stir in with a fork.

Fold in the mint and parsley, again stirring them with the fork.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer the salad to a pretty plate.

Sprinkle with some more mint and parsley.

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