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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Regime change: eating the cover…

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , , on August 10, 2011| 7 Comments »

…of the cook book!

"Salade Niçoise"--prét à manger!

“Can we have a week of eating lightly and no wine?”

The guests have flown, the book is launched, the sun has come out–seems a perfect time.

We’ll start today.

Lunch: A modest Salade Niçoise for two….

Cherry tomatoes–halved; a couple of anchovy fillets–halved; a hard boiled egg–halved; sprinkling of green beans–cooked to tender; black olives (niçoise if possible); half a cucumber seeded and diced; a spring onion thinly sliced and a tin of good tuna packed in olive oil–drained–all arranged on a small bed of salad leaves (heresy to some natives of Nice, who claim the authentic version has no salad leaves!)

Salade niçoise--lunch today.

Dressing: a few torn basil leaves and a couple of fat cloves of garlic, crushed to a pulp with a pinch of salt and whisked into three tablespoons of good olive oil. 

Dinner: a salmon fillet each–cooked in a pan on the lowest heat, skin side down and with no oil.

When they start to change  colour at the base, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and cover the pan.

They are done when little beads of white juice emerges from the top.

A simply cooked seasonal vegetable (Green beans? Grilled/roast halved tomatoes? Grilled courgettes/zucchini?) would go well plus a quartered lemon.

(Both these recipes from Delicious Dishes for Diabetics–a Mediterranean Way Eating.)

Bon appetit!

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“The launch” part 2–Ottolenghi’s chicken–roasted in an unusual spice mix

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , on August 9, 2011| 3 Comments »

Yotam Ottolenghi—an Israeli born in Jerusalem—owns five restaurants in London and contributes flavoursome recipes to the Guardian on Saturdays, with unusual Middle Eastern taste twists.

Not a great looker--but the taste...!

Ottolenghi’s Chicken is his version of the traditional Palestinian dish, M’sakhan. It is delicately flavoured with soft spices like cinnamon, allspice, and sharpened a little with sumac [dark red and lemony], enhanced with thin slices of  lemon and onion–delicious to bite into–and finished off with za’atar–which is sesame seeds in a mix with oregano, thyme and other herbs.

The chicken pieces are marinaded overnight in these gentle flavours, then roasted for 40 minutes.

Garlicky yogurt sauce & Moroccan bread went well with it at the book launch. For diabetics, better to substitute whole-wheat brown pita bread or brown Basmati rice.

1 chicken–cut up into 8/10 pieces

1 lemon–sliced very thin

2 red onions–sliced very thin

2 cloves of garlic–mashed to a pulp in a pinch of salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoons sumac

200 ml stock

1 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons za’atar

50 gms/2 oz pine nuts

for 4/5

Combine the first 11 ingredients in a bowl and mix well together.

  • Let this marinade, covered, in the fridge–preferably overnight.
  • Heat the oven to 200C/400F.
  • Lay the chicken pieces, skin side up, in a roasting pan and cover them with the lemon and onion marinade.
  • Sprinkle over the za’atar.
  • Roast in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes–the juices should run clear when you pierce a leg piece.
  • In a small frying pan gently dry roast the pine nuts.
  • Sprinkle them over the chicken and present the dish to the “table” before serving and enjoy the “oohs!” and “aahs!”.
  • Scatter over some chopped parsley to finish, for colour, if you have some on hand.
Yogurt sauce
 2 125gm pots of no-fat yogurt–whisked to smooth
1 fat clove of garlic–pulped in a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Whisk all ingredients together into a smooth sauce.
As so much of this dish can be prepared beforehand it is a useful dish for company.
Two chickens roasted together will give you enough to feed 10 people.

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The launch–part 1

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, Robin Ellis, tagged , , , on August 8, 2011| 7 Comments »

First “post-launch” post–we’ve been busy!

Twenty-two friends (many of whom, in one way or another, had helped with the book) sat down for lunch on Friday at tables set end on end under the trees–

Ma's Gazpaccio waiting patiently

–nicely protected from the sun but rain could be a problem and it has been uncharacteristically wet this year.

The skies were scoured for signs, forecasts checked hourly and finally a prayer went up to the heavens.

We were blessed–not a drop fell the entire afternoon.

A friendly sounding hum rose early from the throng–Ma’s Gazpacho was hitting the spot; as was the mellow Tuscan red poured from a 3 litre magnum–a gift from our friends Keith and Helen.

It–“the book”–was launched.

Hope James–the book’s illustrator–was there and I read this out from our friend Eva Marie’s email, received that morning:–

“Her beautiful sketches brought me right back to your cozy home and the French countryside. I am suddenly missing you and Meredith!”

That’s what they do–they bring the book to life.

Chicken was next, with unfamiliar spices–sumac and za’atar–[see part two–tomorrow– for the recipe]

An Ottolenghi special that lends itself well  to large parties.

Marinaded overnight on Wednesday, cooked in three batches Thursday afternoon and gently reheated–stacked in its juices–an hour before we ate it.

Served with plain green beans, a garlicky yogurt sauce and toasted Moroccan bread.

Then followed two lovely surprises–for me.

Fellow Poldark actor Donald Douglas [his chilled cucumber soup features in the book] tapping a glass and rising during the cheese course, meant only  one thing–he was going to speak.

He not only spoke–he sang!

“There is nothing like a Dame” from South Pacific–adapted for the occasion.

“He played Ross the brave and bold

Now here he is grey haired and old”.

Now another surprise.

My old friend George–one of three distinguished judges present–touched me and everyone with his words on long lasting friendship.

What a day!

[A second helping promised for tomorrow…!]

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Tapenade

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , on August 2, 2011| 11 Comments »

This is in Delicious Dishes for Diabetics–to be published in TWO DAYS TIME!!–4th August

Based on Mireille Johnston’s recipe – she got the mix just right – this is a traditional savoury spread.

The word tapenade originates from the Provençal for ‘caper’.

It’s a great standby to have in the fridge and is simplicity itself to make.

Serve it as a summer lunch on toast brushed with olive oil and a slice of the ripest tomato on top, or on grilled slices of

courgettes or aubergines, or on savoury biscuits or small pieces of toast as an appetizer, or whatever!

It is a favourite at St. Martin–and would even persuade Cal McRae to come to lunch!

Serves 4 or more

200 g/7 oz black olives–the oily fleshy Greek ones are best, carefully stoned; it’s important to use the plumpest tastiest olives

6 anchovy fillets – chopped

2 tbsp capers

2 cloves garlic – crushed

1 tsp fresh thyme

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

juice of a lemon

black pepper

120 ml/4 fl oz/½ cup olive oil

  • Put all the ingredients, except the oil, in a processor.
  • Using the surge button, gradually pour in the oil, bringing it to a nice nobbly sludge, i.e. not too smooth.
  • Taste for balance; you may need a little more lemon juice.
  • Pour into a bowl or plastic box, and dribble a little more olive oil over to form a preserving film.
  • Store in the fridge.

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Courgette/Zucchini Gratin with anchovies and garlic

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , , , on July 29, 2011| 6 Comments »

I was searching through an old blue large-format scrapbook for the recipe I planned to post today.

No luck–but I found this from Jenny Baker’s Simple French Cuisine–which has been an old friend for years.

It qualifies nicely for the “what to do with the courgettes/zucchini season” list!

for 4

2 lbs/1 kilo courgettes/zucchini–[a mix of green and yellow if you like]-sliced thin. [A food processor helps here.]

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 oz/50gms anchovy fillets–mashed to a pulp

1 teaspoon olive oil [to melt the anchovies in]

2 cloves of garlic–chopped fine

2/3  tablespoons of parsley–chopped

3/4 tablespoons wholewheat/rye breadcrumbs

black pepper and a pinch of salt

for 4

Heat the oven to 200C/400F

  • Heat the oil in the largest sauté/frying pan you have.
  • Add the courgettes and turn them in the oil.
  • Cook them for 15 minutes–turning occasionally over a medium heat–taking care not to brown them.
  • When they are cooked through mix in the pinch of salt–the anchovies in the topping will provide enough additional saltiness.
  • Heat the teaspoon of oil in a small pan and melt the anchovies in it.
  • Turn off the heat and add the garlic, parsley and breadcrumbs.
  • Season with pepper and mix thoroughly–you have the topping.
  • Fold the courgettes into a medium gratin dish and spoon over the topping.
  • Crisscross some olive oil over the topping and round the circumference.
  • Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes–[it should be nicely browned and come out sizzling a little!].

We had it for lunch.
The juices from the tomato salad melded well with the anchovy breadcrumb topping.

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Chicken with cherry tomatoes, black olives and rosemary

Posted in Food, Recipes, tagged , , , on July 26, 2011| 3 Comments »

A bowl of cherry tomatoes waiting their turn, reminded me of this delicious Marcella Hazan recipe–a different summer way with chicken.

The sweetness of the cherry toms is cut by the little black olives from Nice. Meredith bought some last week.

And rosemary is cascading in the garden.

for 4

a free range chicken–cut up in 8/10 pieces

1 tablespoon of olive oil

5 cloves of garlic–peeled and left whole

2 teaspoons of rosemary needles–chopped fine

salt and pepper

4fl oz/100ml white wine

20+ cherry tomatoes

a handful of black nicoise olives 

Trim the excess fat and some of the loose skin from the chicken–tidying it up.

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan with a lid.

Add the rosemary and garlic.

Put in the chicken pieces skin side down and sauté them over a medium high heat.

Nudge them with a spoon after 2 to 3 of minutes–when they move easily without sticking to the pan look to see if they’ve nicely browned. At that point, turn them over and repeat on the reverse side.

When you have a pan of golden chicken pieces season them generously and add the wine.

Let it bubble a little–then cover the pan and cook the chicken for about 30 minutes on a low heat–turning the pieces from time to time to keep them moist. Add a tablespoon or two of water if needed.

Add the tomatoes and olives and cover the pan again.

Cook until the skin of the tomatoes show signs of splitting.

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Summer stories: Iris makes tomato salad

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , on July 25, 2011| 9 Comments »

It’s  “summer“–though it felt more like March this weekend.

(“We had our summer in May,” said my egg supplier in the market early Saturday morning.)

It’s the busy season of guests–and the unexpected.

It was brighter Sunday morning and we took our visitors from Washington D.C., Irv and Iris, to Lautrec for lunch with two other friends.

Café Plum  (charming bookstore/café, a touch of the Left Bank in Lautrec) was finding it a challenge being popular.

A table of twelve had just ordered when we arrived.

We waited twenty minutes, and then were told, politely, it would be another twenty if we wanted to eat!

The six of us decided a salad in the courtyard chez nous might be a better bet–though we might be chasing the sun.

Iris and I got back first.

“Shall I make a tomato salad?”

“Good idea,” I said.

Iris and Meredith had picked some of our tomatoes Saturday evening–five varieties–for  a taste test.

Plenty were ripe, despite the weather. (Do they get tired of waiting for the sun and say to themselves: “time to go red?“.)

They cut them up in bite-size chunks and arranged them on a pretty plate with salt & olive oil for the sampling.

“Delicious!”– though some were sweeter than others.

Certainly good enough for a quickly improvised salad.

To go with the sweet tomatoes, Iris found black olives and buffalo mozzarella in the fridge, added some torn basil, thinly sliced red onion and sunflower seeds (dry roasted).

She dressed this good-looking mix with Tuscan olive oil (Liquid Gold) made by our friends, Keith & Helen.

We had it with tuna salad (A saucy tuna lunch for two), slices of melon and Parma ham, followed by local cheese.

We poured out more of our favourite everyday red– Gaillac’s Clément Termes and continued the animated chat.

Next time we go Café Plum we’ll make sure we pip “the party of twelve” to the post!

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Ma’s Gazpacho

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, Robin Ellis, tagged , , on July 22, 2011| 8 Comments »

It’s a fair bet my Mother first tasted this traditional summer soup from Andalusia in 1953–when my parents took brother Peter and me to the Costa Brava for a two week holiday. Dad worked for British Railways and got a certain amount of concessionary travel in Europe.

There were five hotels at that time in Lloret del Mar (five hundred plus now!).

We stayed in one of them with a pretty courtyard–twenty yards from the beach.

I don’t remember the soup but the egg fried in olive oil I can taste to this day!

Franco’s military police, patrolling the beach in funny hats and holding not-so-funny machine guns, also made an impression. No such thing at on the sands at Woolacombe!

About a kilo collected this morning--a little more than the recipe.

Molly Ellis’ Recipe (slightly adapted!)

Chop the tomatoes roughly–and put them in the food processor.

Chop up half a large, peeled cucumber and half a large,  red pepper–seeded–(she calls them pimentoes) and add them to the processor.

I add a couple of spring onions (scallions)–chopped. (Ma adds a yellow onion–which I’ll try next time).

Mash up 3 cloves of garlic, as she does, with a little salt–and add them to the processor.

Pulse the contents–not too smooth a finish.

Empty this already tasty mix into a bowl and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Stir in 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and two tablespoons of olive oil.

A few drops of Tabasco–as she suggests–a matter of taste.

(At lunch today I added an ice cube to each bowl instead of water.)

Chill for a couple of hours.

We found a ladle each is enough–with a whirl of olive oil to finish?

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Percy’s Peppers

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , , on July 20, 2011| 9 Comments »

“Percy Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Percy Piper picked;
If Percy Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Percy Piper picked?” 

(It’s Peter in the original tongue twister, and it’s just as difficult with Percy!)

The “Percy” in the title is a friend of a friend.

These peppers have a delicious savoury taste, a lovely look, and help to cheer up a dull unseasonal day…

The secret is to take care slicing them thin and then sautéeing them slow and long.

We had them yesterday for lunch with a poached egg on top and a fennel salad.

for 4

4 red peppers— sliced finely–lengthwise

10 anchovy fillets–pulped with a pinch of salt

1 tablespoon of  capers–roughly chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

generous twists of  black pepper

  • Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan and soften the peppers gently over a low heat.
  • It’s worth taking the time to do this–at least an hour.
  • Stir in the anchovies–without breaking up the peppers–until they melt.
  • Heat the oven to 180˚
  • Stir the capers into the peppers and season with black pepper.
  • Fold them into a pleasing ovenproof dish and heat them through for about 10 minutes
  • Serve them warm with more olive oil drizzled over (and the egg on top if you like.)

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“While the cat’s away….”

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , , on July 16, 2011| 12 Comments »

Meredith is pursuing one of her passions–teaching circle dancing–today.

She’s invited to lead and teach at a Quaker retreat in the Pyrenean foothills tonight.

So–I can have chicken wings for supper without pause.

Meredith is not so keen on this fingerlicking special treat.

There’s a recipe for them in my book that uses lots of black pepper.

This is a different one with garlic, allspice, cinnamon, and a little cayenne–we’ll see.

I’m reckoning on four for each person.

chicken wings–washed and dried

enough marinade for 16 wings
12 cloves of garlic-– peeled and pulped with a pinch of salt
juice of a lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon allspice
i/4 teaspoon cayenne
good grinding of black pepper and salt 

  • Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl.
  • Put in the wings and turn them over until they are thoroughly coated in it.
  • Leave them to marinade for at least an hour.
  • Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  • Cover a shallow oven tray with foil and brush it with oil.
  • Lay the wings out on the tray.

I couldn't resist five...

  1. Roast them for 45 minutes.
  2. Turn up the heat to 200C/400F.
  3. Continue roasting for a further 5 minutes–then take them out of the oven.

I’m told that home-made mayonnaise goes very well with them–but I couldn’t possibly comment.

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