Summer salads

Now I know us Brits love to bang on about the weather so just bear with me for ten seconds whilst I say...finally summer has arrived! I had almost forgotten how beautiful this country is when bathed in sunshine. The only problem is, you never know how much longer it is going to last. So my advice is to down tools, switch off your computer (after reading this of course!), head outside and light the barbie!

For the ultimate outdoor eating experience, I call upon simple, fresh and zesty barbecue accompaniments. I'm not going to run through a step by step guide, we all know how to chop up ingredients, but I thought I would just give you some inspiration with some of the salads I have been enjoying recently.

First up nectarines. Just quickly slices and dressed with some good quality olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, a few twists of black pepper, a pinch of salt and some roughly chopped mint. The sharpness of the fruit makes this a delicious companion to grilled chicken or lamb.

Beets and feta. Chop up about 4 cooked beets and crumble half a pack of feta and sprinkle with slices spring onions. Dress with a little olive oil and bruised cumin seeds. So so quick and tasty. The earthy beetroot and tangy feta make for the perfect summer combo.

Last but by no means least, this little number. Mixed bean and roasted peppers. I used borlotti and broad beans as thats what I had in the fridge but go wild with whatever beans and pulses you fancy.I just simply tossed all the beans and sliced up roasted peppers in a bowl and seasoned with salt and a little mint for freshness of flavour.
It would be lovely with butter beans and chick peas thrown into the mix as well.

Bright colours never fail to liven up a lunch table so head outside and get your grill on! We need to enjoy as much of this weather as possible.

Super Sweet Teatime Treat- Millionaires Crispy Cake

Around 4 o'clock almost everyday, I get a familiar feeling, a craving for something sweet to go with a cup of tea. I then procede to scrabble around in all the cupboards on a hunt for something to satisfy my rumbling tum! All I ever seem to discover are stale old digestives and dried apricots,  not quite what I'm after!

So on one such afternoon, tired of the slim pickings from my cupboard, I headed to the village shop and bought anything I could find that after some kind of mixing and cooking process would resemble something I could call an afternoon treat! 

And thus, my Super Sweet Millionaires Crispy Cake Extravaganza was born.  Now I can't quite remember exact measurements, and to be honest I dont think they matter, but I will do my best to recall how I made these...

You will need: 

100g Rice Crispies

100g Soft Toffees

100g Marshmallows

200g Caster Sugar

90g Butter

120ml Thick Double Cream

100g Dark Chocolate

75g White Chocolate

(You can buy tins of ready made caramel from Carnation, so just substitute one of these for the Caster Sugar, 80g Butter and Double Cream)

Now I know this looks like a scarily long list of steps, but honestly none of them are either hard or time consuming and if your using ready made caramel you can skip steps 4-8 anyway!

1. Firstly bung the toffee, marshmallows and about 10g of butter into a pan and put onto a medium heat.

2. Stir until the mixture has completely melted into a sticky, oozy consistency, and remove from heat.

3. Mix the rice crispies into the toffee/mallow mixture. Hold some back if it's looking a bit dry or add some extras if it's too wet.

4. Spoon all the crispy mixture into a baking tray, flatten with the back of a spoon and set aside in the fridge.

5. Now for the caramel. If you're using the ready made stuff then jump straight to step 

6. Put the caster sugar into a heavy based pan over a high heat to melt. This will take around 15 minutes. Don't be tempted to stir! You can shake the pan should you so desire.

7. Once the sugar crystals have melted and you are left with a gorgeous amber liquid, add the rest of the butter in cubes and remove from the heat when all the butter is melted.

8. Quickly pour the cream into the caramel (off the heat), and whisk until you have a thick, golden sauce. Set aside to cool.

9. Now onto the chocolate top. Put a saucepan of water onto a medium heat to boil, with a glass bowl over the top.

10. Break chocolate into bowl and stir until melted. And melt the white chocolate in the microwave.

11. Remove crispy from the fridge and pour the caramel over the top. Smoothing over to form an even layer.

12. The final layer is the choccy. If you want a fancy (but easy) pattern on top then you will need a piping bag filled with the white choc. If not then spoon the chocolate on and leave to cool.

13. For a pattern, pour the dark chocolate over the caramel. Quickly before the dark chocolate melts, pipe evenly spaced horizontal lines on white chocolate onto the dark chocolate.

14. Next, using a skewer or cocktail stick, drag it vertically across all the lines of white choc. And you will create a nifty little patter. Pretty easy once you know now!

15. All thats left to do is leave it to cool, pop the kettle on and enjoy!

The Real Food Festival

When descending the steps of Hungerford Bridge I was instantly met with the glorious smell of grilling meat. Especially welcoming to someone as hungry as I was.  So many stands at which to fill my rumbling tum, but what to try first?

Real Food have been hosting food festivals since 2007, and on the 3rd-6th May the first Southbank Centre food festival took place. Holding true to their word, the Real Food Festival really did showcase some of the finest, freshest produce available. It was great to be able to walk around the stalls talking to the producers themselves, finding out about the foods and most of all, tasting!

Tables creaking under the weight of mountains of ripe cheeses; cones of sweet, warm and comfortingly doughy churros; great towering artisan burgers; and pints of refreshingly tangy cider, delicious!

Cheese heaven- Cote Fromager.

Iberico Ham from Can Vila

There were so many great ingredients and tasty morsels but by far my favourite were the scotch eggs by Kirsty's Kitchen. The Scotch Egg, a controversial snack. My friends would real in horror as I would bite into a scotch egg over lunch at University.  However I, maintain that they are an unbeatable lunch time refreshment. Kirsty's Scotch eggs came in various flavour, I went for the Bacon flavour and a Moroccan Spiced one. Both had beautifully soft yolks and were delicious, almost as good as my mum's, but not quite. The best part, all the pork is sustainably sourced from rare breed piggies in Wales, and the eggs are from local free range hens nearby to Kirsty's Kitchen.

Moroccan spiced scotch egg from Kirsty's Kitchen.

All in all a fabulous foodie afternoon out. With Real Food Markets held weekly at the Southbank Centre and a number of other Food Festivals happening throughout the year then there are plenty of opportunities for you to go and feast! 

Have a look on the Real Food Festival website for the next foodie event: http://www.realfoodfestival.co.uk/festivals/

Finn enjoying the sunshine.

Sunshine time...

Every time the sun pops out to say hello I get excited, I think 'Yes! Finally the weather has turned we can start to enjoy some sunshine'. Only to be disappointed each time the clouds roll back in, along with the rain and even hail! Will our seasons ever return to normal? Will we get a proper summer this year, or the same dismal imitation of the sunny season that we have experienced for the last few years? Now, as a geographer I do understand the ins and outs of why the rain keeps pouring and the wind keeps blowing. However, that is a topic for another, rainier day. Instead, I am going to offer up a something that helps lift the spirits and remind you that just maybe summer is on its way.


Elderflower and Cucumber Collins...

I had something similar at Browns a little while ago, and this weekend whilst there was the tiniest bit of sun shining, these refreshing flavours were in order! As we always have a ton of homemade elderflower cordial overcrowding the fridge I couldn't think of a better way to use some up.

It took a couple of goes to get all the quantities right but ended up with something like this...

2 Shots Gin (50ml)

1 Shot Fresh Lemon Juice

1 1/2 Shots Elderflower Cordial

3 Chunky Wedges Cucumber

Ice-Preferably Crushed

Soda to top up

I used a cocktail shaker but thats just because it helped to get us in the summery mood, but it is definitely not necessary. You can just pour all the component into a glass and away your go.

1. I added the Gin, Lemon, Elderflower and Cucumber into the cocktail shaker and gave it a good old shake! The shaking dance is also optional!

2. Next fill up a glass with crushed ice.

3. Pour the shaken mixture over the ice and top up with soda water.

4. Sit back, sip and relax!

Fingers crossed there are a few more days like this on their way!

Prawn & Courgette Curry

When it comes to simple Indian home cooking I really don't think you can beat Madhur Jaffrey. This take on her Prawn and Courgette Curry is not only delicious, it is quick and fuss free. Unlike other curries it does not need hours of blipping away so the components all keep a lovely freshness of flavour.  A great midweek supper, and even better the next day so make sure you save a bit for lunch!


To make the Prawn and Courgette Curry for four people you will need:

2 Medium Courgettes

200g Raw King Prawns

1/2 Tsp Salt (to taste)

Vegetable Oil (or any other flavouless oil)

1/2 Pack Fresh Coriander

1 Green Chili

1/2 Tsp Tumeric

1 Large Tsp Cumin

1/4 Tsp Cayenne

1 Tin Chopped Tomatos

2 Inches Ginger

A Squeeze of Lemon (about 1 Tbsp)

1. First, prep all the ingredients so they're all ready to pop into the pan when their time comes.

2. So...chop the courgettes into your preferred shape, I like a good jardinier (that's baton shape to you and I).

3. Chop up the chili. I like a good chili kick but if you don't want it to be too spicy then you can de seed them first.

4. Grate the ginger. Now you're ready to get cooking.

5. Get a heavy based pan on a medium to high heat and add a good slug of veg oil.

6. Once the oil has heated up add the powdered spices, cumin, cayenne, tumeric and salt to cook through for a minute or so. Then add the ginger and chili.

7. Next add the courgettes and stir so they are covered with the spices.

8. In go the tomatos, and ripped up coriander. Bring everything up to the boil and then turn down to a medium heat for 3 minutes.

9. Add the prawns and let the curry gently simmer for 4-5 minutes. Once the prawns have pinked up, take the pan off the heat. The last thing you want is over-cooked rubbery prawns, they really do not take long to cook.

10. Finally squeeze in the lemon juice and check the seasoning, adding a little more salt if needed.

There, I said is was quick and simple!

Pancakes with Brandy Fruit and Toasted Pecans

Now I know Shrove Tuesday has been and gone but just one day a year isn't enough! As a lover of all things sweet, I'm never one to turn down a stack of pancakes!

For this batch, some might say I went a little over the top, but I say once in a while you've got to!

For a fail safe pancake batter I always adopt the one cup method...1 cup flour, 1 cup milk and 1 egg. Or if your going for a decent sized stack...2 cups of each and 2 eggs.

Serves 4

2 Cups Self-Raising Flour

2 Cups Milk

2 Large Eggs

5 Figs

4 Oranges-Preferably Ruby Red as they

 look beautiful alongside the pinky flesh of the figs.

75ml Brandy

 Caster Sugar (approx. 6 tbsp)

250ml Double Cream

100g Pecans (chopped)

(Maple Syrup to serve)

Right off we go...

1. Whip up your pancake batter so it's all ready to go. Ideally if you have two people working on this one can make the pancakes whilst the other prepares the fruit. However if not you can make a stack of pancakes and keep them warm until you are ready to devour them.

2. Using an electric whisk (or by hand if you want to work off some of those pancakey calories), whip the double cream until it becomes thick and forms luscious ribbons when dropped from a spoon. Don't over-whip so that you end up with a thick chalky cream. It just doesn't posses the same decadence. Set aside until everything else is ready.

3. Peal the oranges by using a sharp knife to slice away the peal from the top and then the sides of the orange.

4. Slice the oranges into 1/2cm slices. Looks nicest if you slice horizontally but you can do it how you want as it'll all taste as good in the end!

5. Quarter the figs ans put into an oven proof dish with the orange slices.

6. Bake the fruit in a hot oven (180 degrees) for about 10 minutes, or until soft and sticky.

7. Whilst the fruit is in the oven pour a good slug of brandy (about 75ml) into a saucepan and add approx 6 tbsps of caster sugar. Or enough to sweeten to your taste.

8. Place brandy and sugar mixture on the hob until the sugar has disolved and some of the alcohol has had a chance to burn off. (Approx 3-5 mins).

9. Put the pecans in a dry pan over a medium heat and lightly toast for approx 4 minutes. Frequently moving them around the pan so they don't burn.

10. Finally remove the fruit from the oven and pour over the brandy mixture.

11. All that is left to do is construct a magnificant tower of pancakes adorned with brandy soaked fruit, cream, toasted pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup and enjoy!

For a quick and easy pudding, you could make this without the pancakes and spoon the sweet, brandy fruit and pecans over some ice cream. Or alternatively crumble some (good quality) ready made meringues into the cream and fold together with a generous helping of the fruit. Yum.

The Best Dressing!

Although at first I was rather dismissive of Jamie's 15 Minute Meals concept, I must admit I have found rather a few tasty morsles lurking within it's pages. This dressing has become my new favourite, and I keep coming up with excuses to make it again and again.Yes, I know it's winter and most of the time the last thing you want is a salad, but the vibrant colour of this punchy dressing will enliven any murky February lunch time.

You will need...

1/2 Bunch of Fresh Basil

1 tsp. of English Mustard

4 Anchovy Fillets

1 tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
1 Clove Garlic (crushed)

40g Grated Parmesan (or similar)

1 Lemon

4 tbsp. Natural Yoghurt

It couldn't be more simple...

1. Rip the basil into a food processor.

2. Next add the mustard, anchovies, garlic, red wine vinegar, lemon and parmesan.

3. Blitz until you've made a paste.

4. Pour out into a nice bowl to serve.

5. Stir in the yogurt.

This dressing goes best on any salad 'a la Jamie' as it has become known in our house. Basically take all your favourite salad ingredients and pop them through the chopper on your food processor and there you have it. Each mouthful will hold a fresh hit from each of your chosen ingredients.