Roasted beetroot and prosciutto risotto with parsley croutons

There’s something infinitely soothing about risotto. For starters, it’s a one pan dish (thumbs up) and then there’s its oozy, creamy quality that slips over the tongue so easily you barely need to chew it.
A pairing that works very well in risotto is that of salty Italian proscuitto ham and sweet, roasted beetroot. The beets taint the rice a pretty blush pink colour too, which can’t be bad.

Buy it:
2 large beetroots peeled, cubed and roasted at 200c for 30 minutes
100g prosciutto
300g risotto rice
100ml white wine
A big jug filled with hot chicken stock
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Handful of grated Tallegio cheese
½ loaf white bread torn into chunks
Olive oil
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Do it:
1. Lightly cover the base of a large saucepan with olive oil and add the onion. Stir on a low to medium heat to soften  - do not allow to colour.
2. Add the garlic and cook out for one minute.
3. Add the rice and coat in the oil for one minute.
4.Pour in the wine and turn up the heat. When most of the liquid has evaporated add a ladle of stock, bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer.
5. Add the stock a ladle at a time, each time waiting until most of the liquid has gone before you add more and stirring constantly.
6. After about 30 minutes check the rice. It should be creamy, a little soupy and the rice should still have a bit of bite.
7. Add in the beetroot and shred and add the prosciutto. Check the seasoning.
8.Add the Tallegio cheese.
9. To make the croutons place the torn bread on a baking tray and drizzle over some olive oil and black pepper. Tear up the parsley and stir this into the bread cubes. Place under the grill and keep and eye on it, turning until the bread is golden.
10. Serve the risotto topped with the croutons.

A Cunning Way With Leftover Pork

It’s Monday night. You’re shattered, there’s nothing on TV and you just can’t be arsed to cook!
Know the feeling?
Don’t turn to that tin of baked beans or out of date Pot Noodle in the cupboard, with a bit of forward planning you can have a filling and very tasty Chinese-style meal on the table in less than 30 minutes.
To start off, you will need to have a roast dinner on Sunday night - preferably a slow-roasted belly or shoulder of pork. It’s the leftovers that do the magic. I’m always amazed at how similar this dish tastes to crispy duck!


Buy it:
2 big handfuls of leftover pork
1 tbsp fennel seeds
4 cloves garlic, crushed
5 shallots, thinly sliced
400g sticky thai rice
Handful of frozen peas
1tsp Chinese five spice
Salt and pepper
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Enough vegetable oil to cover a frying pan by 1cm

Do it:
1. Get your rice on in a saucepan, following the instructions on the packet as to the amount of water needed.
2. While the rice is cooking do your pork. Cut it into small dice and season it with a little soy sauce, and the five spice. Place a tbsp of sesame oil and a little vegetable oil in a frying pan and whack it up to a high heat. When it’s smoking add the pork and fry until crispy on the outside. Drain onto kitchen paper and put to one side.
3. In the same pan, pour in enough vegetable oil to fill to 1cm deep and get it smoking hot. Add the shallots and fry quickly until crisp and brown. Carefully remove to kitchen paper with a slotted spoon and pour away most of the oil. Leaving in 1tsp.
4. When the rice is cooked and drained, add the garlic to the frying pan and sizzle. Then add the fennel seeds and cook out for a minute.
5. Add the peas and cook for 3 minutes.
6. Add the rice to the frying pan and lots of black pepper and some sea salt. Then add the crispy pork.
7. Season the rice with sesame oil and soy sauce to taste and add half of the crispy shallots.
8. Serve topped with the remaining shallots.

Gallic Inspired Hotpot

This is the kind of cooking I like. You chuck a load of ingredients in a saucepan, give it a stir once in a while and end-up with a plate of yumminess.
I was inspired to make this A: because of the ingredients I had in my cupboard and B: because I fancied something a bit French.
This is a rustic, country-style Gallic dish, traditionally made with confit duck legs (but who has those flying around in the fridge every day). It’s very nutritious and tastes divine. It’s also very quick and fuss-free making it ideal as a workday supper.

Buy it:
One chicken leg per person
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped or whizzed in a blender
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
1tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 carrot diced finely
100g button mushrooms, sliced
1 tin green lentils
1tbsp plain flour
2tbsp tomato purree
1tbsp oil
Salt and pepper.

Do it:
1. Season the chicken legs and place in the oven at 200c for 35 minutes.
2. Place the oil in a medium saucepan and add the onion. Cook for about five minutes until softened then add the garlic.
3. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and check the seasoning.
4. Simmer for about 30 minutes, checking the seasoning again.
5. Serve the lentils with the crispy chicken legs on top and some good fresh bread on the side.

Moist Courgette and Lemon Cake

The summer glut of courgettes is obviously over. But I recently came across this recipe, which I’d put together last year as a last resort to use up the daily deliveries of the vegetable from my dad’s allotment.
Now I know what you’re thinking - courgette, in a cake? But let’s not forget the popularity of chocolate beetroot cake in recent years.
You won’t taste the courgette, I promise. What you’ll get is a lovely moist sponge with a fresh, zesty lemon flavour. Make it now and taste the summer.

Buy it:
2 medium courgettes, grated
2 large eggs, beaten
125ml melted, unsalted butter
150g light muscovado sugar
225g self-raising flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
Zest and juice of one lemon

Icing: 100g unsalted  butter, 300g icing sugar, zest and juice of one lemon

Do it:
1. Line a 23cm cake tin, or square brownie tin with greaseproof paper and pre-heat the oven to 180c.
2. Mix together the butter and  sugar, ensuring that no lumps of sugar remain,
3. Add the eggs, flour, courgettes, lemon juice and zest and stir until well combined.
4. Add the bicarbonate of soda and stir well.
5. Pour the batter into the lined tin and place in the middle of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Check it after 30 - if the sponge springs back when you touch the centre its ready.
6. Allow the cake to cool.
7. Whisk the ingredients for the icing together and pour over the cake when it has completely cooled.
8. Serve with a nice cup of Lady Grey tea.

Spicy South African Stew

While I definitely enjoy the sweeter things in life - good chocolate, sticky toffee pudding with lashings of sauce and  a variety of icing laden baked goods- I’ve never been enamoured with the sweet potato.
The idea of cooking it States style topped with marshmallows for Thanksgiving makes me want to gag.
I just find the vegetable, no matter how much I tell myself it’s good for me, too sucrose..
But, not wanting to let the orange  root beat me I tried it again recently in a really delicious stew at The veggie Red Lion, a fab veggie restaurant in Great Bricett, Suffolk.
Enrobed in a spicy, coconut and peanut sauce and sprinkled with mounds of crispy potato, I could actually tolerate the vegetable, its sweetness offset by the clever blending of spices. In fact, I didn’t just tolerate it, I loved it.
Now, obviously the chef isn’t going to let me into her secret, so this is my version of what I tasted on that icy December night and friends have agreed the taste is pretty darn close to the real thing.
It’s wholesome, packed with vitamins and  filling fibres, and is cheap to make too - the ideal solution for January when money’s tight.


Buy it:
3 onions, finely chopped or whizzed in the blender
1tsp fennel seeds
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp turmeric
4tsps med curry powder
1/4tsp Colman’s mustard powder
1tsp salt
2 heaped tbsps crunchy peanut butter (I use Whole Earth)
½ block coconut cream
1 tin tomatoes , preferably whizzed in the blender
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into rough 2cm chunks
2 tins chickpeas
1 red pepper, sliced thinly
4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes
1/2tsp mixed herbs
3tbsps oil


Do it:
1. Preheat the oven to 200c.
2. Place 1tbsp of the oil in a large saucepan and place on a medium heat. Add the chopped onions, stirring until they turn golden and soft - not burnt and crunchy.
3, Add all the spices and stir on a high heat for one minute.
4. Turn the heat down and add the chickpeas, pepper, peanut butter, coconut cream and tomatoes. Pour in half a mug of water and allow to simmer for 20minutes.
5. Add the sweet potato  and salt to the mixture and another half a mug of water. Cook for 30 minutes on a medium heat until the sauce is thick and the sweet potato is cooked through but not falling apart. At the same time, pace the oil, potatoes and mixed herbs in the oven on a roasting tray, shaking them to coat in the herby oil.
6. Keep an eye on the potatoes which should be ready after about 30 minutes, at about the same time as the stew.
7. Serve the stew straight away with the crunchy potatoes or place the stew and potatoes in the fridge in separate bowls to place in individual serving dishes and reheat later.

Going mad for mezze

My absolute favourite and best (God I’ve been watching too much Charlie and Lola with the kids) food has to be sharing plates of finger food.

Whether it be tapas, Asian snacks or slabs of pizza oozing with molten mozzarella, food tastes better when its shared – plus it doesn’t count on the diet if you share does it?

This week I was asked to go on a shopping expedition of our local town centre, which would culminate in me writing a DPS (double page spread) about a rewards scheme on offer.

Never one to turn down a freebie I, of course, snapped up the opportunity and spent the morning trying cheese, snacking on cake, having my hair and nails perfected and visiting one of the most fabulous grocer’s I’ve ever seen (Global Fruits at Buttermarket, Ipswich).

The day ended at The Galley in Woodbridge, where I, along with the photographer, restaurant owner Ugur and BID marketing man enjoyed fabulous authentic mezze inspired by Ugur’s Turkish heritage.

I couldn’t believe the price - £10.95 for two! What fantastic value.

Apparently the menu changes regularly, but on the day we visited all dishes were vegetarian.

We had:

Sundried tomatoes mixed with fresh tomatoes, walnuts and pomegranate molasses

Fresh chillies and tomatoes chopped with herbs

Potatoes, aubergines and courgettes cooked slowly with olive oil and seasonings until unctuous and silky

Giant beans cooked with fresh tomatoes and smoked paprika

Homemade hummus

Local beetroot crushed with yoghurt and a little garlic

Served with locally made pitta bread (nothing like the supermarket version) and a glass of rose, this was the perfect light lunch and we felt quite virtuous at having eaten most of our five a day at one sitting.

A glance at the rest of the menu (two courses for £5 for children!) homemade pasta and homemade Turkish delight ice cream has cemented a family visit in the near future.

If you’re in the area pop in for a visit – it’s fab!

Breakfast bars for lazy people

I hate breakfast. In fact I am so utterly bored with it that I seldom bother any more – favouring a quick fix at my desk rather than facing the saga of preparing fruit, porridge or cereal in the morning at home.


The problem is I’m lazy through and through. I’d much rather lay-in for an extra five minutes than spend that time chopping, pouring, stirring…eating.

I like brunch. I have no problem with sliding out of bed at 10am, reading a paper, listening to Massive Attack and wolfing down a pancake or two over hot chocolate.

But breakfast is a no no.

We all have to eat though. So I’ve come-up with some easy peasy, low-fat, low-sugar fruit bars that can be prepared in no time at all in the evening while your making dinner, and taken in to work (or eaten in the car, bus or train) so that five minutes extra is never a problem.

If you’re a busy person who hasn’t got time to make a full English and wolf it down by 8am – this recipe is for you.

Power-packed breakfast bars
Ingredients

400g dates soaked in hot tea
600g rolled oats
1 tin condensed milk

Do it:

1 Set the oven to 150C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2 Drain the dates then blitz in a food processor (or chop finely by hand) into a pulp.

3 Place the dates and condensed milk in a medium saucepan and simmer gently for 10 minutes until it thickens.

4 Pour the oats into the sticky date mixture and stir.

5 Pour the mixture onto the baking tray and pat down evenly. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

6 Cut into slices and allow to cool before storing in an airtight tin. They will last for up to three days.

7 Play about with the recipe – try blending in dried apricots or cranberries and sprinkling sesame seeds or crushed nuts over the top.

Sweet, sticky honey cake

There is something so loving and nostalgic about the scent of a Jewish honey cake baking in the oven. That lightly spiced, sweet and floral aroma is enough to make you want to sit eagerly at the oven door like a drooling puppy.

While I adore honey cake (or lekach) it is often quite dry and lifeless. But this recipe guarantees a soft, light, fluffy, moist and sticky cake –almost like a giant honey muffin.

And, as a bonus, it is lower in fat than an ordinary sponge, carrying only two tablespoons of oil along with the fat contained in the eggs.

Honey cake

Ingredients:

7oz plain flour

3oz dark sugar

1tsp baking powder

1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp cinnamon

1/4tsp allspice

2 eggs, beaten

10flozhoney melted with 4floz strong coffee

2tsps oil or melted butter

Do it:

1. Prepare a brownie tin with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180c.

2. Mix together all of the ingredients, using a hand mixer if possible.

3. Pout the mixture into the tin and bake for 40 minutes.

4. Serve warm.

Strawberry jam with a special ingredient

ON Sunday the little GGs and I took a trip out to Willow Tree Farm in Polstead for one of our favourite pastimes – strawberry picking.


Being a country bumpkin through and through, I grew-up spending summers in fields and farms with my parents picking anything and everything – from strawberries and raspberries, through to blackberries and gooseberries (for pleasure I must add – they didn’t make me work!).

Now I love nothing more than taking my tots out to do the very same.

There’s nothing more pleasurable on a hot summer’s day than picking berries under blue skies with the sweet scent of strawberry blossom lingering in the air.

Plus, there’s the added bonus that because you’ve picked the fruit yourself, you know there won’t be three or four mouldy berries at the bottom of the punnet (there inevitably always are when you buy ready-packed varieties) ready to spoil the rest of the batch.

The variety grown at Willow Tree Farm is Elsanta. Shiny, plump, heart-shaped berries stained an impossibly scarlet red and gifted with the most fragrant and sweet flavour I’ve ever come across.

We came away with two massive punnets piled higher than high, ringing in at the till for only £3 .

Last night, after coming home with a serious scone craving I decided I really needed to turn one of those punnets into jam, so I threw together a strange concoction that’s turned out to be a complete winner – strawberry and rhubarb jam with balsamic vinegar!

Try it. Very delicious and ideal warmed and drizzled over vanilla ice cream.



Strawberry and rhubarb balsamic jam
Ingredients:

450g ripe strawberries hulled and halved

1 large stick of rhubarb sliced into 2cm wide chunks

270g dark muscovado sugar

2 lemons, pared (peel taken off in slices) and juiced

2tbsps Balsamic vinegar



Do it:

1. Sterilise a jam jar by either placing it in the oven on it’s lowest setting (without the lid) for 10 minutes or filling with boiled water, draining and turning over until you’re ready to use it. Also, place a small china plate in the fridge.

2. Place the sugar, vinegar, lemon peel and lemon juice in a large pan with a splash of water and bring to the boil.

3. Add the strawberries.

4. Continue to boil the mixture until thick and syrup-like, stirring constantly. If you have a sugar thermometer test the jam to see that it’s reached the ‘jam’ marker. If you don’t have a sugar thermometer take the chilled plate out of the fridge and pour a teaspoon of the mixture on. It should instantly solidify to a soft set. If it doesn’t, boil the mixture for a further five minutes and try the test again, carrying on until you reach the desired consistency.

5. Ladle the jam into the jam jar, place the lid on securely and turn the jar over, creating a seal.

6. Enjoy with scones and fresh clotted cream.

Am I just too fussy?

A FEW friends have said it. Mr GG has definitely said it. And I impart the description on my daughter all the time. Am I too fussy?
After a weekend of fun and frolics in Middle England, I’ve come away feeling a little bit ashamed of my foodie behaviour – perhaps I just expect too much?
It all began on a blustery Saturday morning, when we packed our clan into the car and hitched-off on a jolly to the NEC for the BBC Good Food Show – truly amazing.
I ate my way from A to not quite Z. Artisan cheeses, cardamom and black pepper scented single estate oil, chocolate pizza, crepes, chutneys, pickles – the list goes on. Mr GG was especially pleased with his purchase of a posh-looking bottle of toffee-flavoured vodka, which even I (a non-drinker) enjoyed.
Then we arrived at a fudge stall. There were several, and being a connoisseur of this confection I made it my mission to try them all – well, someone’s got to do it.
At this particular stall I tried a smidgen of chocolate fudge and happened to mutter under my breath and out of earshot to Mr GG that it ‘wasn’t very chocolatey’.
Unfortunately my bad review was overheard by the fudge maker who spent the best part of five minutes trying to convince me that hers was the best fudge in the UK. Let’s just say, she didn’t win.
Hands-down the best on the day came from the Fudge Kitchen. I know it’s a chain (albeit a small one), but the fudge from the stand was creamy, gooey and divinely chocolatey. Mmm mmm.
Other purchases on the day included a special plate that grates/purees garlic, a teriyaki and chilli rub (ideal for the BBQ), a jar of Anila’s Spicy Korma Curry Sauce, a bottle of garlic-infused Balsamic glaze, and a gourmet chocolate pizza – to name but a few.
My next gripe came at our ‘four star’ hotel, where the restaurant menu (which was trying to be pretentious by mixing all sorts of weird and wonderful ingredients together) rang alarm bells.
We decided instead to try out the bar. But, having seen the micro-kitchen complete with several microwaves and hygiene that could at best be described as basic, I made Mr GG and the kids retreat and we made our way back to the equal uncertainty of the main restaurant.
“You’re too fussy,” Mr GG taunted. “But I wouldn’t bloody eat there either,” he added.
After an agonising  '15 minute’ wait, which actually turned into 40 minutes, resulting in bedraggled and over-hungry toddlers, we were shown to our table in the not-too-bad restaurant.
The little ones started with a nice tomato soup, sploshing it with bread and covering their faces in red gloop.
I had a melon trio – cantaloupe puree, watermelon sorbet and a few slivers of honeydew. Apart from the underripe honeydew, it wasn’t too bad.
Mr GG started with gravadlax, which he enjoyed, despite its rather unsavoury white sauce coating – we still don’t know what it was.
For mains, the children tucked into dry-looking pizza, cardboard chips and beans, which, of course, they loved.
I had belly of pork, which was described as coming with a duo of bean jus. I asked the waitress what this meant, as a jus is a sauce. Was it going to be a bean puree?
After enquiring with the kitchen it transpired that the pork just came with peas and broad beans. I suppose the menu author didn’t really know what a jus was?
It wasn’t too bad. The top of the pork was lightly crackled and moist, while the bottom part was unfortunately frazzled beyond chewing. The beans weren’t cooked enough, and the sauce was unplaceable, with no real flavour.
Mr GG however, was quite happy with his chicken supreme, accompanied by a cream sauce and slightly undercooked black pudding tortellini.
It was after 9pm when dessert time came around so, not wanting to subject the other diners to the wailing of our kids any longer, I asked to take my pudding (a cheese board) up to my room.
“No problem,” they said. “We’ll bring it up to you.”
A whole 40 minutes later and it arrived – I wish I’d waited.
On my plate were oat cakes (not the Bath Olivers stated on the menu), an OK chutney, no bread (again, as promised) and three waxy loafs of cheese, all looking rather limp and sad. Two of them, a double washed rinded red, and a local cheese, I had chosen, but there was a quite smelly and ominously liquid brie-type cheese I hadn’t expected on the plate. Where was the Shropshire Blue I’d craved, and paid for?
I called reception who assured me that it would arrive soon. Ten minutes later (at past 10pm) I was called and told that the kitchen had run out of Shropshire Blue and had put a substitute on the plate.
“But there was another blue on the menu, why didn’t they give me that?” I asked, now getting slightly irate.
“I’m sorry, we’ll bring that right up to you,” was the answer.
I never did see my blue cheese, and fell asleep hot and bothered at 10.30pm.
I did feel slightly bad, even though I’d been polite to all involved. But when you pay for something, shouldn’t you get what you pay for?
My question was answered at breakfast when the meal (included in our bargainous £88 last minute room rate) involved us having to sit next to a partition wall coated in chocolate, strawberry jam and other undistinguishable stains.
It seems you really do get what you pay for!

Turkey chilli, sweet rhubarb crumble and toothsome fudge

After a sloth-like week throwing together odds and ends from the dark depths of the fridge and trying to identify frozen chunks of green in the freezer (which turned out to be spinach by the way) last night the cook in me came out again.
That’s not to say Mr GG and the little ones have been starving. They’ve had fish and chips, a couple of pub dinners and a few slapdash but delicious picnics thrown together after a mad dash around Waitrose.

Last night saw the return of a family favourite – chilli. It wasn’t my usual recipe, which I’ll share at another time, but a quick, chuck-everything-in affair.

I made the dish with free-range turkey mince, which is incredibly healthy, and served it with a sprinkling of organic farmhouse cheddar (not so healthy), a flutter of coriander and a side of brown basmati rice.

Afterwards there was a sharp, sweet rhubarb crumble made with fruit from my old man’s allotment, and served with vanilla bean ice cream.

I absolutely adore rhubarb. Especially when it’s been lightly stewed with a hint of cinnamon and sugar and strewn with buttery crumble that sinks in at the edges to create a jammy, stodgy, caramelly mouthful of yum.

Later on in the evening it was time to bring out the chocolate fudge. Now, anyone who knows me will know I have a real obsession with fudge (and ice cream) and can probably tell you the best places across the country to buy this confection.

Linden Lady in Essex does a fantastic fudge, with a real chocolately hit, the Fudge Kitchen brand that has a few outlets in the UK is OK – a bit too soft for me. But my absolute favourite of favourites has to come from Justin Chocolaterie in Whitby.

My mum, knowing how much of a chocolate fiend I am, brought me back some of their chocolate fudge last year after a jaunt in Yorkshire, and I am now so infatuated with it that it seems to appear at every birthday, Christmas, anniversary and any other occasion I can think of.

Made tablet-style (just like it should be) the fudge is crumbly but soft, with a rounded sweetness and a rich, melt-in-the-mouth chocolate flavour.

In fact……I’m off to eat some now!



Turkey Chilli

Ingredients:

450g turkey mince (preferably free-range)
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1small tin tomato paste
2 small onions finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2tbsps fresh oregano, chopped (or 1tsp dried)
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2tsps ground cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
1/4tsp ground cinnamon
2 whole cloves
1/2tsp sea salt
A handful of fresh coriander, chopped



Do it:

1. Gently heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onions, garlic and chilli. Saute on a low heat until the mixture is softened.
2. Add the turkey mince and brown.
3. When the mince is brown, add all of the spices, the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, cocoa and oregano. Add a mugful of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for one hour.
4. Add the fresh coriander, lime zest and juice. Simmer for a further five minutes and then serve.


Summer rhubarb crumble

Ingredients

Filling:

5 large sticks of rhubarb
1tsp cinnamon
2tbsps caster sugar (or to taste)

Topping:

100g butter or margarine
200g plain flour
1tsp ground cinnamon
75g caster sugar

Do it:

1. Make the crumble mixture by placing all of the ingredients together in a bowl and mixing them into breadcrumbs.
2. To make the filling, chop the rhubarb into bite-sized chunks and simmer it in a pan with the sugar and cinnamon with ¼ mugful of water until it softens.
3. Place the rhubarb mixture into an ovenproof dish that it will fill about half way. Cover with the crumble mixture.
4. Cook in the oven at 200c for 25 to 30minutes until the topping is golden.

London grub and late spring barbecues

I have just spent a gloriously sunny weekend living la vida loca in London with friends - and eating my way around the city.
What I really love about London is the melting pot of cultures in each different district, and the melange of cuisines they bring with them.
Highlights included gigantic cakes from a Greek bakery on Camberwell High Street, deliciously crisp pizza from Pontis in Covent Garden (one of the cheapest and best in the area), and a decadent and thigh-wobblingly chocolatey miniature gateaux from Boulangerie Jade in Blackheath - I was litererally drooling (well, not quite drooling).
A must for foodies visiting the city is a trip to Blackheath. This was my first time in the area and I was taken there by a friend who lives nearby.
We picked-up lemony houmous, piquant olives, crusty bread, vegetable crisps and samosas from the local shops and walked for about 10 minutes past the kite-flyers and lobster-coloured topless men enjoying the sun, to Greenwich Park - surely one of the most breathtaking in the city.
This really is the ideal spot to sit, eat, chat and watch the world go by - oh, and you could make sure you're watch is bang on time at the Observatory too.
I didn't lift a finger to cook during the weekend, except for preparing breakfast for host Yelena and other friends Marina and Lu who were staying. You can take the cook out of the kitchen but you can't take the kitchen out of the cook....as they say.
I rustled-up cheese pancakes with confit tomatoes (1 punnet of tomatoes roasted until gooey with lots of chopped garlic, basil and black pepper) and roasted mushrooms - plus crispy parma ham on top for the meat eaters.
Feeling knackered and blistered after having lugged my considerably heavier suitcase back to Suffolk, I had to have a barbecue and take dinner outside.
We had delicious marinated chicken, wilted greens with fresh garlic and roasted Jersey Royals with fennel and red pepper. mmmmm.
You just HAVE to try this chicken recipe - the end result tastes something like kebab house chicken kebabs - but in a good way.

Ingredients
500g boneless chicken pieces
1tsp paprika
juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
1tsp salt
1tsp black pepper
handful fresh oregano and thyme
1tbsp olive oil

Do it:
Just mix it all together and grill on the barbecue until cooked through - about 10 minutes.
Serve with salad and pitta or middle eastern flatbread.

Ingredients

Lower cholesterol bolognaise/ragu-type sauce

This is not bolognaise in the Italian sense, but more akin to what we Brits call spag-bol.

The little Greedy Gluts love this sauce and it’s a great way to stuff lots of protein, vegetables and even calcium into them in one sitting without them making a fuss.

Of course, it tastes good to adults too.

Plus, the addition of turkey mince instead of beef mince means the dish is lower in cholesterol and packed full of those minerals that turkey is known for.

Ingredients

450g or 1lb of turkey mince- the best you can afford
A miniature bottle of red wine
1 onion finely chopped
3 rashers of unsmoked bacon finely chopped
1 stick of celery finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp fresh thyme or 1/2tsp dried
1 bay leaf
100ml milk
1/2tsp salt
A few grinds black pepper
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
Serves 4



Do it:

1. Heat about 1tbsp of oil in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic, onion, celery and herbs and cook on a medium heat until translucent.

2. Turn the heat up to full and add the bacon, then the turkey mince.

3. When the mince is browned add the rest of the ingredients.

4. Simmer for 20 minutes or longer to develop the flavour.

5. Serve

NB: This tastes fantastic the day after if reheated.

Scones, naans and stew

Sunday was a strange day weather-wise we me and the hubby (and the majority of our neighbours) doing the washing dance – hanging it out, bringing it in, hanging it out, bringing it in…..you get the picture.


One minute it was baking hot and eye-streamingly sunny, and by the time we’d dug out the deckchairs and donned our shades it was pouring with rain. Typical British weather.

Stuck in a limbo of not knowing whether to stay in and grudgingly do housework or brave the great outdoors, I chose to stick the kids with Mr GG for a while (please don’t feel sorry for him – he was fishing on his own for most of the weekend!) while I had a baking day.

I dug out my weathered copy of Leith’s Baking Bible and set to work.

This cookery book really is a bible for all baked goods. From cakes, cookies and croissants to artisan breads and delectable tarts, there is no area that this tome doesn’t cover.

Rushed for time and still in sleepy Sunday mode I decided to make a batch of scones. Scones are so easy to make that even an amateur cook could put them together in five minutes. And they’re relatively low in fat too – until you get to the part when you top them with cream and jam!

I didn’t have any buttermilk as required in the recipe, so instead had to settle for organic semi-skimmed from the fridge – but to be honest this is what I would normally use anyway.

Buttermilk isn’t as widely available as we are lead to believe in cookery books, and the same effect can be achieved by simply adding the juice of a third of a lemon to the quantity of liquid required. This acidity activates the raising agents in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and makes for the lightest, softest scones in exactly the same way that buttermilk does.

The recipe says it makes 6 but feeling greedy and working on the unfounded ethos that a few smaller scones is healthier than a big on, I managed to get about 12 little scones out of the mixture – all of which were glossy, soft and light as air.

I don’t really go in much for cream, so while Mr GG and the little ones slathered theirs in butter, I topped mine modestly with a smear of Duerr’s organic strawberry preserve – which is one of the fruitiest and juiciest strawberry jams around. I also love and often have in the cupboard, Asda’s Extra Special strawberry conserve which has around 50% fruit and tastes like summer.

Scones out of the way and it was time to move onto dinner.

Now, I am a devout meat eater and I love a good piece of steak drowned with peppercorn sauce, or a hunk of lamb shank as much as the next carnivore, but recently I have felt the need to bring more vegetarian dishes to the table.

So instead of the usual roast belly of pork or pot-roasted chicken for dinner I decided to make a Moroccan-style vegetable stew, served with a generous portion of brown rice and Leith’s coriander and onion seed naan breads – followed by rhubarb, straight from my dad’s allotment- how healthy!

The stew was a resounding success and we all felt full for bursting – plus I discovered that my kids’ appetite for chickpeas knows no bounds. A real winner for a filling family supper.



Moroccan-style vegetable stew

Ingredients
2 tins of chickpeas, drained

2 tins of chopped tomatoes (preferably organic)

1 courgette, diced

2 carrots peeled and diced

2 large potatoes peeled and chopped into 2cm pieces

1/2tsp cinnamon

1/4tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsps sea salt

2tsps cumin

1 tsp coriander

2 tbsps runny honey

1 chilli, chopped

A large handful of chopped fresh coriander

A large handful of chopped parsley

1tsp dried mint

Do it:
It's easy. Put it all (apart from the fresh herbs) in a large saucepan and cook on a medium heat for 1 hour. Add the fresh herbs at the end.
Serve with couscous or rice.

Brilliant burgers

I’m not really a great fan of supermarket burgers, having a severe gut-churning reaction to gristle – ick.

So if we’re having a BBQ or a lazy burger supper I like to take a trip to my local butchers (Andrews in Hadleigh) for their delicious versions, or I make them myself.

The secrets to a great burger are as follows:

1. Choose top quality meat for the best flavour and texture

2. Choose meat with some fat content otherwise you’ll end-up with a grey, rubbery shot-put to eat.

3. To use plenty of seasoning – nothing’s worse than a bland burger.

4. To not overwork the mixture. I used to make these in the food processor but they were way too heavy. Now I mix the mince very lightly and pack the burger patties loosely. This way when you bite into the burger it melts in your mouth.


Here is my recipe for what I think are some pretty damn tasty burgers that to slide into a bun with relish and salad. I love serving mine with Waitrose Spicy Onion Relish or Stokes Spicy Tomato Ketchup.



Ingredients

450g/1lb minced beef or minced steak

1tbsp unsalted butter melted (if using minced steak)

Fine breadcrumbs from 1 slice of white bread

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 onion, very finely chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1tsp English mustard

Dash Worcester sauce

A few grinds of black pepper

1 beaten egg

½ beef stock cube or 1tbsp gravy granules (I use Kallos Organic) finely crumbled



Do it:

1. Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and sweat the onions and garlic for about five minutes until lightly golden.

2. Mix the egg, mustard, stock cube, pepper, salt, and Worcester sauce together to combine.

3. Place the mince in a bowl – add the butter now if you are using steak mince, it creates richness and helps to add moisture to the meat.

4. Add the egg and spices mixture and the breadcrumbs to this. And mix lightly until just combined – do not crush too much.

5. Lightly form the mixture into burger shapes, without pressing too much.

6. Cook the burgers for 3 minutes per side under a hot grill, in the oven at 220c for 10 minutes or in a frying pan. If cooking on the barbecue I would pack the burgers tighter and start them off in the oven to prevent them from falling apart. A quick and delicious way I’ve found to cook these is in my panini press, which takes about 3 minutes in total for burgers that are about 1.5cm thick.

Asian feast for four

After spending last night eating my own body weight in Thai food, I was left drooling for Indian food for dinner tonight.
We've had some bad experiences with takeaways recently (I won't go into the gruesome details) so my craving meant I had to get into the kitchen and cook up a storm.
Dinner ended-up being spiced butter chicken, chickpea, potato and coriander patties, fennel and onion seed naans and lentil daal, followed by homemade popcorn (which exploded across the kitchen like mini metorites) and marshmallows dipped in chocolate - all devoured in front of Britain's Got Talent with Mr GG and the little ones. Yum

Spiced Butter Chicken

Ingredients
600g chicken pieces

Marinade
1/2tbps lemon juice
1/2tsp garam masala
1tsp turmeric
1/2tsp cumin
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
1/2tsp salt
2tbsp double cream

Sauce
300ml passatta
100ml single cream (or milk)
30g unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1tsp finely chopped ginger
1tsp garam masala
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp cumin
1/2tsp turmeric
1tsp salt
1/2tsp sugar

Do it:
Marinate the chicken in the marinade ingredients for 30 minutes, then cook under a hot grill for 8 minutes per side until lightly charcoaled. Set aside.
Add some oil to a medium saucepan and heat, add the garlic and ginger and sweat for a couple of minutes.
Add the spices and cook out for a couple of minutes until the aromas are released.
Add the cream, salt, sugar, passata and butter to the saucepan and cook on a very low heat. Add the chicken and heat through.
Serve.

Chickpea and potato patties

Ingredients
1 large potato (400g) peeled and chopped into 1cm cubes
200g tinned cooked chickpeas
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 chilli seeded and finely chopped
bunch coriandar finely chopped
1tsp garam masala
1/4tsp allspice
1tsp salt
pepper
1/2tsp turmeric
3tbsp gram flour
1 tsp ground cumin

Do it:
Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a medium sized pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook on a low heat until softened.
Add the spices, salt and chilli, then the potatoes and 1/2 mug water. Cover and allow to steam cook for 10 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking blitz the chickpeas in a food processor until smooth.
When the potatoes are cooked and soft and no liquid remains add the chickpeas, gram flour and some freshly ground pepper as well as the chopped fresh coriander. Turn off the heat.
Form the mixture into small patties and place on a well oiled baking tray in a hot oven 220c, turning over after 10 minutes and cooking for a further 15.

Fennel and onion seed naan

Ingredients:
450g wholemeal flour
2tbsp vegetable oil
1tbsp dried yeast
1tbsp sugar
180ml warm water
1tsp nigella/onion seeds
1tsp fennel seeds

Do it:
Mix all of the ingredients together and knead to a soft dough.
Allow to rest for 30 minutes and then split the mixture into 6 and roll into naan shapes.
Place the naans on baking trays, top with a small knob of butter and a sprinkle of salt.
Bake the naans on 200c for 20 minutes.

Spiced lentil stew

We seemed to have somewhat of a vegetarian week last week, culiminating in this delicious, savoury, spicy stew - very healthy, very tasty and packed full of fibre.
Lentils are a massive favourite in our household, and this dish (thrown together in a dash) will definitely be a feature at mealtimes in the future. It's suitable for vegans and filling and flavoursome enough to entice any meateater into vegetarianism.

Buy it:
250g puy or green lentils (dried)
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2tsps cumin
1tbsp paprika
2tbsp Marigold bouillon or 1 vegetable stock cube
1/2tsp cayenne pepper
1/2tsp cinnamon
1tsp thyme
1tsp oregano
1tsp salt
big handful coriander, roughly chopped
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1tbsp vegetable oil

Do it:
1. Saute the peppers and garlic together until soften and set aside.
2. Saute the onions in the same pan until soft and add the rest of the ingredients, plus 2 mugs of water.
3. Bring the mixture to the boil and then simmer for one hour.
4.Serve with brown rice or noodles, or even in tortilla wraps with cheese.

A chocolate gateaux to die for

Tuesday was Mr GG’s birthday so I had to make him a cake didn’t I?


After disregarding the information from our four-year-old that: “Daddy wants a chocolate cake in the shape of a snowboard on a rollerblade with sprinkles on top,” I set to work on Monday night to assemble the chocolate cake to beat all chocolate cakes.



Yes it was rich, yes there were probably 20,000 calories per slice, but hey – that’s what birthdays are for.



The finished construction was a two-layered chocolate gateaux, consisting of layers of death by chocolate sponge and a rich chocolate mousse, decorated with chocolate shavings, chocolate vermicelli and chocolate drops.



How disappointed was I when he took the leftovers into work today!



Death-by-chocolate gateaux



Buy it:

250g plain flour

50g the best cocoa powder (I use Green and Blacks)

1 mug boiling water

½ lemon

150g margarine or butter

200g golden caster sugar

1tsp baking powder

2 room temperature eggs

150ml double cream

150g marshmallows

300g dark chocolate, chopped (80 per cent cocoa is good)

A knob of butter

Chocolate decorations



Do it:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190c and grease two 22cm sandwich tins.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar and then add the flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix.

3. Pour on the boiled water and lemon juice and mix.

4. Add the eggs and mix.

5. Pour the mixture equally between the sandwich tins and place in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes until the sponge springs back when pressed. Leave to cool completely

6. Make the mousse by melting the marshmallows and double cream on a low heat with the butter. When the marshmallows have melted take the mixture off the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth and allow to cool. Then, whisk with an electric handmixer until thickened and let the mixture set in the fridge.

7. Sandwich the cooled cakes together with the mousse and cover the top and sides with the mixture too.

8. Decorate with your choice of chocolates and decorations.

Oven-baked tomato soup and spicy bread

I had a little bit of a thing for cornbread last week – I think it’s because I wolfed down a shedload on our picnic last weekend.
So on Friday night I whipped some up and served with an oven-baked soup. Yes, that does sound strange, but with my hubby jumping up and down like an over-sugared toddler at the news that I’ve booked for him to go away fishing this weekend as a birthday treat, and making me help him lug various pieces of equipment from the back of the shed, I didn’t have time to stir anything.

Starting soup off in the oven also gives it a smokey and caramelised flavour.



Chilli cheesy cornbread

200g self-raising flour

200g polenta (I use Merchant Gourmet as it is nice and fine)

200ml milk with a squeeze of lemon juice

1 egg

A big handful of strong cheese

1tsp freshly chopped oregano

1 green chilli finely chopped

1/2tsp salt

Do it: Mix all of the ingredients together and place in a 23cm square tin that's been oiled. Bake at 200c for 30 minutes until spongy.

Oven-baked tomato soup

2 cloves garlic

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 small onion halved

1tbsp olive oil

1/4tsp dried thyme

1 vegi stock cube

Black pepper

1/2tsp sugar

1tsp balsamic vinegar

Do it: Simply place all of the ingredients in the oven and roast at 180c for an hour. Add a pint of boiling water and blitz the lot with a hand blender or in a blender. Serve.

Meataballas

Dinner on Saturday didn’t exactly go as planned.  I felt quite smug in the morning, having planned a week’s worth of versatile and healthy suppers.

But I forgot to buy more of one vital ingredient – garlic!

This is the culinary equivalent of cutting of a cook’s left arm. Garlic is the savoury, sweet base to so many foods that to be without it is to have no soul in your cooking – there will always be something missing.

Saturday's delight was supposed to be light meatballs in a smoky tomato and chipotle sauce, but without my pal garlic I didn’t have the heart to prepare a tomato sauce.

However I did have to do something with the meat (prime steak mince) so I decided to take my meatballs down a Scandinavian/Italian route.

I started off by making some herby Italianate meatballs (minus the lemon zest and chilli I normally add to them) and whipped up a Scandi-style gravy, a bit like the sauce that would usually accompany Swedish meatballs.

Served with white rice and a bowl of peas, this ended-up be really quite nice. But I am still hampering for that garlicky, smoky chilli and tomato sauce. Perhaps it will appear later in the week.



Scandi/Italian meatballs

500g steak mince (or the best mince you can afford)

1tsp fresh thyme and oregano (or ½ tsp each dried)

A handful of grated cheese

1/2tsp allspice

1/2tsp salt

A few grinds of black pepper

1/4tsp cayenne pepper

2 slices of brown bread

50ml single cream

Do it: Place all of the ingredients in a blender and mix to a thick paste. Put 2tsbps of oil into a large frying pan and gently saute the meatballs until coloured all over. Place the browned meatballs in a roasting tin and place in the oven at 220c for 15 minutes until cooked through.

Gravy

A knob of unsalted butter

100ml single cream

1 beef stock cube

1tsbp cranberry jelly

2tsps cornflour mixed with water


Do it: Place the stock cube in the frying pan in which you cooked the meatballs and add a dash of water, mix.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to the desired consistancy. Add the meatballs and serve.