Gazpacho Verde

It’s hot and humid in London, with sudden thunderstorms that come out of nowhere. I’m always hot and uncomfortable after the commute on the train. I usually get home before the boy so I can make this and get it chilling in the fridge.

Large bunch of coriander – leaves only

1 slice white bread

1 garlic clove

1 small cucumber

5tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2tbsp sherry vinegar

750ml water

Sea salt & black pepper

4 organic free range eggs

2 gem lettuces, sliced

20g flaked almonds

The boy loves Gazpacho and this one is really different as it has no tomatoes or red peppers. First the music. Properly I think it should be something Spanish but I’ve decided it’s Britten’s cello suites for the CD player. First hard boil the eggs and allow them to cool. Peel and chop them as soon as you can pick them up. This always seem to take longer than I imagine. Even when I run them under cold water, they seem to heat up again of their own accord. Anyway…

Put the coriander, bread, garlic and cucumber in the food processor. In terms of ingredients I’m using a couple of small slices of sourdough, a short Lebanese cucumber and the garlic is smoked. Improvise with what you have. I’m also saving the coriander stalks in case we decide on a curry later in the week.

Blend it to a paste and then just leave it for an hour for the flavours to infuse. The boy is home by now, looking hot and damp. He thinks the Britten might be Bach, though he’s caught it at a good moment to think that. He’s on the patio with a beer, talking to his cat.

Stir in the oil and vinegar – it really has to be sherry vinegar. Add the water and mix well until it resembles soup. Season well. Get the boy to give it a taste and then refrigerate for another hour.

By this time the boy won’t be fobbed off by any more olives and I have put the Bach on to show him the difference. Put some gem lettuce and chopped egg into the bottom of your bowls and ladle the soup over. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds. I've lightly toasted them first in a dry skillet.

I’m serving with sliced of toasted ciabatta with a small bowl of olive oil for dipping it into.

Peach Chutney

The boy has been pestering me for ages to make him some peach chutney to have with his beloved Double Gloucester. I had in mind to make a spicy version with fresh ginger but know he will love this sweeter version so much more. Peaches are 6 for £1 at the moment, so it’s now or never.

1kg ripe peaches

225g cooking apples

225g onions, thinly sliced

225g seedless raisins

30g light brown sugar

50g preserved ginger, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2tsp salt

1tsp cayenne pepper

450ml white wine vinegar

The apples are coming from our tree as they are usually too sour for eating. If you can, get yellow raisins as they will just look nicer against the yellow peach flesh. The boy is chopping the peaches and apples. We have Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on, as we’re hearing it at a prom concert tomorrow and he’s trying to get to know it. I tell the boy Tchaikovsky must have been in love when he wrote it, and remind him I love him enough not to add all the ginger and chillies that I’d like to, to this recipe. I'm also sworn to keep the cayenne down to 1tsp, though I think it could take a little more.

This is too easy. Put everything in a large pan – preferably a preserving pan, but if not, the biggest that you have. Bring to the boil and then simmer for what will seem like forever. 1 ½ - 2 hours or more. Stir often as it will be ruined if it catches and burns on the bottom.

When it looks nice an thick, draw a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan. If you can see a dry line across the bottom of the pan for a few seconds, it’s done. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly before pouring into clean jars. I have a really good jam funnel that my brother bought me and ladle the chutney in, but I still seem to drip it all over the counter. The boy tuts as he passes. The joke is on him as he’s really excited about this and is pretty much ready to go to Morrison’s to buy some cheese and try it out. It needs a good month to mature and will last for 6. We’ll be having this on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day for sure.

Affogato

You'd think was too simple to need a recipe, but I had one this evening that perhaps sat a little to long. It resembled a lukewarm latte and wasn't helped by being served in a Martini glass. The waiter suggested we waited until all the ice cream had melted (it was a good way there already) and then drink it down. No.

Espresso Coffee
Vanilla Ice Cream
Amaretto liqueur

Since there are only three ingredients, don't stint. You're not using masses of any of them so buy the best you can afford/find.

The hot coffee/ cold ice cream is not going to be a long lasting marriage - more a quick fling, so I try to get the ice cream as cold as possible. I scoop it into large balls and then hard freeze them on an open tray so they don't melt too quickly.

Make up the espresso. Place a scoop of ice cream in each coffee cup. They should be reasonably small. Hard to be precise but I think the same volume as an English tea cup, but with a flat bottom as it's for coffee. Just do your best. Pour in the hot espresso until it comes half way up the ice cream. 

Drizzle Amaretto over the top. Give your guests a teaspoon to eat the ice cream with. Feel free to swap the Amaretto with anything else. I think a nod towards an Irish coffee would go down a treat, but suspect Baileys is too close to the ice cream and Kahlua too close to the coffee but it's up to you.

The boy wants second helpings but he'll be watching TV until 3.00 in the morning if I let him. #caffeine

Cucumber Mayonnaise for Sandwiches

We have some left over roast chicken which the boy has sliced up for sandwiches tomorrow. We have some nice brown bread so I’m making him this to have in them. It’s equally nice served just as a side dish.

1 medium cucumber or 2 small ones

6 big tbsp. good mayonnaise

½ tsp Dijon mustard

2 spring onions

1 tsp capers

3 sprigs mint

A splash of tarragon vinegar

Peel the cucumbers lightly - you don’t want to dig too deep as you still want them looking nice and green. I’m not letting the boy help with this for obvious reasons. Cut them in half down their length and then chop them into small dice. Put them in a sieve and sprinkle with salt. This will draw out a lot of the water and intensify the flavour. Leave them for half an hour. Listen to some 1920s jazz and mellow out. Pat the cucumbers dry with kitchen paper.

Get the boy to slice the spring onions into fine rings. He can go a fair way up the green part, until they start to get tough. Normally I’d watch him, but he knows this is a sandwich filling, so I can trust him to get this exactly right.

I’m glad that’s it’s almost impossible to buy mayonnaise, in the UK, that hasn’t been made from free range eggs, but buy the best quality that you can. Add the mustard and some sea salt and black pepper and mix well. Add the boy’s spring onion rings. Chop the mint and add that along with the capers. The salted ones are so much nicer than the ones in vinegar. If using the latter, rinse and drain them well.

Stir in the cucumber and mix it all well. Get  the boy to taste for seasoning – remember that the capers will have added a little extra salt.

Finally add a teaspoon of tarragon vinegar to give it a little sharpness and give it a final stir.

The boy would be happy to have this on its own in the sandwich with the chicken, but I’m stuffing in a layer of watercress before he can stop me.

Cherries, Tomatoes & Salami

I think I used to like Nigel Slater a lot more than I do now. I wish he’d just come out! Too often  I find his recipes a bit pedestrian but he does come up with a real gem from time to time.

150g cherries

150g cherry tomatoes

A little tarragon vinegar

100g salami slices

Buy lot more than 150g cherries so that they will survive the boy grazing on them every time he passes. It’s not essential but I think that a nice mix of cherry tomatoes would be wonderful. We’re using a mix of regular red ones and oval yellow ones.

Halve the cherries and stone them, and then halve the tomatoes. Honesty time – I’m using more like 200g tomatoes as I love them! Mix the cherries and tomatoes together and sprinkle over a little tarragon vinegar. Let everything get to know each other for no more than half an hour.

Slice the salami however you like. We’re going for 1cm wide ribbons. I’m using Salami Finocchiona, which is an Italian pure pork salami with fennel. The deli counter has cut it nice and thin.

Tuck the salami into the tomato mix. It shouldn’t need seasoning.

Nigel Slater suggests mozzarella would work well with this – agreed; as does some fresh country bread drizzled with good olive oil. The boy is trying to disguise the fact that he’s making mini open faced sandwiches from this.

Beetroot, Mozzarella & Balsamic

This is a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe. I love beetroot. The boy loves his new collarless white linen shirt. I see trouble ahead.

500g beetroot

4 garlic cloves

3tbsp olive oil

Sprigs of thyme

3tbsp good Balsamic vinegar

2 balls buffalo mozzarella

Salt & pepper

Heat the oven to 190/Gas 5. Peel the beetroot and cut into wedges. It’s easy to rub the skin off when it’s cooked but use a normal veg peeler for this. Put the wedges in a baking tin so they fit snugly. Scatter the garlic and thyme on top and drizzle with the olive oil. Add 3tbsp water. Cover with foil and bake for an hour. Catch up with Radio 4.

Insist the boy takes his shirt off. He emerges from the bedroom in a grey T-shirt, having no idea how stunning he looks.

Transfer the beetroot to a large bowl and assess how much is left in the pan in terms of roasting juices. Add another splash of water if there isn’t very much, along with the vinegar. As this is going to be reduced down it probably doesn’t have to be the absolute best quality. I put the tin over a gas ring and scrape the bottom. Reduce until you get a thick glaze.

Pour it over the beetroot and leave it to sit in its marinade. Season well and let it cool to room temperature. Tear up the mozzarella. Arrange the beetroot and mozzarella on plates – I think it has to be white plates really. Spoon over a little of the beetroot syrup.

H F-W suggests this would make a great bruschetta if you toasted some bread and just sliced the beetroot a little smaller and dotted it with the mozzarella. The boy agrees entirely. However – do give regard to how easily bruschetta lose their toppings and consider how you will guard your clothes. Beetroot does not come out easily!

Courgettes a la Nicoise

This is another Elizabeth David classic. It was originally from French Provincial Cooking, which is surely in anyone’s list of the best cookery books of all time. It would be nice hot – even as a pasta sauce I guess, but on a blazing July day like this, I like it cold.

500g Courgettes

250g tomatoes

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt & Pepper

6 stoned black olives

Slice the courgettes into rounds – ours are the round variety so I’m cutting ours into wide batons while the boy is chopping the garlic. Elizabeth David always thought that the garlic crusher was the most useless implement when you could chop it and, using a little salt, crush it with the blade of a knife. I don’t think they’re useless but they are a nightmare to wash up. There is no point in asking the boy to do it as next time you use it there will still be bits of garlic hard-dried onto it.

Add a good glug of oil to a sauté pan and slowly cook the courgettes and garlic. When they are just starting to give, add the tomatoes. They should be skinned and chopped. Life’s too short and I’m too hot. I have one big beef tomato that is absolutely perfectly ripe so I’m chopping that, skin on, and adding a small carton of chopped tomatoes. Add the olives – I’m using the black wrinkly Kalamata ones. Elizabeth David says to halve them – I forgot to do this though I doubt it much matters.

I'm really tempted to ad some dried oregano and/or a few chilli flakes, and I probably will do next time I make this . This time however I'm going for an Elizabeth David original.

Let it stew gently, stirring from time to time, until you have a nice tomato sauce. Season liberally .  If you have any, strew with chopped parsley. We don’t have any though. The boy tends not to notice things like that though.

Chorizo & Broad Bean Salad

This is a side dish for us, though it would doubtless make up a very nice small plate. The boy loves the idea of salads with copious amounts of meat. I love using up everything that comes in the Organic Box.

250g peas

250g broad beans

150g good Chorizo

A squeeze of lemon

Salt & Pepper

5 Mint leaves

I’m letting the boy choose the chorizo. Normally I’d go for a hot ‘picante’ version but I want the peas and beans to shine through. The boy chooses a pure pork one with walnuts in it.

Bring a pan to the boil and cook the peas and beans for a minute or two. It’s a bit late in the season for broad beans so we are podding them, once cooked, or rather the boy is. The peas are fresh and to our surprise, the boy's cat likes chewing on the odd discarded pea pod! Bach’s Mass in B Minor is on the CD Player quite loud, and the kitchen door is open onto the patio to let some cool air in.

Fry the  chorizo in a deep frying pan. I’m adding just a tiny splash of olive oil to get it going, though it will soon leach out its own lovely golden-orange oils. Once it’s verging on crispness, add the peas and beans and mix well. Give it a good grind of salt and pepper and squeeze over the lemon juice. We use about half a lemon as we tend to like our vinaigrettes quite sharp.

The boy has picked out the mint leaves from the pot on the patio – it has spread and is now actually pushing up through the cracks between the paving stones. Snip the mint in and give it another good mix. Get the boy to taste and adjust the seasoning or add more lemon as he sees fit. Serve barely warm. The time it takes to get down to room temperature will give everything time to make acquaintances.

The other ‘small plate’ we are having with this is a baby new potato salad in olive oil mayonnaise, with shreds of fennel-salami, chives and spring onion folded through it. I’ll post the recipe soon.

Courgette & Yoghurt Salad

We have loads of courgettes to use up, it’s a beautiful Summer day, Ali Farka Toure is on the CD Player….. we’ll be eating on the patio this evening. This is the side dish we’re having with beef kebabs and rice.

500g Courgettes

350g Spinach

150ml yoghurt

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 inch fresh ginger, grated

Our courgettes are the round ones – they are roughly the size and shape of a green cricket ball. In fact I have had to prevent the boy from playing nets in the garden with them, though we do have quite a lot! We’re using Turkish yoghurt as it’s the envy of the world. The boy’s family have a garlic farm so we always have plenty of the good stuff!

Slice the courgettes into batons. Ours will look more like McDonalds French fries, given the shape, but it doesn’t matter.

Blanch the courgettes for no more than 90 seconds. Scoop out with a slotted spoon so you can do the spinach in the same water. Again, 90 seconds. Ali Farke Toure’s music is very rhythmic and good for counting. You don’t need a clock – just count and watch what’s happening in the pan.

Drain the spinach well and shred it finely with your fingers. Mix well with the garlic, ginger and yoghurt. Pour over the courgette batons and toss so it all gets covered and leave it to marinade for a few hours. We’re not putting it in the fridge, so it won’t jar with the hot beef and rice. The wine is a little too cold but we don’t care. The boy has most of it. It means he doesn’t notice how much of the courgette salad ends up on his plate.

Watercress & Lemon Soup

We’re lucky enough to get really good watercress from Hampshire. Luckily the boy likes it. It has loads of Vitamin A & C, Iron, Folic Acid, Calcium and Iodine.

40g butter

1 medium onion, chopped roughly

2 cloves garlic, quartered

35g plain flour

2l chicken stock

400g Watercress leaves (from about 850g bunches)

60ml lemon juice

60ml sour cream

The boy and I both like a certain sharpness, so this suits us down to the ground. Melt the butter. I usually add a very small splash of olive oil to stop it burning. Gently fry the onion until soft but not brown. When it’s getting there add the garlic. The boy’s family own a garlic farm so we have no shortage of that. We’re using a variety called Solent Wight.

The boy is watching TV. Pop a tray on his lap and get him to pull the leaves of the watercress from the stalks.

Add the flour to the oily onions until it cooks and thickens. It will start to bubble. If you value your pans, keep the heat low. Stir the stock in slowly. Ours is actually ready-made from the supermarket but we’ve chosen the best quality we could find. It comes in plastic pouches. Keep stirring so it all mixes nicely.

Add the lemon juice, and the watercress leaves (the stalks are just going in the compost bin). Bring it to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. I’m serving this with plain chicken and mayo sandwiches on brown bread, so I’m making these while it comes to the boil. I’m seasoning them and quartering them into triangles.

Once simmered, blend well in batches, so your blender doesn’t spit or leak. It should be smooth but still look quite grainy. Wipe out the pan and pour the soup back in, and stir in the sour cream. Crème Fraiche would also be very good.

I’m ladling it into bowls and floating a paper thin slice of lemon on top as a garnish, though the boy will discard this within seconds.

He’ll be delighted with the tiny chicken sandwiches though, which is why I have a second round waiting for him in the kitchen.