Lemony Broad Beans

It’s almost too late for broad beans but not quite – many of us are enjoying the second harvest. I love them, The boy is okay with them but hates double podding them. He says they look like big ticks.

1kg broad beans

1 lemon

A good glug of olive oil

Salt and pepper

1tsp paprika

1tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp cayenne pepper

This is very slightly adapted from a recipe that came with the organic box. So – assuming the broad beans come in their long green pods, push them out. The boy actually likes this part. Bring a pan of water to the boil and give them about 7 minutes. Check to make sure they are tender.

Now the double podding – tip them into cold water so you can handle them, and remove the grey, slightly wrinkly skins from them and you will have lovely spring-like fresh green beans again.

Halve the lemon and cut one half into slices as thin as you can get them, removing the seeds.

Heat a large frying pan, with the oil and add the lemons. You want them to just start to caramelise. Tip in the beans. Add the spices. I think sweet paprika will work best here. Squeeze in the juice from the other half of the lemon and mix well until the beans are heated through and covered with the oil and spices. Add the alt and pepper and check the beans are tender – if not, add a splash of water and keep it going another minute or two.

The boy pointed out that this would be a good bruschetta topping if given another drizzle of oil at the end.

Fresh Coriander & Green Chilli Chutney

I had this at a good friend’s lunch party, and it was so good I had to beg the recipe. Apparently it came from the wife of another good friend, so it has good provenance (or Terroir, as the other good friend would say).

115g chopped coriander leaves

3 cloves garlic, crushed

20 cashew nuts

2 green chillies, deseeded

1tbsp sugar

1tsp salt

1tbsp lemon juice

3tbsp canned coconut milk

I don’t know anyone who weighs their coriander leaves. A large pack from Waitrose is about 100g, so you’re looking for about what you’d get in a bunch from an Asian grocers. I’m assuming the cashews are unsalted, as salt is an ingredient, but am not going to beat myself up about this.

Put happy music on – anything from the eighties will do.  It’s really quick to make so you could probably finish the entire thing in about as long as “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina & the Waves. It will make you happy, as will this recipe.

Put everything except the coconut in a blender and whizz. Add the coconut milk – though shake the can first as it will always separate. Slowly pour in until you get a thick paste.

We dipped home-made bread in this. I would happily have taken the bowl home on my lap in the taxi when we had it – it is that good. The boy had been playing cricket all day. He said something about 50 for 2, which isn't even English!

Pineapple Raita

The boy and I both like Raita, and I’m always looking for versions that go beyond diced cucumber in yoghurt. The boy always thinks he can take curries, hotter than he actually can, so a cooling raita is often essential.

This version has two selling points – it’s quite sweet and it uses canned pineapple so there is no tiresome prep. Pineapple usually comes in small cans which is what you want.

500ml plain yoghurt

3 slices tinned pineapple

½ tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Toast the cumin seeds is a hot frying pan and crush the pepper corns in a pestle and mortar. Chop the pineapple slices quite small. Drain it well on kitchen paper and add to a bowl with all the other ingredients. I think pineapple can take quite a bit of salt. 

This recipe is from Pushpesh Pant’s wonderful “India Cookbook” which has 1000 recipes from the subcontinent. Interestingly, none of his raita recipes include the cucumber variant so I wonder if it is traditional at all? 

The boy likes this with Garlic Chilli Chicken, though he has to change into a dark coloured T shirt first. For obvious reasons!

Salaad (to go with curry)

I have agreed to let us have curry ready meals from the supermarket, and even I have to admit that these are usually very good these days. However, they need improving. I’m adding a dollop of thick yoghurt and some spicy mixed pickle (I like Ahmed Mixed Pickle in Oil, which comes from the local Pakistani butcher).  On the side I am serving this salad, from Madhur Jaffrey. It's not a spelling mistake by the way - Salaad is what her family called it.

140g cucumber, peeled and diced

7 large cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 large shallot, sliced thinly

½ tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp lime juice

I adore Madhur Jaffrey. I recently found a first edition of “An Invitation to Indian Cookery” for next to nothing. I love that the author biography focuses on her life as an actress, rather than as a cook.

So – again no recipe really – just combine everything. Ideally the cumin seeds should be roasted whole in a hot dry frying pan and then ground. A mandolin will really speed the chopping up, though it’s raining and I quite like chopping vegetables.

My one addition to this is a few long thin slices of carrot. I also think the small crook cucumbers will work best as they are less watery, but not essential.

The boy is accustomed to salads with most meals and seems to like that this one is quite different, though that could be down to the Cobra beer.

Green Slaw

A typical British summer. It was hot and now it’s cold and damp. The boy wants a baked potato for lunch. He likes them topped with (in this order), plenty of salted butter, grated cheese, thinly sliced red onion and coleslaw.

This interesting coleslaw recipe is from Pitt & Cue, a British take on southern US barbecue cuisine.

1 savoy cabbage, shredded

2 onions, finely sliced

1 green pepper, deseeded and finely sliced

1 large green apple, skin on but cored, julienned

1 jalapeno chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

A handful each of coriander and mint, finely chopped

100ml plain yoghurt

Finely grated zest and juice of 2 limes

Salt and sugar to taste

Savoy cabbage is just coming into season and it’s good to have it now while it’s young and tender. I’d be tempted to add a bit more chilli but the boy has vetoed it. The apple is Granny Smith and the yoghurt is Turkish. The sugar does make a difference.

Recipe: Mix.