Warmer days

I'm going to run quickly through some spring dinners we have had over the last few weeks. A firm favourite in our house is a very simple dish with chicken thighs, new potatoes & cherry tomatoes. Preheat the oven to about 200. Boil some smallish washed new potatoes about 12-15 mins. Meanwhile skin tomatoes using last week's method. Because they're cherries, the skins will pinch off easily. Cut each thigh into about 3 pieces & rub with olive oil & salt & pepper. Fry in batches until almost cooked & transfer to a shallow ovenproof dish. When the potatoes are almost cooled squadge them with your thumb until they are slightly crushed. I do this a lot so when I say crush the potatoes that is just what I mean. I find this really burns my thumbs after a while & if I have a lot of potatoes to do, I use the back of a teaspoon. Crush a bunch of fresh oregano leaves in a pestle & mortar with some sea salt. The abrasiveness of the salt helps with the crushing process - salt is also good for crushing garlic on a board with the back of a knife. Add about 4 tbsp of your best olive oil, a splash of good red wine vinegar & a few good grinds of the pepper mill. Mix it up and add to the chicken, potatoes & tomatoes with a few more oregano leaves. Toss carefully and spread in your ovenproof dish. Bake for 40 minutes or so until everything is golden & slightly sticky. Perfect with a green salad.

Scallops are in season & we like to make the most of seasonal luxuries. Try a rather decadent scallopy pasta for 2. Put the pasta water on to boil. Fry 100g pancetta until crispy & set aside. Lightly brown the scallops in the oil from the pancetta & set aside. Pour about 1/3 cup of bubbly (I used prosecco because it's not too sweet) into the pan & bring to the boil. Take off the heat & leave to stand a minute then pour in a little cream. Add the scallops & simmer 3-4 minutes, which is about the time you will need to cook your pasta if you use thin egg ribbons. Try fettucine. Mix the scallops with the pasta, add chopped chives & the crumbled pancetta. You'd better finish the bottle of bubbly because it won't keep.

A couple of Sundays ago it was almost like summer. Truly it was. Although I had been planning a completely different meal, I made a spontaneous decision to have ham & salad. I did crushed rosemary potatoes - that's boiling & crushing as above, tossing in olive oil, sprinkling about some salt & pepper with rosemary & roasting for 40 minutes or so in a hot oven. We had sliced free range ham, hard boiled eggs, grilled haloumi, salad, served with a selection of home made relishes. I also did my first asparagus of the season using a method I saw at the Clevedon Farmer's market once. I think I remembered it right. I put the asparagus in a large piece of tinfoil, seasoned with salt & pepper, squeezed on some lime juice & drizzled over some olive oil. I then loosely wrapped up as a parcel & steamed in a hot oven for about 12 minutes. It was perfect. By the way the Manurewa Hungarian sausage guy who has a stall at Clevedon also has his sausages at Moore Wilson now. I haven't tried them yet but always mean to. Has anyone had them?

Still on the tinfoil theme, we had to get dinner over quickly one night last week so I fished out a spicy bean stew, (July 5th), from the freezer & topped it with a fillet of terakihi steamed in a foil packet. I remembered my mother doing something similar with fish. In addition to olive oil & salt I added a bay leaf & a slice of lemon. It cooked in about 12-15 mins at 180.

For morning teas I have made a great loaf twice now. To your favourite Madeira loaf, add about 2 tsp finely chopped rosemary & leave out the lemon. On top sprinkle about 2 tbsp rosemary sugar before baking. I keep a jar of caster sugar with a stick of rosemary, similar to vanilla sugar. I usually use it when savoury sauces call for sugar. The loaf was delicious as some of you can testify. The other cake in the picture is a treacly gingerbread loaf with a lemon icing.

Spring pasta

Every now and then we get a day that reminds us spring is imminent and on those days I like to eat as if it were already here. Pasta & salad make a lovely spring meal and as well we are getting back into dinner salads. There will be plenty of those over the coming weeks.Ribbon egg pasta with a light sauce of fish or vegetables is the ultimate spring dinner for me. Try tagliolini with peas & prosciutto. Boil the water for the pasta. Gently heat about 50g butter in a pan, gently saute 1/2 dozen spring onions, thinly sliced, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup frozen peas - I only use fresh when I have them in the garden - with a splash of water and simmer a minute or so, then add 75g roughly sliced prosciutto and cook another minute or so. Put the pasta on at about the same time as the peas and cook for 2 minutes. Drain leaving a little of the cooking liquid. Put into the pan with the pasta & reserved cooking liquid, add 50g grated Parmesan & salt & pepper to taste. Serve with a salad.
Or try a variation on an old spaghetti favourite in our house. Everyone liked this when they were younger and fussier and they all still do. The basic idea is spaghetti with fried breadcrumbs. Apparently, the crumbs, known as pangrattato, historically were used as a substitute for Parmesan by people who couldn't afford cheese. Process 1/2 cup fresh white breadcrumbs and bake in the oven at 200 for 8-10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Cook your spaghetti according to the packet and try these alternatives. Heat olive oil & garlic until the garlic begins to colour, then add a good handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley with 1/2 tsp each of chopped rosemary & thyme. Cook about 30 seconds. When you have drained the pasta, add it to the herbs in the pan & toss with about 1 tsp chopped basil and the baked crumbs. This was how we started but have now discovered this works beautifully with the addition of fish, or prawns or chorizo or salami. Try this version from Cuisine. We recently did a lemony version with gurnard which was really delicious. Make the breadcrumbs as above. Cook the spaghetti according to the packet. Heat some olive oil in a largish pan, add 400g well seasoned gurnard fillets and fry 2-3 minutes each side. Add chopped flat-leaf parsley and zest of a lemon, season with sea salt, pepper & toss well, breaking up the fish. Drain the pasta & add to the fish. Always reserve a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water when you drain and add to the sauce. I don't know why but it works. Sprinkle with the crumbs. The plain herb version is good for a vegan.
And lastly another family favourite. Spaghetti with chilli prawns & fresh tomato. Leave out the prawns if you don't eat them. Our vegetarian loves this sans prawns, although with prawns was probably the very last non-vegetarian meal from which she weaned herself. First get your tomatoes ready. Take about 500g good quality, well ripened tomatoes. Score a cross across the core, place in a bowl, pour over boiling water & let sit a couple of minutes. Drain, cool slightly unless you have asbestos fingers like my grandma. Then peel off the skin, it should come away easily. Don't leave it in the water for too long or it will start to cook the tomato. Quarter the tomatoes and with the point of a knife flick out as many seeds as you can. Chop out any hard bits of core, then chop the flesh into small pieces. The original recipe said leave to drain for an hour but we are impatient so 10 minutes is enough while you're getting everything else ready. You may be thinking this all sounds a bit fiddly for me & you're right. This is a Peter recipe & I suggest that you hand over the tomato preparation to a man in your household who is sure to have more patience for it than I do. E, this is a job for you.Cook spaghetti according to packet. Chop 2 tbsp parsley & mix in a bowl with 2 tbsp small basil leaves, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes (I've long given up chopping fresh chillis), a clove of crushed garlic, a dozen pitted black olives (the recipe suggested chopped but they're more easily avoided by non olive lovers left whole). Add 3 tbsp best extra virgin olive oil you can afford then add the chopped tomatoes. Heat a little more oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook prawn cutlets (that's skinned but with tails on, and 1/2 dozen per diner) for a couple of minutes until starting to pink up. Turn them over and crumble over a generous pinch of saffron and a little more crushed chilli. When it's cooked add tomato oil mix and quickly incorporate the prawny residue. Add the drained pasta, add a little more olive oil if you like.
For all these meals choose spaghetti, spaghettini, or linguine - whichever you prefer. And I like to serve followed by a green or garden salad.
You may be wondering two things. What have I been doing the last couple of weeks? Banned from the study due to exams... And what keeps me cheerful when I am in here blogging...?

Scroll Up

Phoebe used to like cheesymite scrolls for school lunches but I decided that it was too much of a pain to buy them every week, not to mention costly, so I developed our own version. She is now the most popular girl in school - at least at lunchtime. And I also have some cachet with year 12 - my scrolls have been requested at Charities Committee meetings. This is a true story.

In a bowl mix:

500g white bread flour

1 sachet instant yeast

1 tbsp salt (use less to taste)

Add 5 tbsp olive oil to 300-400 ml warm water and mix with dry ingredients to make a soft but firm dough. Knead in your usual way until you have a smooth elastic ball then leave to rise in a lightly oiled bowl covered with clingfilm for about an hour.

When done split the dough in half.

Roll out one half to a rectangle roughly 30 cm by 10 cm. Might be longer - it should be quite thin. Spread the rectangle with tomato paste. Sprinkle on grated cheese - I use cheddar & Parmesan. Actually pile on the cheese - these are very cheesy scrolls. Then sprinkle with dried oregano - I tried chopping fresh but my customer prefers dried. Carefully roll up lengthways & slice into 3cm scrolls. I get 15 or so scrolls. Don't make them too big - they can always take 2.

Put on a baking tray covered with a tea towel for 1/2 hour or so to rise again. Bake at 200 15-20 mins.

While the scrolls are rising cut the top off a garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil & loosely wrap in tin foil. Put in the oven with the scrolls & leave in another 20 minutes after you've taken them out.

Take your 2nd ball of dough and roll into another rectangle, this time more bulky - more 20cm by 15cm. Sorry didn't measure. Leave on a baking tray, covered with a tea towel to rise. Meantime whizz a handful of parsley in your food processor with the garlic you have just squeezed out of the roasted bulbs. Add some olive oil to make an emulsion - a thick pouring consistency. Make some dimples on the loaf - I use my knuckles. Then pour over the emulsion and bake at 190 for 20 minutes or so. Sprinkle with Maldon salt while still warm and drizzle on some more oi if you are going to eat straight away. I often freeze & drizzle the oil when I am warming up.

Some things to consider when making bread. Look for recipes that resemble the bread you like. This is a flat bread recipe but when I was looking for scrolls this looked the best & it worked. When I wanted to make fruit bread I added spices & fruit to a recipe for rye bread - that worked. The Mountain bread (2 August) replaced our weekly Vogel's loaf. So now I make the breads we used to buy. I use instant yeast. It's just easier. I knead my bread with the dough hook on my mixer. All this makes breadmaking simple - just part of our regular kitchen activities.

Party Time

I've got a bit behind and I've got quite a bit to tell you so this might take a few days. I wanted to talk about party food. If you have teenage girls in your house you'll know it's the ball season & we hosted a pre-ball gathering at our house - girls, partners & parents. My advice when having a drinks function is keep it simple. Minimise your effort & maximise effect. Plan a simple menu that includes nibbly things attractively laid on dishes, dips, hot & cold snacks. We found a small piece of steak in the freezer that Peter cooked rare and sliced thinly. He grilled slices of French bread on both sides, spread on a smear of horseradish, then a slice of beef & topped with a sliver of roasted red pepper.
One of my favourites is mini meatballs. Use minced lamb - mix with spring onions finely chopped (I didn't include garlic or onions on this occasion but perhaps I should have!), cinnamon, cumin, allspice, breadcrumbs (or try semolina), an egg to bind, salt & pepper. Make teeny meatballs. About 500g lamb should make 75 meatballs. You can make these up the night before & cover in the fridge - I think they settle & are less inclined to break. When ready to serve, fan grill at 180 for about 15-20 mins - turn halfway through, or gently pan fry browning on all sides. The latter is a bit fiddly for me.
Then skewer the meatballs on those little party bamboo skewers with the curl at the end and put a cherry tomato on the end of each one. These look & taste fabulous. You don't need a dipping sauce.
Peter usually makes little pastry cases which we fill with various things - on this occasion that left over spinach & ricotta I put in the freezer on July 19th. We put a little blob of feta on top for extra salty cheesiness & baked for 12-15 minutes at 220.
Then serve mixed dips with yummy things you find at the supermarket or deli. We had a fantastic Kingsmeade blue cheese called Sunset Blue, classic reduced cream onion dip, guacamole, hummus, Caanan Galilee. One of my favourite snacks is pesto spread on mini toasts. I used to make crostini but you kind of lose the will to live slicing & oiling & turning the breads. I buy Pride of France mini toasts & Genoese pesto. In summer I make my own basil or beetroot pesto.
And lastly don't forget the cheesy feet. Make your mother's cheese straws recipe but use a red cheese - I use Kingsmeade Rimutaka Red - and some Parmesan. Add a pinch of cayenne. I used to make cheese stars but I recently acquired hand & feet shaped cutters. The hands weren't so good, the fingers kept falling off, but the tiny feet were delightful.
Last Saturday we went to a friend's 50th birthday & I made a delicious broccoli salad to go with a glazed ham. I recommend you try this before the broccoli season ends. In a large bowl mix baby cos & spinach leaves, little sprigs of broccoli blanched for 2-3 minutes, 100g crumbly blue cheese (not Kaimai crumbly because although delicious, crumbly it was not), a handful of olives, about 5 rashers of bacon (free range) fried until crispy & crumbled into bits, cherry tomatoes halved - use a variety & cut across the middle not down through the core (Jasper taught me this - it looks prettier). Dress with a lemony vinaigrette and sprinkle on a handful of toasted slivered almonds & a handful of microgreens -the truth is I never know when to stop & always want to add one more thing.