Cornflower

Saucy

    I've talked about this roasted tomato sauce before, but it's worth repeating for anyone who has missed it as it's so easy and versatile.

    Above is a large roasting tin filled with tomatoes of different kinds (or the same - whatever you happen to have), red peppers, garlic, thyme, olive oil, seasoning, perhaps a little sugar if you doubt the tomatoes' sweetness, and some flakes of dried chilli if you're so inclined. Put it in a hot oven for about 40 minutes (it should have browned, and the liquid reduced nicely) then use it as it comes, blend it, or put it though a mouli to remove skins and seeds.

    Serve it with gnocchi or pasta, with or without meatballs, on pizza, in aubergine parmigiana, ratatouille, as the basis for tomato and mozzarella risotto ....

Edinburgh for foodies

    I love to see my home city through the eyes of visitors, and today I stumbled upon a super post about food writer Adam Roberts' recent short trip to Edinburgh - unsurprisingly, it revolves around eateries, but includes some of the 'sights', too, so do have a look.

    I'm so glad Adam and Craig had a good time here, and I've noted Adam's restaurant recommendations for future use!

Olive bread

    Hugh's magic bread dough with added olives - about 150g of pitted olives to 500g flour. Before it goes into the oven, brush the surface with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, then bake it for around 30 minutes, covering with foil for the last 10 if it's browning too fast. Plaiting optional.

A spring salad

    Radish, asparagus and broad bean salad, one of the May dishes from Carina Contini's Kitchen Garden Cookbook: A Year of Italian Scots Recipes - a super book of which more anon.

    Carina suggests serving this with a hearty new potato and white onion omelette, and that's what I did, and everyone loved it; great picnic food, too, as the omelette is stout enough to eat cold.

    Before serving, crumble some cheese over the salad - Lancashire (as here), Cheshire, or St. Andrews Farmhouse Anster.

Porridge

 

        In our quest to find the best way of making porridge (you may remember this post) we've been trying a new recipe, this one from the back of the Rude Health Oatmeal box, and very good it is.

    You measure the oatmeal* by volume, not weight, and for two generous portions (and we are obviously hungrier than the Rude Health people as we've doubled the suggested quantities) put 200ml in a bowl, add 300ml of warm water, stir, cover, and leave to soak overnight. In the morning, bring a further 300ml of water to the boil, then add the oatmeal mixture and some salt and simmer for a few minutes. As to toppings/accompaniments, I'm always open to new combinations, but our current cream and maple syrup preference is hard to beat.

    The porridge bowl pictured is from Anta and is in their Anderson tartan range - as that's my family name I should really get one. If Black Watch is more to your taste, it's Anta's Vintage Design of the Month, so you can order a piece specially in April and receive it in May, and if you're bargain-hunting (for their goods are not cheap), sign up for the Tartan Tuesday emails to be notified of their weekly offers.

*NB: not rolled oats.

Balancing the books

   

    Nigel Slater's Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food has been my cookbook of the week this week, so should you be trying any of these recipes, here - for what they're worth - are my findings:

    Baked chickpea cakes, p.319 - forget the potato masher and use a food processor if you have one as it will save you loads of time and effort, then increase the spices considerably as otherwise the cakes will be bland. I served them with yogurt and mint, and separately, mango.

    Chicken, sherry, and almond pot roast, p.315 - to my mind he's stingy with the sherry, and I can't see why he specifies salted almonds when plain ones would do fine.

    Spaghetti bake, p.303 - another time I'd bake it for longer (or at a higher temperature), and I question the need for the vegetable stock.

    Pork belly with lime and Szechuan peppercorns, p.351 - Nigel's comment on this is "sweet, sharp, luscious. The peace of noodles." Be warned: you'll be needing that noodle-y 'peace' because the peppercorns numb the mouth in dental anaesthetic fashion for hours afterwards ...

    ... on the other hand, the pork belly, pistachios and figs on p.317 is scrummy!

 

    We had a quick straw poll of all seated at the supper table the other night on the subject of whose recipes can be trusted implicitly and whose are viewed with a degree of suspicion caution. Despite many (what I would deem) successes, Nigel didn't fare too well, all told; the words "Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall" coupled with "salad" produced a reaction from the younger members of the party which can most charitably be described as dubious; Simon Hopkinson got an honourable mention; it was Nigella who came out on top.

Just opened ...

     .... The Foodie Bugle Shop.

    And see also details of the forthcoming Ballymaloe LitFest of Food and Wine!

Every Aga owner needs one ...

    

    ... of these.

    It works, and it will save you hours of effort!

Food for thought and thought for food

   

    Among a handful of books recommended by the London Review Bookshop today is The Virtues of the Table: How to Eat and Think by Julian Baggini which "articulates a thorough and wide-ranging philosophy of food, one to eat, drink and live by. This is not primarily a philosophy of rules and principles but one of virtues, ... dispositions, habits, traits, skills or values that help us to live better lives."

    Alexander McCall Smith says of it, "Julian Baggini has that rare but wonderful gift of being able to be at once profound and highly entertaining. This remarkable book combines the pleasures of the table with those of philosophy, and this most engaging of philosophers has achieved a perfect balance."

     I've been reading the beginning via Amazon's preview feature and am keen to read on; on a side note, I'm pleased to see that among the cheeses the author rates highly (for there is a practical element to the book, too) is the excellent Stichelton which is not easy to come by (see stockists) but which we found most recently at The Mainstreet Trading Company's delicatessen. (Cheese-lovers may be interested in the Stichelton video.)

Infused

    We popped into Centotre for some mid-morning refreshment yesterday, and I tried the Amalfi lemon, orange, cinnamon and rosemary infusion - delicious! A peep inside the pot revealed a couple of slices of both lemon and orange, two fat cinnamon sticks (you could re-use them) and a generous quantity of rosemary sprigs. Definitely one to try at home, sweetened with honey if you like.

A lovely pudding

    Just a very quick post to rave about a really lovely pudding*.

    Everyone around the table this evening would like to have it again a.s.a.p.

 

*Having no desiccated coconut I crumbled some creamed coconut over the top before serving.

Simply red

    ... or tomato tart version 3 (for 1 and 2 click here).

    Being short of tomatoes for this I used red pepper as well, and in addition to the cheese I put a few generous spoonfuls of roasted tomato sauce to deepen the flavour.

    The post-baking picture isn't up to much as I was rushing to get this on the table, but the tart tastes very good indeed and is so quick to make (I served it with rocket and black olives).

Fragrant things

    Quince at last!

    I found these in Earthy, and shall do as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingtsall suggests in his fruit book, that is either roast them with herbs (to go with lamb or pork, or put in a salad with walnuts and goats' cheese), or poach* them "until they are completely tender and yielding [when they will] be luscious, full-flavoured and have their own delectable syrup".

     Meanwhile, I'm enjoying their lovely honeyed fragrance

*He also recommends topping pizza with slivers of poached quince and crumbled blue cheese ...

Tasty things

 

    Nigel Slater's Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food is 'book of the moment' in our kitchen, and so for anyone who has a copy, the following recipes are Cornflower-tried and tested:

Poor man's potatoes, p.113

Potatoes with hazelnuts and egg, p.119

Lentil bolognaise, p.183

Aubergine curry, p.245

Lamb shanks with crushed roots, p.251

Cider thighs, p.253

Onion and mushroom toad in the hole. p.307

Root vegetable tangle, p.311

Pork belly, pistachios and figs. p.317

They dined on mince and slices of quince

    No runcible spoons in evidence (nor mince, actually), but I did have quince purée with my roast pork at supper at Moro the other day. I've never eaten quince other than as membrillo, so this was a first, and it was delicious* - it was the reason I chose the dish.

    That was our second visit to Moro, the first one having been seven years ago (and I see I chose the same things then ...); no Michael Palin to chat to this time, though.

    For those who haven't been, read Nigel Slater's description of the place and book a table at the first opportunity. I hope I won't have to wait another seven years before going back.

 

*Sue will be glad to hear that.