What we ate last night

I haven’t been doing all that much cooking lately.  It’s been a busy few weeks, and there have been a few changes going on.  In reaction to all this business, I’ve been surviving on a diet made entirely of cheese, sushi and Yorkshire tea.  Not at the same time, but usually at hourly intervals.  So when I invited a few friends round for dinner, I realised I had no idea what to cook.  I couldn’t just give them cheese; no matter how much I wanted to eat the cheddar that I knew was in the fridge.  So I thought I’d ease my self back into cooking with my favourite Nigel Slater recipe.  But the thing about using a recipe you know off by heart is that you always end up experimenting.

Honestly, I don’t know how many times I’ve been shouting at the TV when someone on masterchef says they haven’t practiced their dish.  I mean, come on, it’s masterchef.  Masterchef.  Why on earth would you experiment on masterchef?  Now I’m not saying that the friends I had round for dinner were John or Greg, but still, as I meandered through the shops, picking up what looked good, I did worry that if it wasn’t delicious, I would be giving my guests cheese.

So at home, faced with my new knife, which, incidentally, is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever owned, my new casserole pot, which is also big and very beautiful, I started cooking.

There were no disasters.  The stew was, well, a stew.  There’s not really so much that can go wrong.  Once I got into the routine of stew making, which, looking back at the past recipes I have posted here, stew making is something I am very well practiced in.  But the cake was what I was most nervous about.  Because you can never really tell how a cake is going to turn out until it’s done, and then there’s nothing you can do to rectify any mistakes.  And with a gluten free beetroot and chocolate cake there are a lot of things that could’ve gone wrong.  I was nervous that it was going to be too wet, with the beetroot and the ground almonds all together, but it was the best cake I’ve ever made.  I keep looking at the remains with warm affection, and a hefty dose of pride.

Chicken and Bean Stew

For five

Two chicken thighs per person

Three leeks, sliced

Eight cloves of garlic

200g pancetta or bacon, cut into small chunks.

500ml chicken stock

a large glass of white wine

a handful each of thyme and parsley

2 tins of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed.

Preheat the oven to 160°c

In a big casserole pot that has a lid, over a medium high heat, brown the chicken pieces in a little olive oil.  It might take a few batches.  When they’re brown all over, remove them from the pan.

In the same oil, fry the bacon, and remove from the pan.

Reduce the heat to a low heat before adding the garlic cloves, whole but flattened a little.  Then add the leeks.

Add the glass of wine and let it bubble gently before adding the stock and the beans.

Throw the bacon and the chicken back in the pan.  Tuck in some thyme stalks, put the lid on and put it in the oven.  Leave to bubble gently for an hour, turn up the heat to 180°c and take the lid off for the last twenty minutes, with a sprinkling of thyme leaves.

Sprinkle with parsley before serving.  It’s nice with a simple salad.

Chocolate and Beetroot Cake

Makes a twenty cm cake

250g cooked beetroot, pureed into a coarse paste

200g 70% chocolate

4 tablespoons espresso

200g butter, cubed

5 eggs

190g golden caster sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

100g ground almonds

100g buckwheat flour (plain flour or rice flour would be good too)

crème fraiche and poppy seeds to serve

Lightly grease a 20cm cake tin, and line the bottom with greaseproof paper.

Preheat the oven to 160°c.

Sift the flour, almonds, baking powder and cocoa in a bowl together.

Melt the chocolate in a separate bowl over a pan of simmering water, without stirring.

When it’s almost melted, pour over the hot coffee and give it all a stir.

Push the cubed butter into the mixture, take the chocolate off the heat and stir until the butter is melted.

Separate the eggs, with the egg whites in a big bowl, and mix the yolks with the chocolate, stirring until all the egg is combined.  Then stir in the beetroot.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and whisk in the sugar.

Lightly fold the egg whites into the chocolate, followed by the flour mixture.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes.

Leave to cool completely in the tin.

Serve with the cream and poppy seeds.

A Glut

After my little rant about spring, I’m fully embracing summer in London. It’s warm, I’ve got a patio, and I’m getting used to the taste of cheap white wine. I’m not sure whether that’s something I should admit to. Anyway, here are the recipes from the first dinner in my garden in a while.

Of course, even in the sunny weather, I still find something to complain about. Whenever people start talking about a glut of something, I get jealous. It’s an obviously misguided jealousy, as I doubt anyone really wants a glut of anything. But the very word ‘glut’ makes me think of tomatoes. In the summer, everyone seems to be talking about a glut of tomatoes from their garden or allotment. They’re talking, and I’m thinking that I want a glut of tomatoes. I want to go out into the garden and think ‘well, what am I going to do with all these tomatoes?’

I cooked dinner for a good friend of mine who had just returned from a few months in Italy. If anyone should know about a glut of tomatoes, it’s him. He was probably fed up of the things, but my jealousy got the better of me, and I went out and found myself a glut of tomatoes. True, they came from a market, and true, I got overexcited and didn’t manage to use them all, but I can tell you it felt very good indeed.

So we had them in three dishes. I don’t know how often before I’ve made three separate dishes for a dinner for two, but I did, and they were all delicious. And red.

The tart is a variation on a Tarte Provençal. My picky friend doesn’t like olives though, and I thought, since I was forcing so many tomatoes on him, I could probably substitute them for the gooey saltiness of grana padano, but obviously, only as a favour to him. As you may be able to tell from the pictures, my tart is very rustic looking. I didn’t mean it to be. In fact, I was thinking about making it circular, but by that time I was feeling a bit rushed. The second dish was chicken legs cooked with tomatoes, basil and garlic, and we had a tomato-heavy simple salad as an accompaniment. We probably could have done with a simple green salad, but I had a glut of tomatoes to use up.

A (kind of) Tarte Provençal

For four

250g puff pastry

1 courgette, cubed

1 small aubergine, cubed

1 onion, peeled and chopped

8 sundried tomatoes

8 cherry tomatoes (or as many as you can fit on)

40g shaved parmesan or grana padano

a handful of basil leaves

a sprinkling of thyme

Preheat the oven to 180˚c

Saute the courgette, aubergine and onion in a little olive oil for ten to fifteen minutes. You want them to still be firm.

Roll out the pastry into any shape you fancy and prick all over with a fork.

Dress the basil leaves in a touch of olive oil.

Spread the cooked vegetables on the pastry, then season them with a little salt and pepper.

Follow with the cheese, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and basil. Sprinkle with the thyme and bake for 30mins.

Chicken Legs with Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic

For four

Four chicken legs

10-15 cherry tomatoes

a bulb of garlic, sepertated into cloves, but not peeled

a big handful of basil

a glass of white wine

Preheat the oven to 180˚c

Rub the chicken legs with salt and pepper before squeezing them into a pan. It’s good if they’re snug, but you don’t want to layer them.

Toss the tomatoes, garlic and basil into the pan, followed by a drizzle of olive oil, and the white wine.

Put in the oven for an hour and a half. I covered mine for the first fourty five minutes, took it out to check everything was doing alright, and left it uncovered for the rest of the time to get a crispy skin.

These would be really nice served with some potatoes too, or some haricot beans thrown in the pan to cook in the juices.

As Fussy as Goldilocks

I hate spring. I never know what to expect and find that I am always unprepared. Summer and winter, as seasons, are dependable. Winter will be cold, and in summer we act like it’s warm whatever the weather. Spring leaves me indecisive and uneasy. No more so than with food. The stews and thick soups of winter no longer seem appropriate, and the light summer fare is not quite enough. I know it is time to move away from the casserole pots, but the simple ease of a chicken stew is almost irresistible.

It seems odd to eat when it’s still light, and anything too soporific makes me feel guilty not to be making the most of the day, but every once in a while I’ll give up on the forced excitement spring provokes in me and admit that it is still too cold to be outside without a coat. The casserole pot comes off the dresser, and a spring stew follows.

Chicken and leek is the perfect combination for spring; they are light and soft and simple, a touch of cream at the end grounds the two in a more substantial dish. The herbs you use really make a difference to the tone of the dish. Thyme is great for the colder days, parsley will really lift the cream for a lighter-feeling dish. Of course, for a really hot day you can forgo the cream altogether, the wine, pan juices and a touch of chicken stock will serve just as nicely.

Browning the chicken first can seem like a real task, but the juices in the pan will make up for any misgivings. Plus, for one of the colder spring days, a handful of cubed pancetta in the pan while it’s still hot is a warming addition.

If you’re deep in the throws of enjoying spring to the full, serve with green salad.

If you're evening plan is to eat on your lap in front of The Killing, mashed potatoes will do just fine.

Chicken, Leeks and Cream

for four

two chicken thighs per person, or a whole chicken portioned by the butcher

70g cubed pancetta (optional)

two or three leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced

four cloves of garlic

a glass of white wine

500ml chicken stock

a splash of double cream (optional)

a handful of herbs

Heat the oven to 180°c

Start by browning the chicken thighs over a medium-high heat in a bit of olive oil. I use a big wide shallow casserole pot, but I still have to do it in batches. Any big pot with a lid is perfect.

When all the chicken is done, throw in the pancetta and let the pan cool to a medium-low heat. When the pan is cool enough and smells good, add the leeks. The pan shouldn't be too dry because the pancetta should render a little bit, but if it is a bit more olive oil is fine. The leeks shouldn't brown. They may take a long time, but you don't want them bitter.

When the leeks are looking soft and delicious, give the garlic cloves a bit of a bash and add them to the pan, followed by the wine. You may have to work over any caramelized bits of goodness sticking to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula, but you really do not want to miss them.

Let the wine bubble for a bit, add the chicken stock and half the herbs, and place the chicken thighs back in the pan, on top of the leeks.

Cover with a lid, or a sheet of foil and put in the oven.

30 minutes later, take the pan out and take the chicken out to rest for a few minutes while the sauce finishes itself off. Leave to bubble, season and cool to a medium heat. Pour in a dash of cream and the rest of the herbs.

Spoon the chicken over your accompaniment of choice and eat.