Summer Swedish Balcony Salad

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This morning it was raining - tipping it down. A soggy July, hot on the heels of one of the wettest Junes on record! Then this afternoon the clouds parted and out came the sun. After work I headed to the park to take it in. On getting home I knocked up this quick, Swedish inspired salad with the fridge contents, and some fresh pickings from the balcony. The oak leaf lettuce, dill, parsley, and sprouts - are all the fruits of my semi attentive labour

Ingredients

Oak leaf Lettuce

Dill - finely chopped

Parsley - finely chopped

1/3 cucumber - seeded and diced

2 beetroots - diced

1 spring onion - thinly sliced

some fennel seeds

Some crumbled feta

Poppy seeds

a squeeze of lemon juice

a dollop of good olive oil

a drizzle of honey

To Serve - a hard boiled egg and some sprouted mung beans

Method

Mix the lemon juice, olive oil and honey in a small dish until blended. Put the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, drizzle over the dressing and toss. Top with sprout and boiled egg on the side. Hardly a recipe to change the world, but I had to start back somewhere.

Pancake Stack with Toasted Almonds and Maple Syrup

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Today is Tuesday

Some confusion arose this morning as to - firstly what day of the week it was and then subsequently - was this pancake Tuesday? I decided it was and went off to fix myself a massive coffee and what turned out to be an equally enormous stack of pancakes.


It is pancake Tuesday - but not until next week, so for once I am ahead of the game and have this recipe for you to try on the real pancake Tuesday!

Ingredients
Serves 2 - makes 10 mini pancakes (diameter 10cm!)
55g plain flour
1 egg
100 ml of milk with 35 ml cold water added in
melted butter - around a tablespoon
Maple Syrup
Large Handful Toasted Almonds

• Sieve the flour into a large bowl. Add in a pinch of salt if you like.
• Make a well in the centre of the sifted flour. Break the egg into the centre. Break up the eggs with a spoon and then gently stir, so that the egg pulls in a little flour with each stir. Continue to do this until the mixture is getting thick.
• Add in a little of the milk mixture - continue until all the flour has been incorporated. If you don't rush then you should have a nice batter that has little lumps. If you do have lumps give it a whisk with a balloon whisk.
• Allow the mixture to rest for a few minutes if you did use a balloon whisk.
• Heat up a small non stick frying pan on a med/high heat. Add in a small nob of butter. When it begins to bubble add in a spoonful of the pancake mixture. Swirl around to coat the base of the pan.

• If you have the pan heated up well - the pancake should take 230 seconds or so on each side. You can see the batter on top slowly turning opaque as it cooks through.

• Stack pancakes in a warm oven on a plate covered with kitchen towel until you have a huge pile of pancakes. Then enjoy with your topping of choice - sugar and lemon, maple syrup, nutella, banana and Chantilly cream.

Lemon Yogurt Drizzle Cake

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The Sasa Special

I found this wonderful recipe for Lemon Cake on Sasasunakku blog. It's a lovely witty blog - with some great recipes, this is the first one I've tried and it was amazing. Thanks for letting me use your recipe on the blog Sasa. There is a large amount of yogurt in the cake - making it wonderfully moist, and relatively good for you! Hurray. I made it in some little ramekins - and they popped out small and cute. I followed her quantities and it made 5 large portions (I'm greedy!) I used Glenisk Greek yogurt, I doubt you can use low-fat yogurt, but don't take my word for it.

Thanks to the lovely Des Moriarty for the great pictures! Aren't they amazing?? We had a fun day of food photography over in my kitchen. Think we got some beautiful and delicious shots. Check out his other work here.

I'm putting my neck out here - but I think I prefer lemon cake to chocolate cake ..... what d'ya reckon?

Pea and mint soup

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Absolutely minted.

I have blogged before about my early childhood experience of brightly coloured soups before. So suffice to say that this version of pea soup is so quick its almost instant. Fresh, bright green and delicious. I served it with the aforementioned homemade sourdough bread on a gorgeous spring afternoon. Its a winner all round.

1 small onion chopped

1 clove garlic chopped

1 500g pack frozen peas

500ml good vegetable stock

a handful fresh mint leaves, chopped

Saute the onion and garlic in a small glug of olive oil in a roomy pot until they are soft and transluscent. Add the peas to the pot and the hot stock. Bring back up to the boil. At this point the peas will be cooked. Add half the mint and blitz the whole lot in a blender or with a stick blender. Season to taste. To serve add the rest of the mint. Thats it!

Some chopped grilled bacon added in to this would be really good too.

Baked Eggs with Herb and Parmesan Crust

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15 minute miracle

For shame out lack of blogging of late, due largely to the good weather and gardening

I have 5 minutes in which to recount this recipe so I'll make it snappy. It's after work, I've cooked dinner, done some gardening and I'm running out the door to rehearsal now. This is a quick and easy recipe which can provide a satisfying meal in less than 15 minutes.

Ingredients

2 eggs

splash of milk

5 chives - chopped

small handful of parsley

1/4 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

A handful of freshly grated Parmesan

Seasoning

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 8. Grease a ramekin dish. In small bowl combine all the ingredients except the cheese, mix gently to ensure that the yolks remain intact. Place mixture into ramekin dish and top with the grated cheese. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 8 minutes, until golden and brown and puffy.

I served this with a slice of toasted sourdough (of Lolas making - recipe to follow) rubbed with garlic and drizzled with good olive oil as well as side salad of sugar snap eaps olive oil and sesame seeds.

and I'm off .... into the lovely bright evening

Grilled asparagus salad with warm poached egg

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Spring is here!

So, I was sick all last week and feeling very sorry for myself. My wonderful mother thought she needed to perform some real old fashioned motherly duties and arrived at our house bearing gifts: a care package containing bunches of flowers and two shopping bags full of lovely treats like papaya, grapes, chocolate Swiss roll, more baked goods than is good for me, a whole chicken, and loads of lovely fresh veggies including two bunches of asparagus. She even hoovered the hall stairs, what an amazing lady! I am now systematically cooking my way through all the delightful ingredients she brought, and last night I whipped up this dish for Lu and I. It tasted even better than it looks!

(for 2 people)

Ingredients:

1 Bunch asparagus

2 eggs

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 large handfuls rocket leaves

6 leaves of romaine lettuce

2 slices good crusty Italian (or similar) bread

1 clove garlic

juice of half a lemon

olive oil

mustard

honey

Hold each asparagus spear at either end and bend until it breaks where it naturally should break. Discard the woody ends. Toss the asparagus spears in olive oil and pepper and place under a hot grill. Grill for 4-5 mins on both sides until slightly charred and softened.

Meanwhile, bring a shallow pan of water (about 3 inches in depth) to a rolling boil. Wash the salad leaves and dry. make the salad dressing using 3 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice, and about a teaspoon of honey and a teaspoon of mustard (depends on how you like it). Use this to dress the salad leaves.

Toast the bread and cut the garlic clove in half. Rub the cut edge of the garlic all over the slices of toast.

Turn the heat down on the boiling water until it is just simmering. Add the vinegar. Break an egg into a shallow cup or ladle, and tip it as quickly as you can into the water. The idea is to try to get the egg to stay as 'together' as possible while you are tipping it into the water. Do the same with the other egg, you can cook the two of them together in the same pan. Use a slotted spoon to check if the egg is cooked. The white should be firm but the yolk still runny. Give it about 3 minutes.

To serve, assemble the salad & asparagus on the toast and top with the egg. This would also have been nice with some Parmesan shavings or some grilled pancetta.

Lu's new camera has really come into its own, hasn't it! So worth it, look forward to our photos improving even more from here on in!

Leek & Potato Salad

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What’s good for the soup, is good for the salad

St Patrick’s day brunch was happening in our house, so me and Sarah knocked together a few salads and then asked everyone to bring a few things, and we’d see how it all came out. Lola had made a yummy whiskey cake a few days before and she was slowly basting it in a decadent whiskey syrup daily! It was included in the St Patricks Day Parade over at the Daily Spud - check it out, a throroughly impressive collection of Irish inspired recipes, enough to keep you going until next St Patrick's Day.

I wanted to make a potato salad for the day that was in it, but something a little different from the mayonnaise soaked standard, not that I am adverse to that version either. I decided on a roasted potato salad, which I teamed up with sweet and carmelised roasted leeks and salty sharp feta, and a rich roasted garlic dressing. I was delighted with how it turned out. It disappeared pretty fast, so I can only presume it was well liked.

Ingredients
20 or so baby potatoes
2 leeks
1 head of garlic
Two sprigs of rosemary
5 tablespoons of Olive Oil
Block of feta - cubed
1 tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar
3/4 teaspoon of Coleman's mustard powder

Cut the baby potatoes into little cubes - toss in olive oil, season and bake in at Gas mark 7 for an hour - tuck the head of garlic in amongst them. Cook the spuds until gold and crispy. Also slice the leeks into thin rounds and lay flat on a baking tray with some oil underneath them, sprinkle them with a little paprika. Cook these in the top of the oven for 45 mins, remove when they’re starting to carmelised, there’s a fine line between gold and sticky and burnt!

While you’re allowing you potatoes to cool you can prepare the dressing. Mix together the mustard powder with a drop of warm water to form a paste, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Take a sharp knife and slice the bottom off the head of garlic, you should then be able to squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulbs - you’ll get messy hands alright - but your fingers will taste great!

Mix half of the roasted garlic into the dressing. When your potatoes have cooled, combine with the cubes of feta in a large serving dish. Remove the sticks of rosemary, you can leave the leaves in there. Carefully lift your rounds of leeks and place them on top of the potatoes and cheese. When you’re ready to serve, spoon the dressing over and mix well.

I put the other half of the head of garlic on some bread and ate it for my lunch. I thought that pushing a whole head of garlic on my hungover friends might have been a step too far, I showed a little garlic restraint for once!

Roasted Tomato and Parmesan Sauce

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For Pasta, Bread or Dipping

I say bread and dipping without having tried it myself, but I bet it's work, try it before I do!

Growing up my Dad would be traveling a lot during the week, so on Saturdays he would often make the lunch. I think he found cooking a nice way of unwinding. One of his signature dishes was pasta and tomato sauce. He was always sure to have the plates warmed and have plenty of grated cheese ready to lash on, it was eaten before watching the rugby beside the fire and drinking tea in Spring. Good memories.

After a lazy morning - I made a tomato and pasta sauce for Lola who was working away pretty hard. I think she liked it. We also watched the rugby long enough to see a try - perfect! 

Ingredients

12-14 small tomatoes on vine

6 cloves of garlic (in their skins)

1 small red pepper, cut into 8

1 small red pepper, cut into 8

2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan

2 handfuls of rocket

grated cheddar cheese

8oz pasta 

Olive Oil

Seasoning

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 7. In a baking dish put the tomatoes, garlic and peppers and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at the top of the oven for 45 mins until getting black at the edges. I use my stick blender for the next step, but if you have a food processor - use that. Pop the roasted garlic out of it's skins, if it's properly cooked it should just pop out easily. Then liquidise everything as well as the Parmesan together. It should make a good volume of sauce.

Stir into cooked pasta, serve in warmed bowls, topped with rocket and grated cheese. If using this as a dip, it could be cooked a little longer to just thicken it up a little.

Happy Saturday

Roast Leg of Lamb

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Sunday Lunch
I was home at my parents over the weekend, when they asked me what if I wanted anything special, I said my Dads roast leg of lamb, I've since learnt, that Dad seasons it and Mum cooks it, so it's a team effort. It was possibly the best lamb I've ever had and I've been to New Zealand! I only took a few pictures, but I thought it would be worth putting up.

Ingredients
1 leg of lamb
8 cloves of garlic
Bunch of fresh rosemary
Salt & Pepper

My Dad made some holes in the skin with a sharp knife and then stuffed them with a big chunk of garlic and bits of rosemary, then left it overnight to let the flavors infuse through the meat.


Here's my mums explanation of how to cook it

Hi Lucy,you cook it for 30 mins at gas 8 or 230 then turn it down to gas 4 or 180 and time it for half an hour to the pound thereafter....

Easy as that! Also shown on the plate (top picture) are my mums fantastic roast potatoes - recipe to follow I promise, the are the best roast potatoes in the world - I tell you.