Summertime, and the living should be easy, so we’ll be posting easy, breezy recipes until September. For this one, you can make less, and include the chilli as a spicy starter (or omit the chilli) or make more and serve with a giant green salad and perhaps a simple lemony potato salad, as a more substantial summer dish.
RECIPE HERE
Courtesy of Homes & Gardens magazine.
Leafing through the easy, healthy and sometimes decadently rich recipes of this creamy-toned cookbook, you’re not sure if you want it to be winter or summer.
A “five fromage” macaroni cheese almost oozes from the page…glossy blueberries tumble off something called Mustikkapiirakka (Finnish Blueberry Tart)…and you can almost catch the warm whiffs of Jarlsberg in the Jarlsberg and Fennel Muffins – straight from the oven. It’s not all Scandi-style comfort food however – there’s a summery Fruit of the Forest and Star Anise Sorbet, crunchy salads dressed in sour cream, lemon and mustard, Roast Allspice Chicken or Citrus-cured Halibut.
Nordic Nigella, Signe Johansen trained as a food anthropoligist, went to Leiths, worked in the Experimental Kitchen at Heston’s Fat Duck in Bray and now writes about food. Her latest book is this snow white smorgasbord, split into sections: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Afternoon Cake, Dinner and Dessert.
Beautifully written and beautifully photographed (by Debi Treloar), Signe’s voice shines through her writing; this would be a great gift for the cook with a bookshelf already sagging under Jamies, Nigellas, Delias and Ramsays.
It’s Scandilicious.
Follow Signe on Twitter @scandilicious
www.signejohansen.com Available on Amazon.
This is Riverford Farm’s follow up to their much coveted “Tales from the Fields, Recipes from the Kitchen” and again, it’s a treasure trove of greenery and goodness. There’s veg, bursting with colours of the seasons, plus succulent, slow roasted meats and not everything is as British as you might expect.
There’s Beetroot Tzatziki, Lamb Shoulder Stuffed With Apricots, Couscous, Hazlenuts and Mint, twists on classic British comfort food such as a Rhubarb and Cinnamon Cake and veggie delights like Parsnip and Walnut Beignets and Tartine Gratinee a l’Oignon.
So we’ll leave it to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to sum up things up: ”I like Riverford’s fruit and vegetables, I like their recipes, and I like their philosophy. This is a super book.”
Everyday and Sunday, recipes from Riverford Farm by Guy Watson and head chef Jane Baxter.
http://www.riverford.co.uk/shop/kitchen_kit/everyday_and_sunday_riverford_cook_book/
Also available on Amazon.co.uk
The sun’s out and it’s Bastille Day, so as an homage to our favourite French chefs Michel Roux Jr and Monsieur Novelli, here are some French (but not too fiddly) recipes to keep the French flavour going through the weekend. We’ve included two “Great British” interpretations of French classics, by our own lovely Jamie Oliver and “The Good Cook” Simon Hopkinson, too.
Bon weekend!
Michel Roux Jr’s Warm, Crunchy Pistachio-Coated Bananas with Raspberry Coulis http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/512894
Jean Christophe Novelli’s classic Salade Nicoise http://www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/11305/jean-christophe-novellis-potato-salad
Jamie Oliver’s Tarte Tatin http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pastry-cake/the-world-famous-tarte-tatin
Simon Hopkinson’s Coq au Vin http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/coq_au_vin_15354
Girls, if you’re having trouble with your tapas, we know who can help.
Spain’s own Jamie Oliver, Omar Allibhoy travelled the length and breadth of the UK showing us how to add tapas to our repertoire. He’s been making a name for himself as executive chef at El Pirata de Tapas in London, and now he heads up his own tapas revolution at his new restaurant, Tapas Revolution at London’s Westfield in W12.
He’s wowed some pretty picky critics and we love him for his veggie tapas options (rare in Spain) and for boldly blazing a tapas trail where other chefs have not dared go. As Omar rightly points out: why do the British go out for tapas when they’re so easy to make at home? With al fresco suppers somewhere on the horizon (we think), now’s the time to practise the easy, breezy art of tapas – it’s food made for summer.
Tapas Revolution – Westfield, London W12
http://www.tapasrevolution.com/section.php/2/1/tapas_revolution_restaurant_s
On the menu at Tapas Revolution: Gambas a la plancha (grilled prawns with red chillies, garlic and herbs); Pinchos morunos (marinated beef on skewers, with herbs); some beautiful Jamon ibericos (Spain’s speciality, acorn-fed Iberian hams); Spanish oven roasted sausage… All washed down, of course, with a glass of vino tinto or a nice, chilled Estrella Inedit (a Spanish wheat beer that goes especially well with tapas).
PS: Omar is fundraising right now for disadvantaged kids – read more/donate at http://www.justgiving.com/omarallibhoy
Ex- decorating editor of House & Garden, Jane has worked as a stylist on leading publications like Elle Decoration, so when we took a look at her new recipe book, out this summer, we have to admit neither the title nor cover grabbed us.
But…as soon as we’d read the intro to the first chapter, SPRING (Jane has a knack for highlighting the wonders of each season, and picking exactly the right food to go with it), we had a feeling we might get hooked.
In an ideal world, you should read this beautiful book in a country cottage, somewhere in Devon or southern Spain because Jane’s eclectic mix of British/Mediterranean recipes is one of the reasons this book is such a good read. On the English side of the food fence, there’s Elderflower Fizz, a First Day of Spring Risotto, Rhubarb Fool and Easy Walnut Bread…then, moving south, Caldeirada de peixe (Portuguese fish and potato soup) and an Andalucian mountain-style Chestnut, Chorizo and Tomato soup with pimentón….delicious.
There’s a great guide to veggies (growing and how to serve them), lots of great BBQ and al fresco food for summer, and when autumn and winter arrive, hearty roasts with roots and lots of comfort foods.
Jane’s fabulous foodie voyage is just as good as a recipe book as it is for lazy summer afternoon reading. More than a straightforward cookbook, it’s an evocative food and garden journey, full of tips, that takes you through the seasons.
Recipes For Every Day has all the makings of a modern classic.
http://www.purestyleonline.com/books/
Note: Plenty of non-meat recipes in here, so it’d be a great new gift for veggies
Sweet, slightly sticky caramelised oranges, served with creamy (or non-fat!) Greek yoghurt – it’s Nigella’s easy “Seville-meets-Corfu” recipe for an al fresco summer Sunday “pudding”. if you don’t have cardamom pods to hand, don’t worry, and once you’ve peeled the oranges it takes about 5-10 mins to make, serves 6-8. You’ll need:
Time flies…how did it get to be July already? With al fresco suppers and a British summer finally looking a bit more likely, we’ll be revealing the best of the batch of food books over the next two weeks.
If you’ve dipped a toe into organic gardening but haven’t quite got started, here’s a good Sunday afternoon read to dip in and out of under the sunshade. Richard Gianfrancesco covers almost every fruit and veg imaginable – even fruit trees and nuts! – from Raspberries to Radicchio, pointing out the roles sun, shade, soil, wind and water play in perfecting next summer’s crop of strawberries.
He’s been writing for Which? Gardening magazine for over eight years and is a plant scientist so he understands how to grow what inside out. There are sections on buying plants, growing in containers, organic gardening, soil types, dealing with pests and making your own preserves (with recipes). Insightful and delightful, you’ll save a small fortune cultivating that empty plot at the end of the garden.
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD by Richard Gianfranco
£14.99 Published by www.apple-press.com
