Nasturtium Pesto

When Channel 4 phoned and said would I be interested in cooking with Michel Roux Junior on television, this was the recipe I came up with, on top of a chilled summer cucumber soup. I think I was a bit overwhelmed to be honest. I'm still a bit confused by my decision, and couldn't tell you where on earth it came from, but it is definitely tasty. I was inspired by the Ouseburn farm where I get some of my veg, it was August last year and there were huge beds of bright nasturtiums climbing all over, little courgettes, herbs and spiky cucumbers all waiting to be picked. So I made the soup and Michel made the pesto, he was very nice if you're interested, very nice indeed...

It seems like Autumn is on it's way in , but I still have nasturtium leaves creeping all over the allotment, so if you have access to any you could give this a go...

You need approximately 25g nasturtium leaves. These are very easy to grow in a pot if you fancy, just chuck a packet of seeds in some compost early summer and they should provide you with spicy leaves and edible flowers all summer. Pick 6 mint leaves and 10 nasturtium seed pods. These look a bit like capers and have a massively spicy kick to them, when the flowers wilt you're left with a seed pod, which you can eat, or keep and plant again. You will need 25g pumpkin seeds or pinenuts, a pinch of salt, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

Michel does things properly so set about this is a pestle and mortar, but I mostly use my little whizzer; don't tell him. Add the nasturtium leaves, mint, seed pods, pumpkin seeds, a pinch of salt and a good glug of olive oil to the whizzer and blend until smooth. You might need to add more oil, I like it so you can drizzle it off a spoon rather than a thick paste, but it's up to you. Add the lemon juice at the end to taste, just a dash should do.

Ricotta, Radish, Mint and Fennel Salad

I’m working on my salad repertoire... The menu, at my new venture Cook House, will be full of local seasonal flavour, huge delicious salads, salt beef bagels, roast chicken sandwiches with homemade mayonnaise, granola, stewed fruit, the occasional bacon sandwich, I’m nearly ready to show you the website... so watch this space...

This is a very simple salad I’ve been making for a while now, originally from the Polpo recipe book, I have free styled a bit. It’s really delicious. The radishes are my own, they are so easy to grow and I love the real kick of spice you get from home grown radishes, a much more powerful tasty version of the little bags in the supermarket. I’m also going to give homemade ricotta a go and try it with that... I’ll keep you posted.

These amounts will make one large plate of salad. Use a mandolin or a very sharp knife and thinly slice a big handful of radishes, take half a fennel bulb and thinly slice that too. Add everything to a large bowl. If you have some fresh radish leaves you can thinly slice the small ones and scatter them in, then add a large handful of roughly chopped mint. Add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the juice of quarter of a lemon, add more to taste, and a pinch of salt and lots of black pepper. Toss the salad and scatter over a large plate. Then crumble half a pot of ricotta over the top of everything and drizzle over a little more olive oil...

This is delicious with spicy radishes, aniseed fennel and creamy ricotta, fresh mint and lemon, it’ll be on the menu soon, when I’m open and the thunder stops...

Blood Orange, Walnut and Ricotta Salad

London was awash with blood oranges last week; every menu we turned to was doing something with them. Margot drizzled them over an impressive looking cheesecake, The Clove Club served them with a delicious goats curd and emerald green fennel granita, Quo Vadis had them with campari or a fennel salad, and Spuntino in a sprightly salad with walnuts. We ate so well, as you might have gathered... I would highly recommend all of the above if you are dining out in the big smoke any time soon...

So instead of filling my bags with the wonders of Liberty jewellery department, which I really wanted to do; I filled my handbag with blood oranges from a delightful little shop called Leila’s near Rochelle Canteen, and brought them all the way back to Newcastle. I realise this is not the most sensible way to shop, but I was worried I wasn’t going to find any in Newcastle and I had Valentine’s diners to feed...

This is a very simple little salad, but very tasty. To serve two for lunch or four as a side, take a bag of watercress, spinach and rocket, one or all varieties will do. I made a little dressing of extra virgin olive oil, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, a tiny bit of maple syrup, salt and pepper, shake it all up and dress the leaves well.

Peel one blood orange and slice thinly, they are so beautiful inside, each one different; then toast a large handful of walnuts and mix both through the leaves. Finally top with some crumbled ricotta. A delicious addition to my salad repertoire if I do say so... The warm toasted walnuts are delicious with the sweet rich orange, creamy ricotta and peppery leaves. I’m on the lookout for more blood oranges to carry on enjoying them while the short season lasts...

SuperRaw Food Feast Supperclub and Brunch

This weekend I'm teaming up with amazing raw food chef Lorna Crawford of Edinburgh Raw food fame. It's part of all the amazing stuff going on at the Boiler Shop in the Stephenson Quarter for EAT Festival over the next four days... I'm looking forward to it a lot! We're going to be hosting a Supperclub and a Brunch in the room above the Boiler Shop and tickets are still available if you would like to come along!
The menu is full of Coconut Water Cocktails, Spicy Mango Soup, Green Coconut Curry with zucchini noodles and Mango & Vanilla platters (with edible flowers) for dessert... and a Brunch on the Sunday with Banana and Mango smoothies, Seasonal Fruit Salad, Strawberry, Coconut cream & crunchy Granola Sundae followed by teas and wonderful Raw Chocolate Platters...

Courgette and Lemon Salad with Feta and Mint

I picked over twenty courgettes the other night and they are growing faster than I can keep up. I have other people offering me courgettes, I'm trying to give away courgettes, everyone seems to be growing them, even people I didn’t know grew vegetables are growing them... In social situations people have started asking what to do with their glut of courgettes, not your average party chat, but a glut needs ideas and I've discovered a few good recipes recently...

 

So I thought I would share a few of them with you over the next couple of days. My favourites include this lovely fresh salad, a cheesy courgette and herb risotto, garlicky buttery slow cooked courgettes, a grilled courgette salad with garlic and chilli breadcrumbs and a roast courgette soup. I've also been thinking about a courgette and lemon cake with lemon butter icing... I need to start experimenting with that one asap...

 

So I'll start with this light fresh salad, wafer thin slices of courgette dressing in lemon and oil, with crumbled feta and fresh mint. I had it for lunch today, outside in the Lake District, trying to pretend that it wasn’t raining...

To make a small salad for two people to share, take one courgette, any type and shave it into wafer thin ribbons using a vegetable peeler. In a bowl mix the courgette with a big splash of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and the juice of about quarter of a lemon. Scatter the courgette onto a plate and then crumble about 50g of feta cheese over the top and a handful of chopped mint. It is delicious and fresh, full of lemon, creamy cheese and mint. The dressed courgette on it's own is lovely too...

My second very, very simple recipe, which isn't even really a recipe is just to grill them, cut into thin slivers about 4mm thick. On a plate pour over a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and coat them all over. Then either put them on the BBQ for a few minutes each side, or under the grill or on a hot griddle pan. The best I've found them so far is on the BBQ, courgettes can often be quite watery and the high heat of the BBQ works perfectly... You can have them hot from the grill or delicious left to cool their flavour really comes out...

Beetroot Salad with Rocket and Walnut Pesto

I've renamed my evening meal Salad Club, Experimental Salad Club on some nights, like tonight... It's totally normal to brand your meals surely...? Chicory, celery, cambozola and honey, I think it worked? Pea, broad bean, pesto, goats cheese, bacon and croutons, bit odd? For my birthday last week we ate a whole pig, a lovely friend gave me some fois gras, there was a venison pie, then the Ouseburn Festival Feast kindly provided me with black pudding rolls, scotch pies, chicken liver parfait and other meaty delights. I desperately need a bit of salad time and this beautiful sunshine makes it even more apt... Salad and sunshine are great friends.

I've been delving into my Ottolenghi Jerusalem book and the Polpo book, a recent favourite, and finding all kinds of delicious salady type treats. I served up two of them at my latest Supperclub on Saturday, a Radish, Fennel, Mint and Ricotta Salad, but I thought you might be a bit sick of radishes so I thought I'd tell you about the Beetroot Salad with Rocket and Walnut Pesto. I'm growing my own beetroot at the moment but it has got a little way to go before it is ready yet. I'm quite proud of it already, I always feel pretty proud of a root vegetable, it amazes me every time I pull one up, that I, me, actually grew it?

This is quite simple, once you know how long a beetroot takes to cook (I didn't, we ate at 10pm). Simply bring your beetroots to the boil in plenty of water with a big splash of red wine vinegar. This will serve 4 to 6 depending on hunger levels. I used 550g of beetroot, big tough as old boots ones and they took about an hour to cook. They need to be tender and the skins coming away easily. I hope my little fells in the allotment will be a bit more tender and speedy to cook. When they are done leave them to cool and then peel and cut into small chunks.

 

To make the pesto, wizz up a bag of rocket, about 70g, 60g of walnuts, 35g of parmesan, 2 cloves of garlic, ¼ teaspoon of salt, black pepper and a big glug of olive oil, using a food processor. I have also tried it with a mix of almonds and pecans which was very good too. There you have your rocket pesto, this is a world away from pesto you get in a jar at the supermarket, so tasty and well worth the effort. It's pretty easy and can be used for loads of other things.

Then simply mix the beetroot pieces with the pesto, you might not need it all, and add a handful of rocket and some toasted walnut pieces. The beetroot is soft and sweet and tangy, delicious with the fresh creamy pesto. A delicious new way to eat beetroot for me and a regular new addition on the Salad Club line up...

Radishes with Butter and Salt

I figured if St. John say you should eat radishes with butter and salt then you probably should do just that; they seem to know what they are talking about, when it comes to all things food. It sounded a bit odd, but I'll give it a go I thought, and I'm pretty glad I did, for this week at least, it is my new favourite thing!

I popped over to check the allotment earlier, I am attempting to be a better gardener this year and so far things are going quite well; there are more plants than weeds which is a first... We have broad beans, french beans, courgettes, onions, beetroot, parsnips, gooseberrys and blackcurrants all doing well; and these little guys, who have suddenly grown into beautiful little red globes over the past week.

I proudly plucked a handful from the ground and brought them home, remembering St. John's advice on 'how to eat radishes at their peak'... Simply top and tail your radish, add a knob of butter, sprinkle with flakes of salt and crunch. The peppery crisp radish with soft creamy butter and crunchy salt is delicious, amazing, I could eat a huge bowl full, thankfully there are lots more little red radishes at the allotment still to pull up... If you find yourself in possession of a radish you must try it, the leaves make a pretty tasty salad too with a good vinaigrette...

Wild Garlic Devilled Eggs and lunch on the Farne Islands

I had a pretty beautiful and exciting start to Monday morning this week. It began at the crack of dawn packing my car with so much food and crockery in huge boxes that it felt like I was moving house. Next thing I knew I was on a tiny boat speeding over to the Farnes on a beautiful calm sea in lovely warm sunshine. I even forgot to worry about the task ahead it was so beautiful; puffins diving around us and naughty gulls eyeing the boxes packed with food...

 

I had prepared lunch for 40, luckily I think I only realised how ambitious this was once it was over, it was a huge amount of work... This summer will see some very exciting Supperclubs that I have been planning jointly with the National Trust. This lunch was both a trial run and an introduction to the concept of literally shipping my Supperclubs up the coast...

 

 

The setting matched the weather. A long table ran the length of the 14th Century chapel on Inner Farne. I dressed it with white tablecloths and jars of wild garlic flowers, cowslips and rosemary, the whole place smelt beautiful, and that was before I even got the food out. Wild garlic devilled eggs, pork pies with pickled apple, tiny caramelised garlic tarts, rollmop herring, chicken and pistachio terrine, pickles, beer-cheese, home-made bread and butter, cauliflower and hazelnut salad, radish and mint salad, mint lemonade and tiny meringues and strawberries for a sweet ending.

 

 

The devilled eggs were an amazing new discovery, simply hard boil eggs, scoop out the yolk, mix with mayonnaise and wild garlic and scoop back in... I boiled my eggs for 15 minutes, cooled them, then halved them. I made my own mayonnaise as I had left over egg yolks from the meringues, you don't have to but it's worth it and you can see how here... Mix each yolk with a tablespoon of mayonnaise and as many herbs as you like, I blitzed a big handful of wild garlic with some olive oil, add a tiny dash of cider vinegar and some salt and pepper... They were a delicious fresh herby egg mayonnaise delight..

 

Sunshine streamed through the stained glass windows onto the table as everyone tucked in and perched on the wooden pews that lined the walls of the tiny chapel. It was a little stressful getting it all ready on time, a surprise for all the National Trust benefactors visiting the island, but so worth it, it looked stunning and there were gasps of delight and lots of lovely kind words floating around the pretty chapel as everyone tucked in.

Over almost as soon as it began I sat peacefully on Seahouses harbour in the sunshine and and treated myself to a bag of chips...

 

Tomato, Feta and Tarragon Salad with Sumac Dressing

The sun is shining and I am starting to feel a touch of Spring in the air. I have just been to the allotment and have begun to get excited about what to plant this year... I think I had forgotten I had an allotment in truth, I haven’t been for months. I definitely need to be a bit more committed to it this year. I constantly feel like I should be there more often... Little and often is my gardening motto this year... A gardening motto? What I have become?!... 

It was lovely and peaceful and sunny today, with people pottering around tidying their plots. I really enjoy being there, even just for half an hour, it's a little spot of calm and beauty. Ours is looking ok, probably bottom half of the table if there was a league, but certainly not relegation zone. A bit of work on the paths, some digging and a bit of work on the 'wild flower area' (total wilderness of brambles) at the back, should see it right in no time...

 

I'd forgotten how lovely a crisp sunny winters day is, as it's been grey for as long as I can remember. There's nothing like a spot of sunshine and a slightly lighter night to start you thinking about salads and summer. I served this salad as part of my first ever Supperclub, last summer at Carruthers and Kent wine shop in Gosforth. Upstairs in their tasting room we held a Middle Eastern meal for twenty with matching wines, this dish formed part of the salad course, alongside a Broad Bean, Pomegranate, Radish and Mint salad. 

Last weekend saw a return to the same theme with a Middle Eastern meat free themed Supperclub at Ouse Street Arts Club. I announced tickets a few weeks ago and they sold out in minutes, so I enthusiastically decided to add another night and run it two nights in a row... It was a huge amount of work, but an incredibly enjoyable weekend. Full of filo pastries, harissa dips, lentil koftas, spiced stews, honey vegetables, rosewater stuffed dates and almond milk puddings. There were some great people at both evenings and I had a lovely time meeting them and putting the menu together. I'm planning the next one already...

To start this salad you need some nice tomatoes, choose some that smell strongly of tomatoes, if they smell of nothing, they will taste of nothing, so start sniffing... I chose some cherry tomatoes on the vine that were pretty tasty... Pull them apart with your hands to get a nice rough texture to the salad, each one into 2 or 3 pieces, and lay them onto a plate. Crumble over half a block of creamy feta cheese, about 100g, and very thinly slice a shallot and scatter that over too.

To make the dressing add a teaspoon of sumac to a bowl and pour over 50ml of hot water, leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Then add 100ml of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of caster sugar, a splash of pomegranate molasses, a pinch of salt, some black pepper, the leaves from a sprig of thyme and half a clove of crush garlic. Whisk everything together and leave to get to know each other for 20 minutes. This is far more dressing than you will need, but is good on any salad and keeps for a month or more in a sealed jar in the fridge.

Finally chop some fresh tarragon over top of the salad, about 2 tablespoons full, and then pour over about 50ml of the dressing. The tasty tomatoes and creamy feta are delicious with the sharp, sweet, herby, lemony dressing and rich aniseed tarragon. I'm really looking forward to the start of Spring, more salads and a bit of outdoor dining. I'm perhaps getting carried away as the sun has only just shown its face, but it's a start...