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.

Grilled Peaches with Cheese - Sweet or Savory

I had some amazing peaches arrive at Cook House a few weeks ago, the perfect sweetness and the perfect ripeness, I have been putting them on the menu at home and at events as much as possible ever since. It's a good time for these late summer fruits; apricots, nectarines, grapes too... I've been cooking, grilling, pickling, poaching and more.

We held a big BBQ night at Cook House a few weeks ago and decided to do every course on the BBQ, including pudding and cheese accompaniments... When you have cooked all the meat and vegetables on your BBQ it often gets to the point that you think it's a shame that you still have such a nice fire and nothing else to cook. So I loaded the grill up with fruit! Grilled grapes are delicious with cheese I've found, just pop them on the BBQ at the end until they start to blacken and burst, let them cool a little and let people pick at them with some lovely local goats cheese.

Grilled peaches are my current favourite, and can be served in a number of ways, just with a dollop of cream or here I've included two recipes; a lovely lunch dish with feta on toast, and also served as a pudding with a delicious sweet whipped cheese.

Your peaches need to be ripe to start with, there is just no point in putting on a rock hard under ripe peach. This might mean buying them a good few days before you need them if they are not ripe in the shops.

Run a knife round to half them and twist to free from the stone, then lever the stone out with a knife. Brush the cut side with some oil and place cut side down on the grill. I grill them for about 5 minutes on this side, don't move them around, just leave them, if your fire is particularly hot they may need less time. Then using a fish slice scrape them free and flip over, and leave them to grill until hot and juicy, until they look like they are starting to collapse a bit. The fire brings out all the juices and delicious sweetness. Remove from the heat when you think they are done, they can be served hot or left to cool to room temperature.

They are great in a salad, with crumbled cheese, toasted nuts and rocket or with some cured meats. Here I have included a savory lunch dish and a sweet pudding both based on the same idea of fresh cheese with peaches and mint...

Grilled Peaches with Feta & Mint on Toast

Toast some sliced sour dough and drizzle with some good quality extra virgin olive oil, crumble over some feta cheese and top with the room temperature grilled peaches, some torn up mint leaves, a bit of black pepper and some more olive oil. The sweet peaches are delicious with the salty cheese and fresh mint.

Grilled Peaches with Whipped Fromage Blanc, Mint & Toasted Hazelnuts

Whip together 150g cream cheese, 100g double cream, 150g yoghurt and 75g sugar. Whip with an electric whisk until it starts to thicken, it takes a while, then add the juice of half a lemon and whip for a few more minutes. Serve this sweet cream with warm grilled peaches, a sprinkle of toasted hazelnuts and some torn mint leaves. The sweet cheese is a bit like a cheesecake topping and is so delicious with the juicy peaces and the crunchy toasted nuts.

Elderflower Cordial

It doesn't feel right somehow, telling you how to make Elderflower Cordial while I have the heating on, rain beating against the window and am watching the fence nearly blow down in the ever present wind. I don't previously remember a year this windy; every day my container doors are blowing open and closed at Cook House and generally annoying the hell out of me. Where is summer?

A man came in the other morning for breakfast and remarked that he thought we'd had it, that brief spell in April, or was it May... and it filled me with sadness that that might actually be true; because all I'd been focusing on was that at some point, it must get nice, at some point perhaps I could go out without a coat on?

It rained nearly all day at Jesmond Food Market on Saturday, but on a very positive note that didn't put people off at all. It wasn't as busy as last month but it was still full of people shopping and eating all day, only this time they were wearing rain coats and were under umbrellas. I admire the British spirit, a bit of rain won't keep me from cheese and pies... oh no...

Back to elderflowers, lovely summery elderflowers... It surprises me each time I pick them just how much of elderflower they smell, it's really powerful. I picked a big bag full on the way down to Cook House the other morning, about 20 heads, that should make about 2 litre bottles of cordial. They are best gathered on a warm dry day, so good luck with that; and also when not fully opened yet, just on their way. The ones around the Ouseburn are pretty much spot on at the moment.

Pick out any insects that might be lurking and put the flowers in a big bowl, grate in the zest of 3 lemons and then cover with 1.5 litres of boiling water. Then leave the whole lot to sit over night. The next morning strain through a piece of muslin into a pan and add the juice of the 3 lemons and 1kg of sugar. Bring it all to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Pour the cordial into sterilised bottle and it's ready to use. So far I have used it in a salad dressing, as a cordial with fizzy water, in a cocktail with gin and soda which was delicious, and reduced a bit to drizzle over a lemon cake... 

I also experimented with leaving the elderflowers to infuse for a couple of days, and ended up with a really dark cordial, that tastes a lot heavier, I think I prefer the light bright one, but I might just be being deceived by the colour. Have a go and see what you think?

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...

Roast Courgette and Garlic Soup and Lemony Courgettes on Toast

Two more courgette recipes today, neither of which are going to win any prizes in the beauty stakes... but are pretty damn tasty! And you shouldn’t judge those courgette books by their mushy covers... Lots of people have been tweeting me saying they are experiencing glut related problems, even throwing in a few courgette facts... and tips about fritters, ratatouille chutneys and little Italian courgette cakes... and I only have about 15 more courgettes to get through...

A very simple soup to start... Roast Courgette and Garlic, simply chop up 4 large courgettes into bite size chunks, 2 onions into quarters and add 6 cloves of garlic still in their skins, a big glug of olive oil and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for about half an hour at 180°C, giving it a stir every so often, until it has begun to brown and the water has disappeared. Some of those massive guys from my allotment produced a lot of water, it varies each time... Give the roast courgettes a good stir and check to see if they need more salt, squeeze the garlic out of their skins, then add everything to a pan with a chicken stock cube and 600ml of water.

Finally blitz and serve, this should be enough for 2 big bowls of soup, sprinkle a bit of mint on the top and a slice of buttery toast...

Next some Lemony Courgettes on Toast, of Guardian Cook supplement fame, one of the highlights of my blogging career so far was not the fact that this was published in a article about favourite things on toast, more that in the comments section below someone wrote 'the day I make Lemony Courgettes on Toast is the day you can take me out the back and shoot me'... it still makes me laugh...

So if you want to make them, rather than get shot, you just need to chop up 3 courgettes, add to a big glug of olive oil and cook slowly for about 10 minutes, add a finely diced clove of garlic and continue to cook. All the water should cook off and the courgettes start to fry rather than simmer in juices. This can take a while depending on the courgettes, about half an hour usually. Then add the juice of quarter of a lemon and a big handful of chopped mint. Pour the soft minty courgettes and the tasty lemony oils over two slices of hot toast and share...

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...

Rollmop Herring

Herring have a long historical connection with the North East of England. Originally the small scale exploitation of an abundant local resource, fishing grew to become a thriving industry all down the east coast during the last century, with whole families in the coastal community relying on Herring for their livelihood. Too much of a good thing eventually saw the fish run out and the industry decline but these versatile, if unfashionable, fish are still caught in the North Sea today.

The herring are in season over the summer in the North East and cost next to nothing. These little fellas were 50p each from the Grainger Market. I bought them to go into Mr. Smokerson, home smoked herring sounded delicious, even though the guys at Craster are pretty good at it I fancied a go. That was until I found out it took 5 days... And even by my standards taking 5 days off work to sit and smoke some fish seemed a bit excessive.

The herring season begins in June in Scotland and works its way down the North East coast over the summer months towards Lowestoft, coming to an end in November. Amble, Cullercoats and North Shields were our main local fishing harbours for herring back in the day. Amble harbour was built in 1830 and was famous for its fishing cobels, which were out in force to catch the 'silver darlings' as the herring became known.

My great grandfather used to have two cobels in Amble harbour; they were beautiful boats, each being built specifically for its user. Boats fished with seven or eight lines, about 200 metres long, with 500 to 1,000 hooks on each, baited with mussels. Baiting the lines was a very timely task usually left to the women, old men and children at home; with children often being absent from school during the herring season. A harbour in Lowestoft once recorded a catch of 60 million herring in one day, so you can see why they were an important visitor...

The rollmop, essentially a pickled herring, has been a staple in Northern Europe since Medieval times, probably being more popular in the Baltic areas of Northern Europe than over here. I have always enjoyed them so decided to give them a go. I went with a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe for my first attempt, a cider vinegar and orange pickle. The flavour is really deep and rich compared to other roll mop I have had, spiced and orangey, but fresh and sharp with sweet soft fish.

To start you need to take the fillets off each of the fish as carefully as you can, I'm not the neatest at this yet but am getting better... Then remove any bones left in the fillets, running your fingers along them to feel where they are and pulling them out with some little pliers or tweezers. Dry each of the fillets with kitchen roll and then place them into a plastic Tupperware type container. Dissolve 60g of salt into 500ml of cold water and pour this brine over the herring fillets, then leave for 2 to 3 hours.

To make the pickling mixture add 500ml of cider vinegar, 250ml of cider, 12 allspice berries, 12 black peppercorns, 6 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds, the zest of an orange peeled in wide strips and a thinly sliced small onion. I also added a pinch of general pickling spices. Bring this all to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, then leave to cool.

When the fillets are ready to come out of the brine dry them carefully with kitchen roll. You will need a large kilner jar or something similar that seals tightly. Roll up each of the fillets, skin side out, from tail to head; and pack them into your container tightly so they stay rolled. Then pour over the pickling marinade, make sure you have orange and spices in the jar with the fish and liquid, then seal the jar. Store them in the fridge for at least 3 days before eating, they will keep for about a month, and are best between 5 and 10 days. The longer you leave them the softer the fish becomes and the more pickled they will taste.

Pickled fish doesn’t immediately set everyone's taste buds tingling, but these are really fresh and delicious, sharp vinegar with rich orange and spices and the fish tastes fresh, soft and delicious. Hugh recommends serving with some brown bread and sour cream; they have been a treat to have in the fridge over the past few weeks. I will definitely be making more, trying different pickling combinations as I go. I have come across recipes using mace, white wine vinegar, dill, cloves, fennel... I had best get back to the Grainger Market before the season ends...

Courgette, Chorizo and Gruyère Muffins

I love picnics, actually any excuse to eat outside, even if it is a bit cold; lunch in the garden, a BBQ, a table outside a restaurant... We spend so many hours cooped up in houses and offices that I'll take any opportunity to sit out, and food always seems to taste that bit better in the fresh air. I have a growing collection of old picnic hampers and I love packing them up with various treats and setting off to some sunny spot. My favourite picnic spot, at the moment, is hidden in the dunes at Druridge Bay, you can see out but no one can see in to the sheltered little nook. On a sunny day with the rug laid out and the picnic basket overflowing with treats it is a pretty lovely place to be.

I've been reading Elizabeth David's chapters on picnicking that leaves my efforts to shame somewhat... Her companions have been known to visit the picnic site the day before to bury the champagne, ready chilled for arrival. She was once guest to a family whose idea of a picnic was walking through their formal Dutch gardens to the woodland beyond, followed by butler, chauffeur and footman 'bearing fine china plates, the silver and tablecloths, a number of vast dishes containing cold chickens, jellies and trifles'. I'd like to go to a picnic like that...

Mini tarts or pasties, sausage rolls with sage and apricots, salads in pots, bread rolls, little cakes. There is often a high quota of hand held food, things in pastry, muffins, pork pies, scotch eggs, easy to eat but also tasty. Sandwiches with no crusts, potted meats, cheese or pates and a lovely refreshing home-made mint lemonade to wash it all down. Hand held is preferable, things that require cutlery should at most be a scoop with a fork, trying to hold a knife, fork, plate and cut something just isn’t what a picnic is about. Lots of things baked into a muffin or a pie are good; getting all your food groups at once should be straight forward and tasty! Nothing that squashes, apples are better than bananas; nothing that melts, cake is better than chocolate, nothing that makes your sandwiches soggy! The planning can end up quite intricate.

So if this summer manages to show us a little bit of sunshine I'll be off to the beach, or up a valley, or by the river or even just in the park armed with a tightly packed little wicker basket and a rug.

These muffins are a perfect picnic treat and make about 6. Simply mix 225g of self raising flour with 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 100g of grated courgette, 50g or grated Gruyère, 40g of finely cubed chorizo and some salt and pepper.

In a mixing jug whisk together 175ml of whole milk, an egg and 75ml of olive oil. Pour this into the flour and courgette mix and combine it all thoroughly. Finally spoon into an oiled muffin tin and put in the oven at 180°C, bake for 10 minutes then take out and add a little more grated Gruyère to the top of each, then bake for another 15 minutes. Eat warm with butter or fresh out of your picnic basket...

Broad Bean, Mint and Pomegranate Salad

The flood warnings didn’t put us off heading over to the Lake District this weekend. Having survived an epic storm and a flooded basement last week we shrugged at flood warnings and set off. There was another little guy along for the ride too, apart from TLI, Mr. Smokerson, my newly acquired smoker and firm friend; but more of him to come... My adventures in smoking have begun...

The weekend turned out to be warm and dappled in beautiful sunshine most of the time, apart from the bit when we were an hour from home up a deserted valley and the heavens opened. I thought it was snow at one point, but no, just huge, huge raindrops soaking us to the skin. Sheltering in the forest seemed a good idea at first; but when the rain stopped outside, we were still in the forest and the water falling from the trees continued to saturate us...

A few hours later I was sitting in the sun making a salad, it is a pretty funny kind of summer we're having... This salad is a little preview of sorts. I am hosting, alongside Carruthers and Kent wine merchants of Gosforth, a little food and wine evening. A taste of the Middle East with lots of different courses of sharing plates matched with different wines, I do the food, they do the wine. The event is part of the EAT Festival, which is currently in full swing. Our original date for the 19^th July sold out more or less straight away, so we have decided to do it again, on the Friday 27^th July. If you would like to come along you can find all of the details here.

This broad bean and pomegranate delight forms one half of the salad course, alongside a tomato, feta and tarragon salad with sumac dressing. As well as smoky dips, Moroccan breads, slow roast salted lamb, pistachio bombs, Lebanese reds, raki and more, it promises to be a lovely evening...

Shell and peel about 600g of broad beans and set them to one side. Then cut a pomegranate open and remove the seeds, you only need the seeds from one half, make sure you pick out all the skin. Finely slice 4 radishes and add them to the bowl with the pomegranate seeds. Remove the leaves from 4 sprigs of mint and finely shred them, add them to the bowl too. Then pick the leaves from 6 sprigs of parsley and add them whole.

Drop the broad beans into a pan of boiling salted water and blanch them for 2-3 minutes. Allow them to cool then add to everything else. At the very last minute dress everything with a glug of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar. These amounts will serve 4 with other salads, or 2 as a larger portion.

It is a salad full of flavour, crunchy sweet pomegranate seeds, creamy smooth broad beans, peppery radishes and tons of herbs. We ate it in the sun alongside Mr. Smokerson, while he did his smoky thing with a piece of pork for 9 hours. I'm currently documenting the build, the smoking and the mistakes made...