Marinated Sardines

Don’t waste your money on buying expensive marinated anchovies from the supermarket, Cornish sardines are big, fresh and juicy at this time of year, so get yourself down to your fishmongers and give these a go yourself. You really must make sure that the fish you use is fresh for this dish.

Ingredients: 

4 large sardines

half cup seasalt

250ml red wine vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper

A handful of finely chopped fresh parsley

Half a white onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

100ml good extra virgin olive oil

A handful of cherry tomatoes to garnish

Instructions: 

1. Gut, clean and fillet the sardines so that you’re left with 8 fillets

2. Rub the sardines with the salt so that they’re all covered, then place on a dish and leave in the fridge for half an hour

3. Transfer the salted sardines in to a bowl and pour over the onions and vinegar. The sardines must be completely submerged in the vinegar. If they’re not. add in some more vinegar then leave in the fridge for 24 hours.

4. Remove the onions from the bowl and leave to one side.

5. Run the sardine fillets under a tap in order to remove the salt and vinegar, then dab dry with a paper towel.

6. Mix together the olive oil, parsley and garlic and pour on to a dish. Rub the sardines in the mixture and ensure that they’re completely coated.

7. Sprinkle over the onions and some of the chopped cherry tomatoes

Serve with some flat bread and a nice cold glass of white wine.

Enjoy

Halloumi and red pepper parcels

A nice quick starter to make for the BBQ.

Ingredients:

A jar of Paprikaschoten peppers (pickled red bell peppers)

Halloumi cheese

Sage leaves

Gound black pepper

Instructions: 

1. Take a whole pepper from the jar, slice a 1cm thick slice of halloumi and wrap it in the pepper

2. Add once leaf of fresh sage inbetween the halloumi and pepper

3. Season and then place onto the BBQ or under a grill to cook for approx 5 minutes each side, or until the cheese has softened

Enjoy!

Summer berry and lemon tart

The freshness of this tart makes it perfect as either a summer treat with a nice glass of Pimms, or as a great finish to any meal. 

Ingredients: 

2 Eggs

100g Caster Sugar

2 Lemons, zest and juice

100ml Double Cream

Strawberries and blackberries for decorating

Half a pack dessert pastry rolled out to half a centimeter thick

Grease proof paper

- makes two large individual tarts -

Instructions:

1. Beat the eggs and sugar together until combined. Beat in the lemon zest and juice and then whisk in the cream. Chill for 1 hour.

2.  Grease two small tart tins, and lay out the pastry so that it’s snuggly fitted into each of the tins. Cut some grease proof paper, and lay out over the pastry. Pour on top some dried butter beans and bake in a pre-heated oven for ten minutes on gasmark 5.

3. Remove the tins from the oven, pour away the beans (save for another time!) and remove the baking paper. Pop the pastry back into the oven for a further ten minutes, or until it’s looking lightly browned.

3. Reduce the oven to gasmark 1. Place the tart tins on a baking tray. Pour in the lemon filling, being careful not to spill over the edges. Bake for 45 minutes, or until just set. Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes then transfer to the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

4. Top with the berries and Enjoy!

Rule Britannia red velvet cake

Inspired by a Kirsty Allsop topping, and the red velvet sponge of Lorraine Pascale, this cake is great to add colour to any afternoon tea-time get together. Not only does it taste amazing, but when you cut in to the rich red sponge, it looks very impressive indeed!

Ingredients: 

150g softened butter, plus extra for greasing

150g Caster Sugar

2 free-range eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

pinch salt

125g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

1½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp red food colouring

250ml whipped cream

5 tablespoons strawberry jam

Mixed strawberries, blueberries and raspberries

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2. Take the cake tin and draw round it twice on greaseproof paper. Cut out both circles. Measure the circumference of the tin with string, then cut a long strip of paper the length of the string and fold in half lengthways. Grease the tin with butter and place one of the paper circles into the base. Grease again, add a second circle, then grease once more. Grease the inside edge of the tin and line with the long paper strip.

3. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, vanilla and salt, and half of the flour. Add the remaining flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and give it a final beat to mix together. Add the food colouring and mix well. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

4. Remove the cake from the oven, leave to cool for five minutes, then remove from the tin, peel off the greaseproof paper and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

5. Once the cake has completely cooled, carefully cut the cake in half lengthways, so that you’re left with a round top and bottom. Smear whipped cream in the middle to make a sandwich, then add a good helping of strawberry jam. Put the halves back together, place on a cake stand and then add whipped cream to the top of the cake. Slice the strawberries in half, and then lay out the pattern on top as per the picture above

6. Serve with a nice hot pot of tea and Enjoy!

Pan fried Mackerel, Fennel and Green apple salad with lime oil

Turning Leaf have created the ultimate summer recipe, inspired by its Pinot Grigio wine. The crisp and fruity wine goes really well with the pan-fried mackerel and the fennel and green apple salad makes it really fresh and light – the perfect dish for a summers lunch. The recipe was created as a collaboration between Turning Leaf winemaker Stephanie Edge and culinary artist Esther Röling – we gave it a go ourselves (substituting the green apples with Braeburn) and thought it pure genius!

Ingredients & Instructions: 

Lime oil:

2 limes

50 ml lemon oil

Use a peeler to remove the zest of the limes. Only remove the green, avoid peeling the white pith. Cut the peel into small squares.

Bring water to a boil and add the zest and remove after 20 seconds. Repeat once more with fresh water. Add the zest to the oil.

Fennel and green apple salad:

2 bulbs of fennel with tops

Juice of ½ a lemon

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

A pinch of salt

1 green apple, cut into thin sticks

Remove the green tops from the fennel and keep aside. Slice the fennel as thin as possible (if available use a mandolin). Toss the fennel with the lemon juice, fennel tops, olive oil, salt and half the apple. Leave in the fridge to soften for about half an hour. Keep the other half of the apple aside in the fridge.

Mackerel:

4 fillets of mackerel

1 tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper

Warm up a frying pan medium hot. Add the olive oil to the pan. Season the mackerel with salt and pepper. Place the mackerel, skin side down in the pan and carefully push it down to prevent the fish from curling up. Turn the fish after 3 minutes and cook it for another minute flesh side down.

Plating:

1 tbs poppy seeds

12 dill tops

Place a bit of the fennel in the middle of a plate. Put some apple sticks and dill around the fennel salad and drizzle with a bit of the lime oil. Scatter the poppy seeds over the apple. Place the mackerel on top of the fennel salad.

Pan fried Razor Clams

The ultimate fast food! You can’t beat fresh razor clams on a sunny day with a good squeeze of lemon and nice chilled glass of dry white wine. Always best when there’s an ‘R’ in the month, and make sure that when you buy them from your fish monger that they shells are closed and the clams retract when you run your finger over the end of them.

Ingredients: 

8 Fresh razor clams

1 small red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped)

1 clove of garlic

A dash of white wine

1 tablespoon Olive oil

1 fresh lemon

Instructions: 

1. Put a large frying pan on to the hob to warm up, then add the olive oil.

2. Place the razor clams in to the pan. so that each one is touching the base of the pan, along with the garlic and chilli. Leave to cook for approximately 1 minute

3. By now, the clams should have started to open. Give everything a good shake to ensure the clams are nicely coated in all of the oil, chilli and garlic.

4. Position all of the clams so that they are meat side down, with the outside of the shells facing up. Leave to cook on a high heat for a further 3 minutes

5. Serve with all of the delicious juices poured over, and a good wedge of lemon to squeeze over.

Some crusty bread to mop up the juice at the end of definitely advisable!

Enjoy!

Lemon & Elderflower Cordial

It’s the perfect time to pick Elderflower (so I’ve been told!) This is my first experience of foraging, and I had such a buzz from making something that I’d found (for free!), picked and brewed.  I’m also SURE that drinking it has helped my hayfever this year. A deliciously refreshing drink that’s so easy to make, lasts for ages and is great in a Gin and Tonic as well as on it’s own. Remember that this is a cordial and so will need to have lots of water added to it before drinking – sparkling water turns it in to a grown up refereshing non-alcoholic summer drink.

Ingredients: 

10 Elderflower heads (as in a big bunch of flowers per ‘head’)

Half litre water

2 x fresh unwaxed lemons

440g white caster sugar

40g Citric acid

Instructions: 

1. Gently wash the elderflower heads under cold water to get rid of any creepy crawly nasties

2. Add the sugar to a pan with half a litre of boiling water and leave on a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved

3. Using a potato peeler, remove strips of zest from the lemons and add these to a large bowl or clean bucket, along with the elderflower heads.

4. Slice the lemons in to rounds and add these to the bowl along with the citric acid

5. Pour over the sugar, water fluid, give everything a really good stir, ensuring the flower heads are thoroughly submerged in the water

6. Cover with a clean cloth and leave at room temperature overnight (or for at least 14 hours)

7. Using a potato masher, press gently down on the flowers and the lemons to release some more lovely flavour

8. Cover the bottom of a sieve with a piece of muslin and then strain the liquid through this so that it runs clear without any bits

9. Pour the cordial in to clean bottles and store in the fridge for up to three weeks, or put in clean plastic bottles and freeze, where it will keep for around 3 months until defrosted

Enjoy!

Chicken & Lemon Tagine with warm humous

This is so tasty, healthy.  easy to make, and you can use up any veg that you might have in the cupboard. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

Ingredients for Tagine: 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion cut into chunky wedges

1 large red pepper cut into thick strips

10 chestnut mushrooms

2 large courgettes, cut in half and into chunks

1 preserved lemon finely sliced

10 dried apricots

1 teaspoon tamarin powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon of Barts Spice Baharat

2 large chicken breasts, sliced into chunky strips

4 large fresh tomatoes, diced

150ml chicken stock

Seasalt & freshly ground black pepper to season

Ingredients for warm humous:

800g tinned chick peas

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 2 fresh lemons

8 tablespoons of juice from the tagine

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Seasalt & freshly ground black pepper to season

- serves 3/4 people -

Instructions: 

1. Add the olive oil and onion into the pan of the tagine and heat through on the hob.

2. Once the onions have started to soften, add in the mushrooms, peppers, courgettes, apricots and preserved lemons to the pan and cook until softened.

3. Add in the chicken and all spices, give a good stir and increase the heat in order for the chicken to seal

4. Add in the chopped tomatoes (must be fresh, not tinned!) and chicken stock, give a good stir and then pop on the tagine lid and move to a pre-heated oven on Gasmark 6 for 1 hour, stirring occastionally.

5. 10 minutes before the tagine is ready, add the chickpeas, olive oil and lemon juice to a small saucepan, and using a hand blender, blitz until turned into a smooth paste. It will look very dry at this point.

6. Take some stock from the tagine pan and add to the chickpea mix. Season with the garlic powder, salt and pepper and if needed, a little more lemon juice or stock from the tagine to ensure a nice silky texture.

7. Place the humous onto a low heat on the hob and leave to warm through, stirring occasionally to ensure that it doesn’t dry too much or stick to the base of the pan.

8. Plate up the humous, leaving a little well in the middle, then pour in the tagine juices and lovely chicken and veg for serving.

Enjoy!

‘Used up’ lamb samosas

Running out of ideas for your lamb left over from Easter?! Here’s the perfect tasty solution. The basis of this samosa recipe came from Favediets but we’ve made it a little simpler and adapted it to use up our leftover lamb. You could either remove the lamb completely for a veggie option, or alternatively swap it for a different meat such as chicken or beef…

Ingredients: 

2 x large white potatoes

1 medium sized white onion

1 tablespoon nigella seeds

1 dessert spoon cumin powder

1 dessert spoon garam masal

1 dessert spoon tamarind

1 teaspoon medium curry powder

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

1 cup of frozen peas

Left over chopped up lamb meat

1 pack filo pastry

Large knob of melted butter

Sea salt & cracked black pepper to season

- makes approx 10 samosas -

Instructions:

1. Chop the potatoes in to small centimeter square cubes. Add to boiling water and simmer until they’re just soft (approx 7 minutes) add the frozen peas at the last minute before draining

2. Finely chop the onion and place in to a large bowl with the potatoes and peas

3. Add in all spices and the rest of the ingredients (except the lamb and butter) – give a good mix. Cover and leave to rest for half an hour

4. Take a sheet of filo pastry and fold three times length ways

5. Take a large spoonful of the mixture and place on the bottom right corner of the pastry, then add some of the lamb on top.

6. Fold the bottom right corner up into a triangle shape, bringing the mixture with it, then fold the triangle down and keep going until you are left with a triangle fold of the pastry left. Brush the edges of this with some of the melted butter, and finish off the fold to seal the samosa.

7. Brush the outside of the samosa with melted butter and when they’re all made, place on a baking tray

8. Pop the samosas into the oven for 20 minutes on gasmark 6 or until they are golden and crispy

Enjoy with a big dollop of greek yoghurt and some fresh finely chopped mint

Seafood Paella from El Cantara

This recipe has kindly been sent in by El Cantara, a Spanish and Moroccan restaurant based on Frith Street in Soho. El Cantara have some great dishes on their menu with everything from Tapas to Tagines, so if you make a like their Paella dish, then you could give lunch a go from around just £12.95 per head.

Ingredients:
1 large onions
4 cloves of garlic
1 large peppers
Olive oil
900ml fish stock
1 chicken chopped up into small pieces
250g small prawns
250g clams
250g calamares in rings
10-12 fresh mussels
6 large prawns
Saffron strands/powder
Paella rice
250g garden peas
Tin red peppers/pimientos
1 lemon
Paella pan

- serves 6 -

Instructions:

1. In the paella pan heat some olive oil and add the chopped chicken and stir until you hear that the frying has started. Now throw in the chopped onion, pepper and garlic and fry away gently until everything is cooked.

2, De-shell the small prawns and clean the mussels, keeping the shells and heads to add to fish stock

3. Add the rice and stir in with the chicken, add to that the saffron

4. Add 800ml fish stock, peas and rice to the paella pan and allow to simmer on a very low heat for 15-20 min or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid stirring every five min

5. Now mix in all the sea food and the rest of the stock, placing the large prawns, mussels and three pimientos on top for decoration

6. Cook on a low heat for five min without stirring to create the “socorrat” (the crispy bit at the bottom) then to finish off place into a pre-heated oven for the last five min or until all the seafood is cooked.

7. For decoration and garnish chop the lemons into wedges and place them into the paella with some chopped parsley.