July 26th, 2010
My Mac has recovered, so its back to France for a few posts.
When we visited the food market at Forcalquier, as mentioned in this post, the missus spotted some courgette flowers for sale. We both remembered seeing Jamie Oliver deep frying some ricotta stuffed flowers on one of his shows, and despite not having a cookbook or any access to the interwebs, we decided to gave it a go.
Without blowing my own trumpet, the results were great, and to be honest it was easier that I thought it would be. The following recipe serves 6 as a small starter (2 flowers each), and although I didn’t at the time (because my father ain’t fan of the spice) I’ve added some red chilli. Not very French, but there you go.
Ingredients
12 large courgette flowers
For the stuffing
250g Ricotta
50g Parmesan, grated
1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
Zest of 1 lemon
1 red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
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July 20th, 2010
Whilst my Mac is being re-habilitated I don’t have access to my holiday pics, so I’ll have to come back to the stuff I rustled up in France at a later date. But my camera is still working, and I’ve bought my schizo old mac back from the dead, so I can do a bit of posting in the meantime.
This recipe is my take on the tapas classic Gambas al Ajillo, and It’s pretty simple and quick too. Buy the biggest, fattest prawns you can afford. Serves two as a main course.
Ingredients
8 King prawns / Tiger prawns
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 dried or fresh red chilli, chopped
20g unsalted butter
35ml extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 large lemon
Salt to taste
Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
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July 14th, 2010
Sorry for the radio silence, my Mac has given up the ghost and has had to go in for repairs, so I’m having to write this from work (don’t tell the boss).
So France was awesome as expected. We were staying in Provence at a place my folks had rented with the rest of my familly, about an hour north of Marseille, near a town called Fourcalquier. I’m sure this is going to come over like I’m a smug ponce, but it really is a lovely part of the world. The landscape is amazing. Rolling fields of poppies, lavender and crops, the climate is awesome, and you really notice how quiet it is compared to London.
Aside from spending time with my familly, eating, drinking and doing a bit of cooking, the two highlights for me were going to Forcalquier market and hanging out in a little village called Banon.
Forcalquier marché happens every Monday morning and is a peculiar mixture of food, clothing and a whole lot of baskets. The produce on display was a food lovers dream. Amazing meat, bread, cheese, tarts, and other goodies like salami, garlic, olive oil, fruit and veg, all produced in the local area.
The farmers and stall holders are obviously really proud of their produce, encouraging you to try their wares at every turn. They are also refreshingly un-prissy about how they handle their food. They poke, prod and handle it. Not in an aggressive way, but like they are connected to and care about it. None of the rubber glove wearing supermarket staff who look scared to handle a chicken breast like you get over here.
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June 25th, 2010
Image by Michael Fenichel
Hand To Mouth is very happy to say that it’s off to to the South of France for a week.
I will be mostly hanging out in Provence, drinking wine, eating bread and cheese, and checking out a food market or two.
See you en l’autre side.
À bientôt
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June 24th, 2010
It’s been hot, hot, hot in London town this week, and the warm weather has got me thinking about summer food. Aside maybe from a decent burger on a barbie, for me it’s the Mediterraneans that totally nail ‘al fresco’ eating. Grilled meats, crunchy veg and fresh zingy flavours.
These lamb wraps have all that and more. The taste of the spicy, charred, marinated meat and the tzatziki work really well together, and the wraps mean that the dish is still pretty light. We don’t have a garden, so our griddle pan has to do.
Ingredients (makes 3 large wraps)
For the lamb
400g lamb leg steaks
Handful of fresh oregano leaves, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
Juice of one lemon
50ml extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the tzatziki
200g 0% fat Greek yoghurt
1/4 cucumber, sliced and diced
Handful of mint leaves, chopped
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June 20th, 2010
I love a bit of pork belly, but I don’t cook it at home that often. I’m not really sure why, but as soon as I taste that tasty, unctuous meat and get my teeth round that crackling, I vow to do it more often.
This recipe gives the belly the Eastern treatment using Szechuan pepper and Chinese five spice. Despite a lot of the fat rendering out during the cooking process, it’s definitely not the healthiest meat, but when it tastes as good as it does, who gives a toss.
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the pork
750g pork belly joint
1 tablespoon Szechuan pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper corns
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon sea salt
For the greens
200g baby pak choi
1/2 red chilli, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon Light soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
6-8 Spring onions
Sesame oil
Vegetable oil
Method
First up, score the skin of pork belly all over in a diamond formation with as sharp a knife as you’re got. You want to cut through the skin, but not down to the flesh, around 3 millimeters deep.
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June 10th, 2010
The Asparagus season in the UK (apparently) runs from 24th April to 21st June, and its a time of year that I love because I can’t get enough of the stuff. I often think the best way to eat it is to keep it simple with a bit of melted butter and seasoning, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to mix it up a bit.
This ‘recipe’ gives the Asparagus a tasty Italian twist, and is as quick as a very fast thing to put together.
Ingredients (serves 2)
20 spears of Asparagus
Juice of half a lemon (30ml)
70ml Extra virgin olive oil
20g grated parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
2 slices of bread (sourdough)
Method
First up, put a pan of lightly salted water on the heat, and then prepare the asparagus. The ends of the spears will be quite woody, so snap them off. The spear will break naturally at the right point when bent between your fingers.
Next prepare the dressing. Juice the lemon, pour into a bowl, and add the olive oil and Parmesan. Whisk together vigorously to form a creamy dressing.
The water should be simmering by now, so drop in the spears. They’re going to cook for around 5 minutes until tender. Whilst they’re simmering away, cut and toast two slices of sourdough.
When ready, drain the asparagus and plate up. Place the toast on the plate, and rest the asparagus tips on it. Give the dressing one final whisk, and then spoon over the tips.
Serve immediately. Eat the asparagus and then the delicious dressing soaked toast.
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June 8th, 2010
As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been looking at new features to add to Hand To Mouth. My friend Dazzler suggested I try re-creating recipes from weird and wonderful books, which I thought was a great idea. This first ‘Tried & Tested’ post fits more into the latter category, as it comes from a rather lovely new cookery book called ‘Great British Food‘.
Put together by the guys behind the brilliant Canteen mini chain of restaurants, this Lancashire Hot Pot stays true to their ethos of cooking gutsy, tasty, good quality, British grub. The recipe calls for leg mutton, which I couldn’t get hold of at the time of cooking, so instead I used shoulder of lamb.
The recipe takes a bit of prep, but once you get going it’s pretty easy, and it tastes reet good.
Ingredients (serves 6)
50g butter
250g onions, sliced
1kg boned leg of mutton, 3-4cm dice
150g carrots, sliced
10g fresh thyme, leaves picked
3 bay leaves
700g floury potatoes (Maris Piper), peeled ad thinly sliced
500ml meat stock
100ml meat stock
Salt and black pepper
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