This cocktail recipe was inspired by the one they serve at 69 Colebrook Row, a superb little cocktail bar in London.
The trick is to get a good balance of flavours. It should taste distinctly rhubarby, with a good grown-up gin kick, and just a hint of lime.
Other beetroot risotto recipes call for boiling or roasting whole beetroot before chopping and adding them to the risotto. That’s fine if you remember to get the beetroot on two hours before dinner. But if you want an easy one-pot thirty minute meal, then try it this way. The raw grated beetroot is cooked just enough by the time the risotto is ready.
This is two recipes, rolled into one, courtesy of Mia Kristensen from CPH Good Food in Denmark. I collaborate with Mia to give New Nordic cuisine classes in London. This recipe was one of the stars at our Summer 2012 class. You could use the recipes separately, ie use the marinade for a different piece of meat, or cook the leg of lamb without marinating it first.
This recipe comes from Mia Kristensen of CPH Good Food in Copenhagen, who I collaborate with to run New Nordic cuisine classes in London. This recipe featured in our Summer 2012 class.
Don’t be put off by all the steps in the recipe. You basically need to separate half a dozen eggs and use the yolks to make a simple sponge and the whites to make a simple meringue. The rest is basically fresh fruit and cream! In any case, it’s well worth the effort.
Such a classic English drink – it has to stay in imperial measures! Make this in May or June when elderflowers are at their peak. Pick on a sunny day in the morning and be fussy – you only want pleasant-smelling and perfect sprays, without a whiff of decay.
Recipes vary when it comes to the temperature of the water – some infuse in cold water and others in boiled; some then take the strained cordial to a boil and others don’t. Clearly, the more you heat the cordial the better it will be preserved, but in my experience boiling the cordial also affects the flavour. So below is my compromise version. It should keep perfectly well for a few weeks if not months. To keep it longer, transfer to plastic bottles or tubs and freeze.
This recipe is adapted from one in The River Café cookbook. It is a fresh green soup, perfect for late spring or early summer. I actually prefer it luke warm to hot, or even chilled.
Artichokes are a bit of a faff to prepare, but once you’ve tasted the results you’ll realise it was worth it! Once you’ve braised the artichokes, instead of putting them in a gratin you could add them to a salad instead, or marinate them in herbs and olive oil and serve them cold as antipasti. How much of the artichoke you cut away and how much you save to eat totally depends on the artichoke’s size and maturity. Cut off anything that you imagine will still be tough after cooking.
This recipe is based on one from the Chez Panisse Café cookbook, a restaurant where I did a stint and learnt a tonne. I was inspired to make it for a dinner in honour of Chez Panisse’s 40th birthday by the astounding number of nasturtium flowers and fig leaves in my garden in early September this year.
I served it with some braised Umbrian lentils and bright rainbow chard. You could add some fresh pink peppercorns and/or capers (both drained and rinsed well) to the butter if you like for extra zing.
This French pastry-less tart (actually more like a puffy, fruit-studded thick pancake) is traditionally made with unstoned cherries, but you can stone them if you like, or substitute plums or other fruits.
If you do stone the cherries, pop the stones in a jar and cover with the strongest, plainest alcohol you have (97% from Italy, or the strongest vodka you can find). Store somewhere dark and shake the jar every now and then when you remember. Several months later you will have kirsch!
This recipe is adapted from ‘Everyday & Sunday recipes from Riverford Farm’ by Jane Baxter and Guy Watson, which is a great cookbook (not least because it contains five of my recipes!). It is the perfect salad for late spring and early summer, when spinach and broad beans are in season.
The pomegranate molasses really makes the dish. Look for it in Middle Eastern and Turkish food shops. It should be just reduced pure pomegranate juice with nothing added – intensely sweet and sour at the same time, a bit like aged balsamic vinegar.