At last I have a small crop of cherry tomatoes! These, plus the herbs which always grow in the garden, call for a celebratory salad on this hottest of days. In Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me, by Richard Fariña, the protagonist sets out carrying a jar of feta in his bag. A modern version of the latter is a key ingredient here.
Month: July 2020
Soup in a cup
One of my favourite cookery books was written in 1963. It's How To Cook Your Catch, by Rube Allyn (and still available today.) I bought it on holiday in Florida a long time ago. I love turning the pages and reading the names - grouper, pompano, grunt, sheepshead, catfish and barracuda. The recipes are fab …
Chicken and Bean Stew with Peppers, John
This recipe was by way of a maiden voyage for the beautiful flame coloured cast iron casserole dish bought for my birthday this year. I did have a ceramic one before but it cracked after only about three outings and I now use it to house my collection of unusual stones and bricks sculpted by …
Hot Sauce
I can eat it for breakfast, lunch and supper. I use it as a base ingredient for many other recipes - yes, with chili but also breakfast, barbecue pork and beans or tortillapatis. Doesn't taste anything like the bottled varieties - just hot sunshine on a plate (corn chip). Everyone has their own personal recipe, cooked or raw, mild or scorchio, but if you need somewhere to start look no further.
Leftover mullet paella
This recipe evolved from the leftover baked red mullet of a previous extravaganza. To follow the recipe without leftovers, simply start by braising or baking a mullet or similar in oil or butter, fennel slices and a little wine. Ingredients: cooked red mullet, as above. 100g paella or risotto (round grain) rice, several large bulbed …
Rice pudding
My father used to make this. Ingredients: 600ml creamy milk, or semi-skimmed plus single cream, one heaped tablespoonful of round grain rice (pudding, risotto and paella all work well), the same of mucovado sugar, a good pinch of allspice. Butter. Rub a casserole dish with butter. I used not to do this but if you …
A bowl of red – store cupboard chili
In England, 1960s school dinner mince was grey and eaten with boiled potatoes. But at Montemalaga Elementary in Los Angeles it became sloppy Joes, tacos, enchiladas, hamburger and chili. Columbo is often seen eating a bowl of chili at his friend's bar. Despite the LA location, it is Mid-West chili, garnished with Saltine soda crackers. …
Minestrone senza formaggio
Taking a quick tour of the internet before writing this recipe I realised that there are wildly different ways of approaching this buxom vegetable soup. Some, incredibly to me, have no tomato (isn't that a minestre?) The subject of stock is heated. Some include ham and cheese. So, if you are happy with your own recipe there is no need to change. But, for anyone who has never made minestrone before, you might want to start here:
Root vegetable biryani
If you want great chicken biryani, go to my favourite blogger, The Lockdown Chef. For authentic, delicious lamb biryani, it's Mutton biryani - East African style from my friend Chachi's Kitchen, also available in print. This is not them. It is a vegan biryani, the sort of thing you might have paid a pound for …
Heroes 2
Dodging the showers while maintaining social distancing is not easy, but I managed to turn out a desert for my guests, a pear frangipane tart. Ingredients: For the pastry: 115g plain flour, 60g butter, an egg yolk, a dessertspoonful of muscovado sugar, lemon juice. For the pears: 3 or four good sized pears, any variety …
Cooking for one 