Another bumper weekend of recipes, mostly read to the tune of Cornish waves. (This is the view from my balcony – insert smug thumbs-up emoji here.)
More new cookbooks
In Saturday’s Telegraph Diana Henry strolled through her favourite cookbook releases this autumn, naming Gill Meller’s Gather (cheap at only £12.50 atm), The River Cottage A-Z and Monika Linton’s (of Brindisa) encyclopaedic round up of ‘The True Food of Spain’ as her top three. The Saturday Times Magazine hosted a set of recipes from Linton’s book too – white crabmeat with white beans, and a classic crema catalana caught the eye
Of course, Diana modestly omitted her own, Simple, from that trio. And Shaun Hill’s ‘Salt is Essential: and other things I have learnt from 50 years at the stove’ must’ve come close. The FT Weekend provided a try before you buy of this, and I have to say I’m pretty tempted. Recipes include potato and olive cakes to go alongside roast lamb; a modest pheasant soup; Janssen’s temptation; stilton and sesame crackers; and an unusual celeriac side, where puréed root is mixed with egg and then baked until set. Proper food, full of flavour. I enjoyed his matter-of-fact intros too.
In The Sunday Times’ ‘The Dish’, we got a preview of Signe Johansen’s How to Hygge. You’ll see a few tomes on this topic in the next few months, but I suspect Johansen’s will rise to the top. I was pleased to read that the call of the wild is as important to the Nordic concept of hygge as cake, cloudberries and candles. And particularly liked recipes for smoked chicken with beets, grains and lentils, and roast cauliflower and blue cheese salad with cherries and walnuts.
There were four classic French tarts in the Times Weekend supplement, taken from a book titled Provence to Pondicherry: Recipes from France and Faraway by Tessa Kiros. All seen before, but all rather tempting and well put together. Pissaladiere, tarte a la tomate, au citron and aux pommes … add a Tatin and a chocolate tart, and that could be all you’ll ever need(?).
There was more! Rick Stein is back with another book inspired by travels; specifically (or perhaps generally?), from long weekends in Europe. Sample recipes in The Dish included Kozani chicken with prunes, saffron and paprika (Greek Macedonia), ‘Flamenco eggs’ from Cadiz and meringue and sweet marsala zabaglione semifredo (Bologna). I haven’t checked, but I presume the book begins with a fizzy lager from Weatherspoons, and a cold, stale, ‘your flight is delayed’ sandwich at the end.
Autumn
October is Diana Henry’s favourite month. Lots of good reasons provided in her The Sunday Telegraph ‘Stella’ column, though mysteriously she didn’t include ‘because Ed’s birthday is in it’. Weird. Instead, baking, pumpkins, mussels and truffles. You could sink into all three of her recipes: autumnal veg with hazelnut, roast pepper and anchovy relish; lamb with a ginger stuffing and cider jus; and a pear, blackberry and walnut cake.
I lost a bit of love for Stephen Harris when he admitted in Saturday’s Telegraph that drinking coffee the French way (out of bowls) was his favourite method. But at least he provided a good looking recipe for brioche and raspberry compote. Rose Prince provided a host of cookery class inspired recipes to suit this season in the same paper, though I couldn’t find them online.
Both Grauniad weekend recipes from Thomasina Miers do the job nicely. Steamed clams with kale, fregola and lemon butter sauce, and a massaged kale salad with pear, pine nuts and intriguingly fried, crisp pecorino.
All of the Cook recipes had an eye on thrift and conviviality, to suit students starting for the first time or heading back to their digs. Yellow split pea stew with great olives and a quality bean chilli from Anna Jones in ‘Cook’ will warm all stomachs.
The Saturday Times Magazine provided the only four squash recipes you’ll ever need! Sure.
And back in The Dish, I had some seasonally suitable recipes for an M&S advertorial – anise and almond milk rice pudding with tarragon infused roast plums; and a beef, red wine, swede and stilton cobbler.
Other
It’s cookie time over at Claire Ptak’s. The Guardian Cook baker went for peanut butter brittle and chamomile, and oatmeal and prune too. Polish breakfast options from resident Zuza Zak included: scrambled eggs with dried sausage; semolina porridge; and spiced pumpkin placki (a bit like blinis). And in the same supplement, silky, soothing, ‘smothered’ cabbage, cooked gently in pork fat (with bacon) and served with sausages, via Rachel Roddy.
Yotam hung on to the last throws of summer with ideas for tomatoes. Do try the tomato and plum salad with nori and sesame salt (that’s going to be great). Minced lamb stuffed courgettes in tomato sauce and tagliatelle with mussels, clams, tomato and arak are winners as well.
Nigel preferred to promote roast peppers in Sunday’s Observer magazine. Think roast red peppers with an almond pesto (and plenty of resting juices), and lentils topped with more roast peppers, plus a basil, parsley, chilli and walnut paste.
Nadiya Hussain’s Saturday Times recipe was for a mango and passion fruit pavlova.
Veggie nachos by Jamie in The Sunday Times Magazine.
There were a few other bits and pieces, but that will do for this week.
On the internet
Portuguese sausage fried rice looks tasty – interesting use of all spice. (Munchies.com)
And a proper dish from The Quality Chop House’s Sean Searley over at Mr Porter – Guinea Fowl with lamb sweetbreads and a port, tarragon and Marmite gravy. Oui.
#Supplemental Cooking
I’m away, so lots of eating but no cooking. The Ottolenghi, Slater and Miers recipes all stood out as things I’d like to cook, had I a hob or oven.
Weekend Menu, 1 and 2 October 2016
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Steamed clams with kale, fregola and lemon butter sauce
Thomasina Miers, The Guardian
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Kosani chicken with prunes, saffron and paprika
Rick Stein, The Sunday Times, ‘The Dish’
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Almond milk and anise rice pudding, tarragon roast plums
Er, me, The Sunday Times, ‘The Dish’
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