Watermelon, feta and black olive salad.

Now that summer has (finally) arrived, I thought I would share what is possibly my favourite summer salad of all time. I have been meaning to post this for a while, but somehow, the grey skies and relentless rain didn't seem to complement what is such a lively and refreshing salad (which, now I’m thinking of it, would have brightened up even the dullest of summer days).

This seemingly bizarre combination of watermelon, feta and black olive came to my attention in Nigella’s optimistically named ‘Forever Summer’. These three ingredients, together with red onion, lime juice, parsley and mint all get along swimmingly with one another, yet provide enough mouth watering contrasts of both flavour and texture to keep it exciting. The crumbly and salty feta pairs wonderfully with the perfectly pink watermelon flesh, which bursts with subtly sweet juices as it melts in your mouth. Meanwhile, the sharpness of raw red onions that can often be too overpowering are tamed sufficiently by the lime juice, leaving a delicate tang and a satisfying crunch (it also tinges them a beautiful transparent pink colour).

You will need:

1 small red onion, sliced finely

2-4 limes, depending on juiciness

1.5 kg sweet, ripe watermelon

250g feta cheese

Bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley

Bunch of fresh mint, chopped

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

100g pitted black olives

Black pepper

Serves 8

Steep the finely sliced red onion in a bowl with the lime juice (don’t be stingy with the lime juice, the more the merrier). Remove the rind and most of the pips (as many as you have patience for), and cut into approximately 4cm triangular chunks. Cut the feta into similarly sized pieces and put them both in a large, but shallow bowl.  Tear off sprigs of parsley and add to the bowl as well as the chopped mint.

Tip the soaked onions, along with the newly pink stained juices over the salad and add both the oil and the olives. Use your hands to gently toss the salad (you will find the watermelon and feta will start to disintegrate quickly if put under too much stress). Grind in black pepper to taste, and add more lime if necessary.

If like me, you are completely enchanted with this salad, I have no doubts that it will (as Nigella says), ‘become a regular feature of your summer table". Enjoy!

Who knew watermelon and feta could be such good mates!?

Gnocchi from scratch.

Gnocchi. You can buy it from the supermarkets in packets and they take only a couple of minutes to cook. Simple supper?  Yes, although making them from scratch really isn’t that much of an ordeal. Having never even considered making gnocchi before now, I would consider myself a convert – all thanks to Jamie Oliver’s easy to follow recipe.

These potato based dumplings are traditionally Italian and are often served very simply with a good sauce. However, they are nowhere near as heavy as they may sound (they do however fill you up very quickly!)

You will need:

6 medium potatoes

Olive oil

½ a nutmeg, grated

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 large free-range or organic egg yolk

1-2 handfuls of plain or tipo 00 flour

Semolina flour

Serves 6 (or 3 very hungry people!)

Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.

Rub your potatoes with olive oil, prick them with a fork and lay them in a roasting tray. Put in the preheated oven and bake for an hour until the potatoes are fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Allow them to cool for a couple of minutes and then, when they are still nice and hot,  use a tea towel to pick up your potatoes and one at a time cut them in half and carefully scoop the flesh out of the skins into a mouli or ricer.

When you have lovely smooth mashed potato, put it in a bowl. Add the nutmeg, a tablespoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, the egg yolk and enough of the flour to bind your mixture – you may not need it all. Mix together and then kneed with your hands until you have a dry, doughy consistency. Add a little water if you feel it’s too dry, or a little more flour if it’s too wet. If you’re unsure, try testing one by placing it in boiling water – if it falls apart, add a bit more flour to the dough.

Once you have your gnocchi dough, divide it into 3 pieces and roll each piece out on a floured surface into long tubes the thickness of a sausage. Cut each of the tubes into 2.5cm/1 inch pieces. Place them on a bed of semolina flour on a tray and put in the fridge for 10 to 20 minutes to set.

I found that quantity of flour needed to bind the mixture is highly dependent on the size of potatoes used. Therefore, I’m afraid this stage does need to be played by eye a little; cooking a small portion of dough will help with this. Once you are happy with your gnocchi, and it has had time to rest in the fridge, it is ready to cook and serve with a sauce of your liking. The gnocchi should be cooked in boiling water for 4 minutes or until they bob to the surface, then drain them very carefully in a colander (they will be delicate!).

I chose to enjoy my serving with a gorgonzola dolce sauce (I think cheese works particularly well with gnocchi). This only required mixing 2 tablespoons of gorgonzola dolce cheese, with 3 tablespoons of butter and 6 tablespoons of double cream over a very low heat. Mix with the back of a wooden spoon to try and get rid of the lumps. Season with black pepper and serve with a scattering of marjoram and some parmesan.

I know this sounds like a heart attack in a bowl, but it does serve 6 people – and it’s so worth it, I promise!

Day 3 - Monkfish with a salsa verde.

Stepping up a notch on day 3 for a true celebration of the sea, we started with some ginger and coriander tinged crab cakes served with some excellent chilli jam bought locally in St. Ives. As with crab linguine, crab cakes are another perfect way to eat such a wonderful produce – the ginger and coriander compliments the crab beautifully, without overpowering any of the delicate flavours.

Serve with a dollop of chilli jam and some salad leaves for a perfect starter

Monkfish was a necessary addition to the week. Although not much of a looker, it is a very unique white fish and with its firm-textured flesh, monkfish makes for a meaty meal. Salsa verde, the Italian green sauce which is an irresistible combination of fresh herbs and garlic is a classic accompaniment to fish, and was served alongside our pan-fried monkfish (you could also grill or roast).

A fish that tastes much better than it looks...

To serve 6 people, crush a garlic clove in a pestle and mortar, add 4 anchovy fillets and pound again into a rough paste. Finely chop a shallot and add it into the mix, alongside the zest of one lemon and mix again. Stir in a chopped bunch of parsley and a bunch of basil, as well as the juice of a lemon. Finally, season the sauce and add enough olive oil to get the desired consistency.

This sauce really does pack a punch, and went wonderfully with the monkfish. You could also serve it alongside any grilled fish of your choice (mackerel would be a great), or even chicken. To be quite honest, it has everything going for it and would be just as delicious spread on a slice of toast!

Day 2 - Crab linguine.

Day 2 in St. Ives and time for some crab. Angela Hartnett recently championed the British crab on ‘Great British Food Revival’ and claimed that it has been 'unloved' by the Great British public, as the majority is shipped abroad where they are highly prized.

Angela Hartnett champions the cause of the British Brown crab.

Crab is such a sweet and succulent meat which shouldn’t be overpowered by too many complex flavours – it certainly doesn’t need any help in the taste department! This pasta dish is ridiculously simple to prepare and lets the natural flavours of the crab sing.

The only cooking involved in this dish is the linguine (told you it was simple!). The rest just involves light chopping and some stress relieving pestle and mortar action. Chilli and garlic is pulverized to give a red-tinged paste, this is then mixed into the crab meat followed by lemon zest and juice. Toss the crab mixture into your linguine and serve with some rocket or a handful of peppery watercress. Shellfish perfection!

On an extra note – don’t be put off by the crab! You can buy tubs of readily prepared (and cooked) white and brown meat, so you don’t have to grapple with a scary looking crustacean if you don’t want to!

Surely the British crab is just too good to export....?

A week of Cornish fish.

You can’t beat good fish, especially when you know it’s as fresh as a daisy. Unfortunately this can be somewhat of an impossible dream when you don’t live anywhere near the sea. However, after having spent a week in the picturesque Cornish holiday town of St. Ives, every opportunity was taken to indulge in the fruits of the sea Cornwall had to offer.

St. Ives Harbour

Day 1 - Megrim Sole

We started the week with a mental list of different fish that we wanted to cook (and more importantly, eat!). Lemon sole was firmly on this list, being one of my favourites. However, availability obviously had to be taken into account and so after asking for the fishmonger's advice, we came away with fillets of Megrim Sole, a fish that is abundant off the Cornish coast all year round.

In my mind, pea purée is a great accompaniment to fish; try a (very) generous dollop with salmon, or scallops for a perfect starter. Forget about mushy peas; this is a far more sophisticated version, blended with cream and mint (a perfect partner to peas). The delicate flesh of the sole went perfectly with the sweetness of the peas, and the accompaniment of crispy bacon provided the dish with texture and saltiness. 

The sole had a very fine texture and clean flavour, delicious in its own right. However, the jury is out as to whether it can measure up to lemon sole. In my personal opinion - lemon sole wins every time.

A great start to the week! 

Hazelnut and Chocolate cupcakes.

Thanks to a recent holiday in France I have acquired a new love for Nutella – the well known hazelnut and chocolate spread; which, it turns out, is an extremely popular addition to the French breakfast table. The French teenager I spent a week with earlier in the month managed to devour a considerably large pot during the duration of my stay – even I was impressed! A standard breakfast for French children and adults alike consists of a large portion of Nutella slathered on a slice of baguette, which is then dunked into a sizeable bowl of Nesquik. Talk about a chocolate overload!

I couldn’t resist buying my own, rather large pot when I got back home (in the interest of research, of course!). My objective was to find a more interesting way of using it, instead of just the obvious, yet simple pleasure of spreading it on some toast. Cupcakes seemed to be a sensible starting point.

Ingredients (recipe from Hummingbird Bakery)

100g plain flour

20g cocoa powder

140g caster sugar

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

a pinch of salt

40g butter, at room temperature

120ml whole milk

1 egg

120g Nutella

for the hazelnut and chocolate frosting:

250g icing sugar, sifted

80g unsalted butter, at toom temperature

25ml whole milk

80g Nutella

Makes 12

Preheat the oven to 170˚C (325˚) Gas 3.

Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attatchment and beat on a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.

Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture, beating well until all the ingredients are well mixed. Add the egg and beat well (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula).

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cold, hollow out a small section in the centre of each one and fill with a dollop of Nutella.

For the Nutella frosting:

Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attatchment on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed. Turn the mixer down to a slower speed. Slowly pour in the milk, then when it is all incorporated, turn the mixture up to a high speed. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the lighter and fluffier it becomes.

Stir in the Nutella by hand until evenly mixed into the frosting. When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the frosting on top.

I would strongly recommend this twist on the standard chocolate cupcake if, like me, you are a Nutella addict. The buttercream gives only a subtle hazelnut flavour, but it is the hidden spoonful of Nutella, lurking beneath the velvety buttercream that provides the Nutella kick.

Courgette Fritters.

The courgettes are growing well in the garden so I thought I would put some of them to use and try out Jamie Oliver’s recipe for these fritters. I was a little apprehensive before I cooked my batter as I didn’t see how the fritters would hold together. However, I needed to have faith in the recipe as they stuck together no problem and could even be flipped over in the pan without falling apart. Don’t get hung up about the shape of your fritters though – it is very unlikely you will get perfectly round bites, unless your courgette matchsticks are very thin indeed. Mine ended up all different shapes and sizes, but still looked beautiful. After all...I think rustic, home made-looking food has a certain charm to it; something that you can’t buy from the supermarkets.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 large courgettes

1 large free-range egg

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 heaped tablespoon flour, sifted

1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

A bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped

1 lemon, zested and quartered

A good handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Sea salt

Olive oil

½ a teaspoon cumin

Remove the ends from the courgettes and cut them lengthways into quarters. Remove and discard the fluffy white centre from each one with your knife. Then, in no particular way, slice the courgettes up into matchsticks – don’t worry about being precise and perfect, just do the best you can.

Separate the egg and put the white into one bowl and the yolk into another. Add the courgette matchsticks, white pepper, flour, chilli, mint, lemon zest and parmesan to the yolk and mix it up with your hands. You can be rough and scrunch the mixture together quite hard. Whip the egg white up with a pinch of salt until stiff, then carefully fold into the courgette mix.

When it comes to shaping the fritters, feel free to make one large one (1cm/½ inch thick) or get two non-stick pans on the heat to do a batch of smaller ones. Put a couple of glugs of olive oil into each pan and put 5 or 6 little bundles of the mixture into each pan (they’ll resemble mini onion bhajis). Sprinkle over some cumin and cook the fritters on a medium heat. They should need about 2½ minutes on each side to go golden.

If they have been cooked correctly, you will be rewarded with a lovely mixture of golden, crunchy courgette on the outside and soft, fresh courgette in the middle. They are best eaten straight away, served with the lemon quarters. I can guarantee you - they won’t hang around for long!