Feel better cake

The sickness that ran a marathon through my office and that I thought I had avoided finally caught up with me.  On Friday I finally succumbed and was 'ill' (as the Brits call it) all weekend. It was fairly dismal really. But it ain't all bad...on Friday night Dave came home and made ill-me this delicious ginger carrot soup. It was so nice to be looked after and he proved that despite the fact that I generally don't let him anywhere near a cooking utensil, he's still got some spunk in the cooking department.  Isn't the colour fabulous?!

Saturday I made an artichoke and wild rice salad but I wasn't entirely happy with it so I'll keep working on that one. Not to be discouraged, I decided what would really make me better was cake. I'm not a sweet tooth - if you made me choose between entree and dessert, I would always choose entree. But the fact is, everyone needs cake every now and again.

My mum is an amazing baker. Unfortunately she doesn't bake so much anymore but when we were young our lunchboxes were the envy of all the other kids. I did not inherit this trait. Or perhaps I just haven't practised enough. Regardless, I don't do complex bakes. Thankfully, simplicity is a beautiful thing. This easy lemon and elderflower drizzle cake is super moist and delicate in flavour. It is perfect.

Recipe

2 cups of self-raising flour
1 3/4 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup natural yoghurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp elderflower cordial + 1/4 cup for drizzle
3/4 cup sunflower oil

Turn oven on to 180 degrees and grease a spring form cake tin.
Mix sugar and eggs in a bowl with a fork or whisk. Add the remaining ingredients (except the additional 1/4 cup of elderflower cordial) and combine until smooth. Pour into cake tin.

Bake for 1 hour or until cooked. Test by seeing if a skewer comes out clean.

Once slightly cooled take cake out of cake tin and place on a rack to cool. Poke holes all over the cake with the skewer. Gently pour over the additional elderflower cordial. It will be absorbed in the holes.

Serve with yoghurt and devour with tea.

On eating fish

I grew up with a grandma who loves anything that comes from the sea (or the river for that matter) and a father who would eat fish and chips every night if he could. At Christmas time we camped by a river so we fished for trout and hunted for eel by night. When our family bought a boat, we learnt out to catch fish at sea; the different varieties and techniques used to catch them. Fish never tastes better than just after you have caught it. And there's something extremely satisfying about catching your own food - much like growing your own vegetables.

Fishing doesn't really come into the equation here in London but we try to eat fish, as they say you should, once a week. Oily fish varieties like salmon, mackerel, anchovies and sardines are particularly good for you. Unfortunately though, a lot of fish varieties are not sustainable. According to the UK Marine Conservation Society, of which Prince Charles is President, 88% of European fish stocks are overfished or depleted. It's not just Europe, it's the entire world.

I want my children to grow up in a world with lively eco-systems and plentiful food supplies, including fish. As much as I love salmon, most of the salmon sold in the UK is not sustainable so I have been trying to buy more sustainable fish. Many supermarkets and fish mongers are labelling their fish which is fantastic and helps consumers to make informed decisions. Ultimately though, it is up to us making the right decisions. Sustainability is within our control - we are all individuals but together we are powerful. Every country is different so make sure you do some investigating!

I've discovered that trout is a fantastic sustainable substitute to salmon - I don't think I could tell them apart by looking at them. It's also very reasonable. Suprising how easy it is to save our world! This is a tasty miso fish recipe - delicious with salmon but this time made with trout.

Every time I make the miso marinade it's different because I never write it down. But it is always delicious. I didn't manage to get a decent photo of the finished product so you will have to make it yourself to see!

Recipe: Ginger miso trout

For miso marinade:
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, crushed
1 tbsp miso paste
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 red chilli finely chopped
1tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil

You will also need:
2 fillets of trout (or sustainably fished salmon)
2 bunches of pak choy
buckwheat noodles

In a bowl place the miso paste and add a small amount of hot water to mix into a slightly more runny paste. Add sugar, soy sauce, white wine vinegar and sesame oil. Mix until well combined. Then stir in the garlic, ginger and chilli.

Put trout fillets onto a plate and pat dry with a paper towel. Spoon over half of the marinade mixture. Put the remaining marinade into a small pot and turn on low heat.

Turn on oven to 180 degrees. Turn a non-stick frying pan on to medium to high heat. Once hot place the trout fillets in the pan and cook on each side for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden. If your fillets are small there may be no need for the oven, but usually I pop mine in the oven for a few minutes to finish off. They should only just be cooked so that they are still bright pink on the inside.  While the trout is in the oven cook your buckwheat noodles and steam the pak choy.

Check your marinade, if it has become really thick add some more soy sauce. Let your fish rest in foil while you arrange your noodles and pak choy on the plate. Serve fish on top and spoon over the remaining marinade mixture.

Serves 2

In celebration of sunshine

What a weekend in London. The sun shone continuously and it has resulted in a collective uplifting of souls. On Saturday morning Dave and I told the hangover to get lost and worked on our bikes. Dave (surprisingly handy when he wants to be) greased chains and replaced brake pads while I cleaned and scrubbed the off the rust. We then cycled to Richmond park and had a picnic, watching the deer graze. When I say picnic I mean sandwiches and coffee - definitely not worthy of the blog, but lovely all the same. You forget how much fun the freedom of biking is, it's simple child-like fun that can be enjoyed by adults. And it's a fantastic way to see London - or any city in fact as you can cover a lot of ground but see things you would miss using other forms of transport. Such a good feeling, despite the pain today.

We were heading out to see Les Miserables that night so I thought a bit of a special pre-theatre dinner would be nice. Vegetarians, I suggest you avert your eyes at this point and skip to the carrot salad. I like the idea of being a vegetarian and do try to limit my meat intake but there's just no way I could do without meat entirely. I believe in feeding your body, within reason, what it craves, and at times I crave a slab of red meat. In spring, nothing beats lamb.

I made harissa lamb rack with an Ottolenghi inspired Moroccan carrot salad. Ottolenghi cooks his carrot but I kept the carrot raw and added in some bits and pieces. Served with couscous it was a luscious dinner without being particularly complicated.

Harissa is a spicy Northern African chilli paste. You can use it to marinate meat, fish or to flavour vegetarian salads. You can buy it from the supermarket but it's not too difficult to make. I use Annabel Langbein's recipe and add in some lemon juice.

Recipe - Moroccan carrot salad

4 carrots
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp crushed ginger
1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp cinnamon
handful of raisins
2 tbsp toasted pinenuts
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
juice of half a lemon
salt
handful of coriander leaves
1/4 cup plain yoghurt

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and saute for a a minute. Add ground coriander, paprika, cumin and cinnamon and sizzle. Take the pan off the heat and add white wine vinegar and lemon juice. Mix into a paste. Transfer into a bowl and leave to cool. Once cool add salt and stir in yoghurt to make a dressing. Taste and add more lemon juice if you think it needs it.

If you are lucky enough to have a julienner then lucky you - julienne your carrots! If you don't, I find using a vegetable peeler to make long ribbons is quite effective and looks lovely.

Add the raisins to the dressing and mix in the dressing. It's quite a thick dressing so although it's messy, I found it worked best to use your hands! Finally, add pinenuts and coriander.

Lamb rack

Coat both sides of the lamb rack with harissa paste (see above) and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. Turn oven on to 190. Add olive oil to a pan over high heat. Quickly sear each side of the meat. Transfer to a baking tray and cook for about 12 minutes for rare meat. Cook for longer if you have a bigger piece of meat (mine was quite small) or like it more well done.

Remove from the oven, cover in foil and rest for 5 minutes.

Slice up and serve with the salad and lemony couscous.

Serves 2.

Tasty Thai

Everyone raves about French cuisine don't they? I think it's wonderful too, but in some ways I think the world has moved on from that style of cooking. There will always be a place for it and it will always be there in the background influencing the way that people cook but I think its prominence is fading. Perhaps that's just me. It seems to make sense though that globalisation and the increase in worldwide travel would result in the evolution of cuisines as techniques and combinations of ingredients are borrowed and manipulated.

I think I really started to enjoy food when I was introduced to genuine Asian food. Growing up in New Zealand the first signs of Asian food were the greasy Chinese takeaways of the 1990s. I think my faith in Chinese food is only just now being restored! But the real game changer was when Thai food was introduced. There's something quite amazing about Thai food, about the delicate balance of sweet and sour - I think it's so intelligent. A whole lot of what we eat now is either Asian (I use the term extremely broadly) or influenced by it. And this can't be a bad thing, because on the whole, it's better for you than raw steak, pommes frites, a whole baked Camembert and a glass of wine. How do those rake thin French girls do it?! I have a sneaking suspicion they don't eat the whole Camembert!

Larb gai (minced chicken salad) is my staple when I go out for Thai. It's simple but damn effective. I 'poach' the minced chicken rather than frying it as I think it's nicer and fresher that way.

Recipe

400-500 grams minced chicken
3 tbsp rice
4 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 stalk of lemongrass, finely chopped
1-2 tsp ground chilli
1/2 red onion finely chopped
2 cups of water
lettuce leaves (I used gem lettuce)
handful of chopped coriander
handful of chopped mint

In a dry frying pan, brown the rice grains. When the rice is pale brown remove from the pan and grind in a mortar and pestle.

Place the mince and two cups of cold water in a pot. Once it starts steaming give it a stir and reduce the heat. It shouldn't take long to cook - just a few minutes. Reserve a quarter of a cup of the poaching water and drain the rest. Once the chicken has cooled slightly (it should be served room temperature), combine with all other ingredients, including the reserved water. Initially, add only one teaspoon of chilli and add more if you want to increase the heat.

Serve in lettuce cups with a side of salad or steamed rice.

Serves 2

Weekend treats

This weekend has been one of those weekends that you think is going to be quiet but that turns out being incredibly busy. It has been great though. People are finally starting to come out of winter hibernation and are ironing out the crinkles in those summer dresses and bright t-shirts. London waking up is a good feeling.

I went to Borough Market on Saturday where I picked up some truffle oil and fresh mozzarella for pizza. By the time we got home after a bit of an afternoon drinking session it was fairly late, but luckily I have this easy peasy no rise pizza dough recipe. It's completely cheating but so good if you don't have time to mess around with kneading and rising! I made a tomato/mozzarella/basil one and the other with wild mushroom/mozzarella/truffle oil. Washed down with some red wine it was the perfect way to end a cruisey Saturday.

On Sunday morning I woke up to sun streaming through the blinds in our bedroom. I had planned to make buckwheat pancakes but my trips to every supermarket and health food shop in our area were fruitless - it seems buckwheat is impossible to find in London! Once I get my mind set on something it is very hard to change my mind. So needless to say that put me in a bit of a grump! Instead I made buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries and strawberries. I felt better after having eaten those on the sunny rooftop!

Recipe: no rise no knead wholemeal pizza

For the dough
1 packet of active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2/3 cup warm water
1 cup plain flour
2/3 cup wholemeal flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Combine yeast, sugar and water and let it stand for 10 minutes. Put flour and salt into a food processor and turn on. Pour in the yeast mixture and whizz for 45 seconds. Add oil and whizz for another 60 seconds.

Turn on your oven. Divide the dough into two and roll out on a floured surface.

Add toppings.
Pizza 1: tomato puree, finely sliced onion, finely shopped garlic, sliced tomato, fresh mozzarella. Add basil, salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil after it's out of the oven.
Pizza 2: brush lightly with olive oil, add finely sliced onion, finely chopped garlic, wild mushrooms and fresh mozzarella. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over truffle oil when it is out of the oven.

Serves: well, the two of us us both but this could probably feed 3 or 4!

Recipe: buttermilk blueberry pancakes

3 eggs
150ml buttermilk
175gm self raising flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of salt
butter for frying
punnet of blueberries
handful of strawberries sliced

Beat eggs and buttermilk together in a large bowl. Add sifted flour, sugar and salt and mix to create a smooth batter. Mix in half of your blueberries.

Heat frying pan and grease with butter. Drop in a large spoonfuls of the batter and cook until the bottom is brown. Flip and cook for another minute or two. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Stack pancakes and pile with the remainder of the blueberries and the strawberries. Drizzle with honey and natural yoghurt.

Serves 4.

Simple suppers: feijoada

Stew. It's a terrible word. Tell a child they are having 'stew' for dinner and they run a mile. But stew has come a long way since the days of the 1980s brown gunge I used to be served up (sorry mum). Heaven forbid, stew can actually be delicious! Still, 'feijoada' sounds much more appealing than 'Brazilian black bean stew' so I'm sticking with that. And, since this is a blog, it doesn't really matter whether or not I can properly pronounce the word.

This is quite possibly my favourite stew ever. I like big flavours. I learned recently that some people have lots of taste buds on their tongue and others have less. For those with lots, they are very sensitive to flavour and therefore their tolerance to foods like chilli is lower. I think I must sit more towards the other end of the spectrum because I like it strong and and chillis are always present in my vege-box.

This is my version of a feijoada - it's a combination of two recipes. The traditional version is made with a mix of beef and pork but in the interests of limiting my meat intake I make it simply with chorizo (and sometimes bacon too if I am feeling naughty). Although the list of ingredients is relatively long, it's all made in the same pot which makes it good for a weeknight dinner and thus worthy of being a simple supper.

Enjoy!

Recipe

1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 chorizo
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp (heaped) ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 capsicum (red or green or a mix of both)
1 carrot diced
1 can black beans
1/2 can tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1 small green chilli or jalapenos
juice of 1/2 orange
handful or coriander

Slice up chorizo. Heat oil in a wide pot - add onion and garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes then add the sliced chorizo (and bacon if you use it). Once the oil starts to come out of the chorizo add the cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper. After about 30 seconds add the carrot and capsicum and cook for a couple of minutes (add oil if it starts to stick). Add the canned tomatoes, the bay leaf, chilli and water and combine. Then stir in the brown rice. Put the lid on the pot and simmer on low for about 15 minutes. Add the black beans and continue to simmer on low until the rice is cooked.

Take the pot off the heat and squeeze in the juice of half an orange.

Serve in bowls with handfuls of coriander and wholemeal tortillas on the side.
Serves 2 hungry humans

Turkish delight

For Easter Dave and I wanted to use the holiday to go somewhere a bit further afield and decided on Istanbul. We were absolutely blown away - the place is amazing, including the people. It's a crazy mix of European, Middle Eastern and Asian influences that create a dynamic and cultural city that is a fabulous to visit. The history and traditions are still so evident despite the city becoming increasingly modern. In between sightseeing we spent the four days eating as much food as we possibly could and we did a fairly good job at sampling everything! Highlights were fresh fish in bread rolls served off boats, the most amazing lamb doner kebab cooked with hot coals, pomegranate juice, fresh salads, equally fresh bread, coffee, apple tea, and of course, Turkish delight. I've never been a huge fan of the stuff but obviously I'd never tasted anything that actually even remotely resembles the real deal. Some are made with honey and they really are delightful. Pistachios are a common flavour but probably the most interesting we tried was pomegranate covered in black peppercorns - a sublime combination.

On our last day we visited the part of the city on the Asia side. We went to a restaurant called Ciya Sofrasi - if you visit Istanbul make the trip there, it's so worth it. It sounds naff but there's a salad bar so you can pile you plate high with beautiful fresh salads and there is an array of hot food you can order as well. It was the best way to try different foods.

One of the salads I had at the restaurant was particularly good so I tried to replicate it tonight as part of a Turkish feast! The combination of sundried tomatoes and pomegranate is not something I have ever tried before but I thought it tasted beautiful. I love it when the little jewels of pomegranate seeds pop in your mouth. I made falafel and Turkish pide bread to go with it, served with minted yoghurt. I've included the recipes for the salad and the bread below.

Take me back to Turkey.

Sundried tomato and pomegranate salad

Baby spinach
340 grams sundried tomatoes
1 pomegranate
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 red onion
1 clove garlic
handful of shredded mint
handful of parsley
tbsp red wine vinegar
tbsp olive oil
salt + pepper

Chop the sundried tomatoes, walnut and red onion and place in a bowl. Combine with baby spinach leaves.
Remove the pomegranate seeds and add to the salad along with the herbs.
For the dressing, whisk together garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Pour over the salad.

Pide bread

500 grams plain flour, sifted
1 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1.5 cups warm water
olive oil
sesame seeds
1 egg yolk

Combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and mix to make a dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 15 minutes to make the dough smooth. Grease a bowl with oil and put the dough in it, lightly coating it with oil. Place a damp tea towel over the top and leave somewhere warm for an hour to an hour and a half to rise.

On a floured surface, divide the dough into two. Flatten out slightly and leave to rest again for 15 minutes.
Turn oven on to 230 degrees Celsius.

Stretch each piece of dough into a rectangle approximately 40cm by 20cm. Leave them on non-stick baking paper for 10 mins. Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Place the dough onto baking tray and brush with egg yolk mixture. Using your fingers make indentations in the dough and sprinkle over sesame seeds. Cook in the oven for 10 mins or until golden. Serve with hummus.

Makes 2 loaves

Simple suppers: warm chicken, farro and kale salad

It has been hard coming back to work after Easter, particularly after having spent Easter in Istanbul! Each morning has been a war: me against the alarm. There really is no limit to the amount of times I can push the snooze button. Lucky for me though, Dave drags me out of bed eventually and when I get out of the shower there is normally a bowl of cereal awaiting me. Bless.

More to come on the Istanbul trip soon, but for now, here's a kale recipe I love in a comforting kind of way. Kale is something I didn't really know about until fairly recently. We definitely didn't have it growing up and I suspect the child version of me would not have approved. Thankfully our tastes change as we grow older and things that once tasted extremely bitter, mellow as we age. The present me adores kale, although I confess I have not yet brave enough to try it in a smoothie!

This recipe is hearty and warming on a cold winter night.

Recipe

2 small chicken breasts
bunch of kale
100 grams farro
1 carrot
half onion
1 clove garlic
handful of hazelnuts
juice of half a lemon
tbsp red wine vinegar
olive oil
chopped parsley
salt + pepper

Heat oven to Gas 6 or 200 degrees Celsius.
Peel and dice the carrot. Chop the onion and crush the garlic. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large pan. Add the garlic, onion and carrot and saute for a few minutes. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and cover the pan with a lid. At the same time, shred the kale and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and put into the oven.  Cook the farro in a pot of boiling water (it should take 10 mins).

For the dressing, whisk together the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a dash of red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

Drain the farro. Remove chicken from the pan and slice. In a big bowl, combine the farro, chicken, cooked kale, and carrot mix. Add the hazelnuts and pour over the dressing. Add the chopped parsley. If you find parsley too strong, leave it out - it's still yummy without it.

Serves 2