Easy Soda ‘Focaccia’ with red onions, olives and rosemary
Makes 1 loaf
450g (1lb) plain flour
1 tsp salt
Half tsp bicarbonate of soda
400ml (14fl.oz) buttermilk , or sour milk (for dairy free, see tip below)
1 red onion , cut into 8 wedges
12 black or green olives , stones removed
A few sprigs of rosemary, broken into 12 little pieces
A good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil , about 50-75ml (2-3fl.oz)
Sea salt flakes
Preheat the oven to 230’C.
Brush the inside of a small Swiss roll tin generously with olive oil . Sift the dry ingredients, and make a well in the centre. Pour most of the milk in at once. Using one hand, shaped like a claw mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more buttermilk if necessary. The dough should be soft and a bit wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a floured board, turn over in the flour once but making sure not to knead it in any way or you will make it tough, and gently roll it out so that it will fit into the Swiss roll tin. Transfer into the tin using your two hands . Make dimples with the tips of your fingers , to make little wells for the olive oil. Place the red onion wedges, the olives and the rosemary sprigs on the raw dough, pressing them all down gently so that they don’t fall off the bread when it is baked. Drizzle generously with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake in a hot oven 230C\450F\ gas mark 8 for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked. When cooked, the bread should be nice and golden on top and on the bottom .
If the bread gets a good golden colour and you don’t want it to darken any more , while cooking , turn the oven down to 200’C and continue cooking .
When the focaccia is cooked but still hot , drizzle a little more olive oil over the top . Allow to cool slightly before serving .
Tip
If you want to make this dairy free replace the buttermilk/ sour milk with the same amount of almond, rice or soy milk to which you’ve added 1 tbsp vinegar
Spatchcock Chicken with coriander and cumin
Serves 4-6
1 whole Chicken (a small one please!)
50ml olive oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
Finely grated zest of half a lemon
salt and pepper
To remove the back bone of the chicken, use very sharp scissors or a knifeq and cut through all the way down from top to bottom. Place the chicken breast side up on your work top and using the palm of your hands flatten the chicken down. Using a sharp knife make a few slashes in the legs of the chicken.
To make the marinade, in a bowl use a whisk to mix together the olive oil, cumin, coriander, lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a shallow bowl or dish and pour the marinade over making sure it gets into every little area. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or even overnight.
Preheat the oven to 220’C
To cook the chicken, place on a roasting tray with all the marinade and in to the oven. Cook for 35 minutes – 1 hr 30 minutes (the cooking time will vary greatly depending on the size of the chicken) until cooked. When cooked the legs will feel loose. Allow the chicken to rest somewhere warm for about 15-20 minutes if possible.
When ready to eat carve the chicken in to pieces, and serve with the accompanying dishes.
New potatoes with chorizo and smoked paprika aioli
Serves 4-6
You will need:
1kg new potatoes
350g chorizo
A small drizzle of olive oil
Smoked paprika aioli you will need:
1 egg yolk
Quarter teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar or lemon juice
75ml sunflower oil
35ml extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely grated
Half teaspoon chopped parsley
Quarter teaspoon smoked paprika
To serve you will need:
- generous teaspoon chopped parsley
- Scrub the potatoes clean but don’t peel them. Bring a saucepan of water with a good pinch of salt to the boil. Tip in the new potatoes, making sure that they are covered with water, and boil for 10 minutes then pour off three quarters of the water, turn the heat down and continue to cook the potatoes with the lid on until cooked- this way they will steam until they’re tender giving them a lovely fluffy result.
- While the potatoes are cooking, peel (if the chorizo is dried, if it’s fresh there’s no need) and slice the chorizo and place in a frying pan at room temperature with a small drizzle of olive oil sitting over a low heat. Cook the chorizo really slowly letting the fats render and and allowing the sausage slices to brown slowly, turning them over halfway.
- When the potatoes are cooked, cut them into chunks and toss them into the chorizo pan then allow to cool.
- To make the smoked paprika aioli, place the egg yolk in a bowl with the mustard and the vinegar or the lemon juice, whichever you’re using. Whisk together then place the sunflower oil and the olive oil into a jug together.
- Pour, very slowly, in a thin stream, the oil onto the egg yolk mixture, while whisking all the time. If you pour the oil on too quickly the mixture will split, so go very slowly at the beginning, just one or two teaspoons of oil at a time. The mixture should start to form a creamy looking mayonnaise.
- Once the mayonnaise is made turn it into an aioli by adding in the garlic, the chopped parsley and the smoked paprika and mix together. Season to taste with salt and perhaps a little more vinegar or lemon juice, whichever you’re using.
- Once the potatoes have cooled you can pour the smoked paprika aioli onto the potatoes and chorizo and gently mix together.
- Place in a serving bowl with the last bit of chopped parsley over the top. Delicious!
Strawberry meringue roulade
Serves 6-8
This is also delicious using flaked almonds or chopped pistachios instead of the desiccated coconut.
Serves 6-8
For the meringue:
4 egg whites
225g (8oz) castor sugar
25g (1oz) desiccated coconut
For the filling:
150g sliced strawberries
300ml (10fl.oz) whipped cream, measure when whipped
For the mango coulis:
250g strawberries
1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons castor sugar
Swiss roll tin 12 x 8 inch (30.5 x 20.5cm)
First make the meringue roulade.
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/Gas 4.
Put the egg whites into the spotlessly clean bowl of a food mixer. Break up with the whisk and then add all the castor sugar in one go. Whisk at full speed until the meringue holds a stiff peak 4 – 5 minutes approximately.
Meanwhile, line a Swiss roll tin with parchment paper. Brush lightly with a non scented oil (eg. Sunflower oil). Spread the meringue gently over the tin with a palette knife, it should be quite thick and bouncy, then scatter the coconut over the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until springy to the touch. Take out of the oven and let sit for 2 minutes then place a sheet of parchment paper over the meringue and tip it out onto it. Remove the tin and the paper on the base and allow the meringue to cool.
Next make the strawberry coulis.
Destalk the strawberries and puree in a food processor with some freshly squeezed lemon juice and sugar to taste. Cover and chill.
To assemble the roulade, spread two thirds of the cream over the roulade, cover with a layer of the sliced strawberries, keeping a few for decoration. Now roll up the meringue making a lovely long roulade.
Transfer carefully onto a serving dish. Pipe some rosettes of cream onto the top, if you wish, and decorate with some of the reserved fruit.
Garnish with some mint leaves, and dredge with icing sugar and serve in slices.
Little lemon possets
Serves 6-8
You will need:
500ml cream
150g caster sugar
The juice of 2 lemons, strained
- Put the cream and the caster sugar in a saucepan, bring to the boil and boil for 2 full
minutes.
- Remove from the heat, whisk in the lemon juice, pour into little cups, glasses or bowls and
chill for 3 hours to set.
- Note: if you want to make these more zesty, just grate the rind of 1 lemon and mix with the
lemon juice to add into the boiled cream and sugar.
- Serve with the langues de chat.
Langue de chat
Makes approximately 30 biscuits
55g butter
70g sugar
Half teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 large egg whites, room temperature
70g flour
Demerara sugar or chopped nuts such as pistachios, almonds or flaked coconut, for sprinkling
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.
- Line a large flat baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Fold the paper in half and open it out again. This will mark the page with a crease that is helpful when piping the biscuits.
- Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg whites and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Sift over the flour and salt and fold everything together until combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a canvas piping bag fitted with a 7mm wide circular nozzle.
- Pipe the mixture onto the lined baking tray in long pencil-like strips. Use the crease in the baking paper as a guide, start piping each biscuit 2cm back from the crease and stop piping when you get near the edge of the sheet. Leave a gap of approximately 3cm between each biscuit.
- Place the baking tray in the oven for 1 minute, to allow the mixture to melt and flatten out. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chopped nuts onto each biscuit and scatter some demerara sugar or chopped nuts over the top. Return the tray to the oven and bake for 5 – 7 minutes, until the bottom of each biscuit is golden around the edge and still light golden pale in the centre.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray. Once cool the biscuits will be crisp. Gently lift each langue du chat from the baking sheet and store it in an airtight container until needed.
- Careful not to undercook or they will not stay crisp.
- Serve with the little lemon possets.
