Meals for a rainy day

Back to the comfort food...

Well that was a long summer! This rain really is terrible, and has completely scuppered any plans that I had for nice outdoor evening suppers - I’m still yet to have a barbecue this year! So it’s back to nice hearty food that is perfect to come home to after trudging around in the rain. 

In this blog I’ve included a recipes for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea (or even dessert).   All are quick and simple to prepare, but incredibly satisfying.

Breakfast of champions: Pan-fried mackerel with scrambled eggs on toast 

Sod a full english breakfast, this is what you want on a nice sunday morning with a cup of tea and the papers. It’s traditional to have smoked salmon or kippers for breakfast, but the fresh mackerel keeps the flavours of the dish delicate and balances really well with the creaminess of the eggs. 

Mackerel is a fantastic fish, and one that you will find me using a lot on this blog. It is criminally overlooked in home cooking, with the reputation of being too strongly flavoured and bony. But give me one any day - mackerel is easy to cook and prepare, and a good start if learning how to fillet fish. They are also really cheap and can be bought anywhere, although I hear that their popularity in restaurants is pushing the prices up. I really hope that this isn’t true! For this dish, you can buy mackerel already filleted so that they will only need pin-boning before cooking.

Everyone has their own way of making scrambled eggs, but for me, heating slowly with a dollop of cream and butter until just cooked and oozing over the toast is best. 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 mackerel fillets, skin on and pin-boned

1 lemon - juice

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 knob of butter

Salt and pepper

Parsley to finish

For the scrambled eggs:

6 medium eggs

3 tbsp double cream

Salt and pepper

1 large knob of butter

To finish:

2 large, thick slices of sourdough bread

In a large mixing bowl or jug, crack the eggs and add the double cream and some salt and pepper (you can add more later). Whisk well to combine.

Remove the mackerel fillets from the fridge and dry with kitchen roll, season both sides well.

Heat a medium saucepan on a low heat and add the knob of butter. When melted add the eggs, and keep stirring all the time as they start to thicken up. When the mixture has started to thicken and is about half done, remove the saucepan from the heat and place a non-stick frying pan with the vegetable oil on a medium heat. Keep stirring the eggs, they will still be cooking even off the heat. 

When the frying pan has heated up, add the mackerel fillets skin side down, holding them down for a few seconds at first, and fry for 3 minutes before turning. Cook for another 2 minutes before turning the heat off and adding the butter and lemon juice which will sizzle away and gently finish the cooking of the fish in the residual heat. 

When you turn the fish over, put the saucepan with the eggs back on the heat and finish off - it should still be quite runny and just cooked. Check the seasoning and add more if necessary. At the point of turning the fish also get the sourdough bread toasting. 

To serve, butter the toast and spoon over a good dollop of the scrambled eggs. Top with mackerel fillets, some parsley and some more cracked black pepper. Eat while still hot. 

Lunch time: pea, mint and ham soup

This soup is a classic, and perfect for gloomy rainy days. They can be bought in tubs ready made from any supermarket, but as usual a homemade version is far superior. Most simple soups are often overcomplicated with unnecessary ingredients, this version of the soup is so simple and quick to prepare and all of the main ingredients shine through - you can taste the sweet peas, the salty ham and the zing of mint. I like the soup to remain quite chunky in texture, so I crush about a quarter of the peas instead of blending the whole mixture, but this is optional.

Once cooked, this soup stands well and the flavour of the ham develops the longer it is left. This makes it great for leftovers, although try not to re-heat it too much as the colour will fade and it won’t taste so fresh.

This recipe uses ready sliced ham as it is easiest to purchase, but for amazing results use freshly roasted ham in roughly shredded chunks.

Serves 4 for lunch or 2 for a hearty dinner

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 litre good quality chicken stock

1kg frozen peas

1 large bunch mint, leaves picked 

8 slices of good quality ham, roughly torn

1 lemon - juice

salt and pepper

To serve:

Extra virgin olive oil

Crusty break or toast with loads of butter. 

Heat up a large a saucepan with the vegetable oil and slowly cook the chopped shallot and garlic until tender. 

Meanwhile heat the stock up in a separate saucepan until boiling. 

When the garlic and shallots are cooked, add the peas and cover with the hot stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the peas are cooked. 

Using a slotted spoon or sieve, put 3/4 of the peas into a food processor with the mint and blend until smooth, then pour back into the saucepan with the rest of the soup and mix well. Add the chunks of ham and season, and heat the soup back up until just before boiling. 

Just before serving, add the lemon juice and have one final taste and adjust the seasoning. Spoon into bowls and drizzle a little of the extra virgin olive oil over the top. Serve with the crusty bread on the side. 

Afternoon tea: bakewell tart

Another classic and another simple thing to make, but something that if made carefully is really amazing. The soft almondy filling with sweet jam and crisp pastry work so well together, and is really lovely as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

Getting the pastry just right is the key with this. You want it to be short, thin and crisp; if mixed too much and rolled too thickly it will be doughy and undercooked, whilst if rolled too thinly you risk it cracking. Experience is the way to get this right really, and every cook I know has had a nightmare with pastry at some point. As with all baking and pastry, following recipes exactly and cooking with care and patience will produce a better result. With the techniques used, it is also a great stepping stone to making other desserts - good pastry and frangipane filling recipes can be used in many different ways. I have even seen it used to top mince pies with good effect! 

This is my take on the bakewell, traditional recipes won’t have the polenta but I think this gives the frangipane a great texture.

This recipe makes a large tart, but if kept covered it keeps really well and stays moist for 4-5 days.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For the sweet shortcrust pastry:

125g salted butter

100g icing sugar

255g plain flour

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp milk

Pinch of salt

For the frangipane:

275g ground almonds

75g uncooked polenta (quick cook variety)

300g salted butter

300g caster sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp almond extract

3/4 jar raspberry jam, preferably home made

good handful of sliced almonds, lightly toasted

To serve:

Double cream

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC (fan oven)

In a food processor, cream together the butter, salt and icing sugar until light in colour and very soft and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, milk and flour and pulse until the mixture starts to look like coarse breadcrumbs. Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and carefully pat together until just combined. Wrap the ball of dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge to rest for an hour.

In the meantime, grease and line a 28cm flan tin with greaseproof paper, and cut a second  28cm disc of greaseproof paper that you will use to cover the pastry later. 

When the dough has rested, take it out of the fridge and using a sharp knife, cut it into thin slices. Line the base and sides of the tin with these slices and push together with your fingers until the pastry is all joined up and the tin is completely lined. Using a fork, prick the  pastry on the base of the tart all over, this will stop it rising unevenly. Cover the base of the pastry with the spare disc of greaseproof paper and spread baking beans evenly over the top, and put the pastry into the oven for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, take the pastry out of the oven and carefully remove the baking beans and greaseproof from the top, and put the uncovered pastry back in the oven for another 5 minutes or until the base is a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Turn the oven down slightly to 160ºC.

While the pastry base is cooling, make the frangipane filling. Put the ground almonds and polenta in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the butter and sugar until creamed together. Add this, along with the beaten eggs and almond extract to the almonds and polenta and fold until smooth. 

When the pastry shell has cooled down, spoon an even layer of the raspberry jam over the base, then fill to the top with the frangipane mixture. Sprinkle over the toasted sliced almonds and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, there should still be a little bit of wobble in the middle. 

Allow to cool slightly before serving with a good dollop of whipped double cream and a cup of tea.

Crab supper!

Crab is such an overlooked ingredient. For something so widely available, sustainable and delicious, I definitely don’t eat it enough. They can be pretty cheap too, and if bought near to where they were caught can sometimes just cost a couple of pounds each. Even in London they are pretty reasonable, and a good fishmongers will be able to get live crabs if you order them. Although they are often compared to lobsters, the taste and texture is so different - much more flakey and delicate - but just as good. 

Crab comes available in many different forms. You can buy whole cooked crabs, or ready dressed crabmeat from most fishmongers or large supermarkets, but buying them live and cooking at home is definitely the way that I would recommend eating them. In my mind, the perfect way to eat crab is very simply - a warm, freshly cooked crab with lemony mayonnaise, thick slices of crusty bread and a simple watercress salad. You can use crab in many other (and more complicated) ways, but eaten like this emphasises the wonderful sweet flavoured meat. 

However, buying and preparing a live crab is not for the squeamish, and involves killing it yourself. Performing this task always feels a bit strange and weird, but has to be done in order to kill them humanely. I personally don’t have a problem with this as all meat and fish that we eat starts off as a living thing, but if this isn’t for you, then buy a ready-cooked crab. Shelling and picking all of the meat from the crabs can be a slow and laborious task, but once you have done it a couple of times it becomes quicker and easier. 

This recipe shows you how to cook and prepare the crab, and serve with a homemade mayonnaise, but once you know the basics you can use the finished crab meat in loads of other dishes.

Serves 2 as a decent lunch or light supper, with leftover crab meat if you get larger crabs. 

Ingredients:

2 live crabs, about 1kg each

For the lemon mayonnnaise:

1 egg yolk

200ml vegetable oil

1tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1 small clove garlic, very finely chopped

1 lemon - juice

Salt and pepper

For the watercress salad:

2 large handfuls watercress, washed

1 lemon - juice

3/4tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

To serve:

Fresh crusty bread, thickly sliced

Salty butter

Wedges of lemon

Put the crabs in a tray and place in the freezer for about half an hour - this will put them into a deep sleep.

Heat up a saucepan large enough to easily hold both crabs with very salty water until it comes to a rolling boil.

When the water is boiling, take the crabs out of the freezer and kill them quickly. To do this,  flip the crab onto it’s back and drive a sharp metal skewer through the small hole underneath the tail flap towards the roof of the shell, moving the skewer around a couple of centimeters. Once this is done, turn the crab back over and push the skewer deep through the mouth. The crab will die instantly, and this is widely viewed as the most humane way to kill them. Once this has been done, plunge the crabs into the boiling water and cook for 15 minutes, adding a couple of minutes if the crabs are bigger. Remove and allow to cool on a plate.

While the crabs are cooking and cooling, make the mayonnaise. Put the egg yolk, garlic and seasoning in a bowl and whisk until the mixture thickens. Add the white wine vinegar and dijon mustard and whisk well again. Using a measuring jug, very, very slowly pour the vegetable oil into the mixture, whisking all of the time until all of the oil has been emulsified. Once all of the oil has been added, taste and add the lemon juice and adjust with salt, pepper and white wine vinegar. Cover and put aside.

To make the dressing for the watercress, put the lemon juice and the olive oil in a bowl and mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste and put aside. Only mix with the watercress at the last minute before serving.

Once the crabs have cooled down a little you can pick out the meat. Pull the legs and claws off of the main body, and with the crab upside down and facing away, push the central part up and away from the main body. Remove the the grey gills - the dead mans fingers, the small yellow stomach sac and the membranes inside the shell. Scrape the rest of the brown crab meat from the inside of the shell and place in one bowl. You can now wash and clean the main shell if you want to use it (in a very 1980s fashion) later for presentation. 

Now you can pick the meat out of the main body. Using a heavy knife, cut it into two pieces, and using a metal skewer pick out all of the white crab meat from all the little gaps. Be persistent! Place the white crab meat in a separate bowl.

Crack the claws and legs and pick out the meat from there - there is loads stored in here - and add to the white meat. Try not to mash the meat up too much, it’s nice to have a mixture of textures. Pick through the meat carefully and pick out any shell that might have got in. Season with a little salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

To serve, warm the bread through in the oven or toaster, dress the salad and serve on a board with piles of the crab meat and the mayonnaise. 

Keep any leftovers - they are great tossed through some linguine with garlic, chilli, parsley and lemon.

Gnocchi with chorizo, rosemary and red wine pesto

I was reading a restaurant review in the papers at the weekend, and in it the critic wrote a passage on how the italians had it so right with pizza. Pizza is cheap and quick to make, whilst being elevated by restaurants into glamourous food. The same can be said for pasta, and in this case, gnocchi. Gnocchi is desperately easy to make, and it really delicious, but before making it myself, I have never had it cooked for me outside of a restaurant. 

Homemade gnocchi is so different to the ready made variety that you can buy from the supermarket. The latter tends to be a bulky, heavy dumpling, likely to leave you holding your stomach after eating dinner. Once you have mastered it, fresh gnocchi is soft and light, and you will never want to go back to buying those vac packs.

The key is how the potatoes are prepared. Many recipes direct you to boil the potatoes until tender, but by baking instead, no water is retained inside of the potatoes, helping the mixture stay nice and light. Mixing the dough lightly and cooking while the mixture is still warm will also help get the best results. If you are going to prepare the dish in advance, blanch the gnocchi for 1 minute before carefully draining and storing in the fridge until ready to reheat later.

Serves 2 as a main, 4 for a starter

Ingredients:

For the chorizo pesto:

1 ring cured chorizo, skin peeled and cut into large chunks

1 red chilli, sliced

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 red onion, sliced

3 large sprigs rosemary, leaves picked

1 glass red wine

50g parmesan, finely grated

100g blanched almonds, toasted

1 lemon - juice

1/2 bunch parsley, roughly chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

For the gnocchi:

500g large waxy potatoes such as maris piper

150g plain flour

1/2 a beaten egg

Handful of fresh soft herbs such as basil, parsley and oregano, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

To serve:

10 or so cherry tomatoes, halved

Large handful rocket (optional)

Sprinkling of grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 200ºC

Put the potatoes on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt and bake in the oven until cooked and fluffy in the middle, about an hour.

While the potatoes are cooking, make the pesto. Heat a large heavy frying pan with a little olive oil on a medium heat. When hot, add the red onion, chorizo, garlic, rosemary and red chilli and cook until the onion is soft. Turn up the heat a little and add the red wine, letting it reduce down until thick and sticky. Tip everything into a food processor and add the parsley, lemon juice, parmesan, almonds and seasoning. Blitz until all mixed together into a coarse pesto. Add a little extra virgin olive oil, enough to loosen the mixture up a bit. Taste, adjust and put aside. 

When the potatoes are baked, scoop the fluffy insides into a bowl and discard the skins (or stuff with cheese and grill). Holding the hot potatoes with a tea towel makes this much easier. Mash them up so there are no lumps. Working quickly, add the beaten egg (remember only half), the flour, herbs and a good seasoning before mixing together carefully until everything comes together as a dough. 

Put a large saucepan of salty water to boil.

Split the potato mixture in two and roll each half into a long thin sausage. Using a sharp knife, cut along the sausage on the angle at 3cm intervals, or to the size that you want your gnocchi to be. You can now shape the individual gnocchi as you wish, I prefer to keep them quite rustic. 

When the water has boiled, cook the gnocchi in batches until they rise to the surface. Drain well and keep warm. When on the last batch, heat a large non-stick frying pan on a medium to high heat with a little olive oil. When hot, add the gnocchi and fry for a couple of minutes until the outsides start to crisp. At this point, turn the heat down a little and add the cherry tomatoes, and a minute later a good amount of the pesto (plus a little more olive oil if the mix looks too solid still), stirring to coat the gnocchi. When the pesto is heated through and the tomatoes softened slightly it is ready.

To serve, spoon a serving of the gnocchi and pesto onto each plate and top each pile with a little rocket. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle the parmesan over. Dig in!

Artichokes, hollandaise and halloumi salads

At last

Finally the sun has come out! It really makes such a difference, and means that the evenings can be made the most of instead of being huddled up inside watching the rain running down the window. 

One of the best things about the summer arriving is that I can eat outside as much as possible. My flat doesn’t have a designated dining room, so when it’s cold it’s mostly eating off my lap, but luckily I do have a good sized balcony. When it’s warm and the evenings are long, I can sneak out and sit at a small table surrounded by plants and the smell of barbecues. 

Globe artichokes with hollandaise 

Like barbecues and picnics, there’s something great about sitting outside and picking at food with your fingers. Globe artichokes are a great way to start any meal outdoors, and they go a lot further than you’d think after scraping the tiny amount of flesh from an individual leaf. Make sure that you peel everything away and get to the lovely tender heart in the middle. 

Hollandaise can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare, but once you find a method that works for you then it can be assembled without too much fuss. It’s definitely worth the effort though, as it works so well with the artichoke, clinging to the leaves much better than a vinaigrette. 

This is such a simple meal, but always looks dramatic and keeps with that interactive outdoor spirit.

Serves 2 as a starter

Ingredients:

2 globe artichokes

2 lemons

For the hollandaise:

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar 

1 lemon - juice, put the squeezed lemon in the saucepan with the artichokes

120g butter

Fill a large saucepan with water and salt. Squeeze a lemon into the water and chuck the lemon into the water too.

In a large bowl, season the egg yolks then whisk well until they start to thicken. 

Heat the vinegar and lemon juice in a small saucepan until the mixture starts to boil. Pour slowly over the eggs whilst whisking quickly.

Now melt your butter until it starts to foam. When ready, transfer to a jug and pour very slowly - a few drops at a time - into the egg mixture, whisking all the time. As the butter is incorporated into the mixture it will thicken, but be careful not to add the butter too quickly or it will split. When all the butter has been added, taste and adjust with lemon, salt and pepper, which ever is needed. Cover and put aside until the artichokes are cooked. 

To cook the artichokes, trim the stem and peel off any tough outer leaves. Squeeze over half of the remaining lemon to help prevent discolouring. Plunge the prepped globes into the boiling salty lemony water, and use a colander to keep them submerged. Boil for 25 minutes before checking - try an outer leaf, and if the flesh is still tough then cook for another 5 minutes. 

Once cooked, drain the artichokes and squeeze with the last half of lemon. Serve quickly with a bowl or hollandaise for dipping. 

When I last ate these artichokes, I followed it up with this halloumi salad to make an easy to cook but really tasty week night meal.

Broad bean, radish, green bean and pea salad with grilled halloumi and a herb yoghurt dressing

Halloumi almost always gets used as a vegetarian substitute to a meat dish, and I bet vegetarians get sick of unimaginative hosts plonking it in front of them for every meal. However it is fantastic when simply grilled, and the saltiness goes well with a cooling and sweet salad. 

I’m a bit obsessed with fresh oregano at the moment, and luckily my local greengrocer always has loads of it. It adds such a fragrant citrus taste to anything that it’s added to, from soups to marinades and salads. If you can’t find any, any herb combinations will work, but try and use lots of mint. When seasoning the dressing, you want it to be quite strong, so add a touch more lemon, vinegar and salt than you thing you need, as it will be diluted when eaten with the crisp vegetables.

You can prepare everything but the halloumi (although you can have it  pre-sliced and ready), so as much time can be spent outside with a cold beer without the hassle of cooking up a massive meal. 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the salad:

1 block halloumi, sliced into thick rectangular pieces

300g broad beans, podded and shelled

100g french beans, trimmed and cut in half

200g frozen peas

about 8 radishes, thinly sliced
4 spring onions, sliced

3 sprigs mint, leaves picked and torn

1 lemon - juice

a small handful of rocket leaves

Extra virgin olive oil

For the yoghurt dressing:

400ml natural yoghurt

1/2 bunch mint, finely chopped

1/2 bunch fresh oregano, finely chopped

2 lemons, the zest of one and the juice of both

1 tbsp white wine vinegar, plus more if necessary

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Put some salted water in a saucepan large enough to hold the french beans, broad beans and peas and bring to the boil. 

While the water is boiling, make the dressing. Put the yoghurt in a bowl and add all of the other dressing ingredients. Mix well and taste, adjusting with lemon, vinegar, salt and pepper as it needs. Set aside to infuse while you prepare the vegetables.

When the broad beans, peas and french beans are all trimmed, podded, shelled and sliced and the water has boiled, blanch them for 2 minutes. As soon as two minutes is up, drain the vegetables and plunge them in a large amount of cold water to stop them cooking. Shake as much water from the vegetables as possible, then add a small amount of extra virgin olive oil and squeeze the lemon juice over. Add the radishes, spring onion and mint, season well and mix together, then set aside until ready to plate up.

To cook the halloumi, heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat with a little oil. When it is hot, fry the halloumi quickly for a couple of minutes on each side until crisp and brown. 

To construct the salad, place a small amount of rocket in the middle of the plate and top with a large heap of the vegetable mixture. Spoon some of the yoghurt over the top, scatter some more mint leaves around and arrange the halloumi around the plate. Tuck in with a glass of wine somewhere nice outside. 

Store cupboard dinners

Ready, Steady, Cook!

One of the hardest things I find when cooking is making the most out of leftover food. It’s always nice to sit down and plan a meal from scratch, but I sometimes find myself with a fridge full of random bits that need to be eaten, normally thrown together quickly on a weekday evening after a long day at work. Although it can sometimes seem like a tricky prospect, most of the time with a bit of thought you can come up with something good. 

This ‘read, steady, cook’ style of cooking completely relies on the reinforcement of the ingredients in your store cupboards. You don’t quite need the comprehensively bursting Nigel Slater-style larder; just a few good spices, a bit of stock and some dried grain or pasta can turn something out of nothing. Most of these ingredients are very cheap and last for ages, and are definitely worth having just in case you need them.

Planning ahead is also useful to make the most out of your leftovers. If you are cooking a big joint of meat for example, that will have a lot to spare, I always get a few extra things at the same time that will make it stretch for longer. Restaurants and pubs are great at this - you will often see a cottage pie on the menu on a Monday after a Sunday roast, and arancini is used in many Italians to use up old risotto. I really hate to waste food, and leftovers give the impression of a second-rate meal, when a lot of the time they are as good as when the food was used the first time around. 

Rocket and puy lentil salad with chicken, chorizo and goat’s cheese

This salad came about after I was left with a few leftovers from some of the dishes that I have cooked on this blog so far. I found that I still had loads of chorizo and the oregano pesto left from the bream dish, and some goat’s cheese from the mushroom ravioli. As they are good ingredients, I wanted to come up with another good dish to incorporate them without having to buy many more ingredients. 

As with most salads, you can mix and match ingredients as much as you want, depending on what you have available and to your taste. Any lentil can be used, and any spare vegetables can also be roasted up and thrown in. Chicken goes really well with chorizo, goat’s cheese and pesto, and thighs hold so much tenderness and flavour (and are amazingly cheap). If you don’t have any pesto, a mixture of chopped soft herbs with lemon juice and olive oil will also be lovely.

Serves 2, very well

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

4 chicken thighs

1 lemon, juice kept separately

4 tbsp oregano pesto (recipe in last blog entry), or herbs, olive oil and lemon juice

A few thyme sprigs if available

For the lentils:

1 cup puy lentils, rinsed well

1 litre chicken stock

1/2 glass red wine (white will also work here)

1 shallot or onion, sliced finely

1 clove garlic, sliced finely

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 lemon - juice

To finish the salad:

2 large handfuls rocket, washed

1/2 ring cured chorizo, cut into rough 2cm chunks

80g goat’s cheese (preferably soft), torn into large chunks

10 or so cherry tomatoes, chopped in half

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC (fan)

First of all get the lentils on by heating the chicken stock up in a saucepan, and heating a medium frying pan or skillet on a medium heat with a little olive oil. When the frying pan is hot, add the shallot and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the cumin and paprika. Once the shallot is soft, add the lentils and stir well, cooking for another minute or two. Now add the red wine, and let it bubble up and reduce a little, before pouring in a ladle of hot stock. Wait until the lentils have absorbed the liquid before adding more stock, and repeating until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. You don’t want too much liquid left with the lentils at the end, so reduce down until it just holds everything together. Add the lemon juice, season well and put aside.

While the lentils are cooking, cook the chicken. Heat a non-stick frying pan with a little oil on a high heat, and season the chicken well. When very hot, place the chicken skin down and cook until the skin is really brown and crispy. Turn them over for a minute before removing to a small baking dish, along with the squeezed lemons and the thyme if using. Put into the oven for about 25 minutes or until cooked at the thickest part. When cooked, strip the meat from the bones, cut into bite-size pieces and drizzle with some of the oregano pesto or herb dressing. 

When the lentils and chicken have about 5 minutes to go, heat a frying pan on a medium heat with a little oil. When hot, fry the chorizo and cherry tomatoes, until the chorizo is hot and starting to crisp, and the tomatoes have slightly softened.

To construct the salad, spread a large base of washed and dried rocket onto each plate. Use a fork to scatter the lentils over the leaves, and then arrange the chicken, chorizo, tomato and goats cheese on top. Finish by adding more of the pesto in little blobs, spooning a bit of the leftover lemon juice and drizzling some extra virgin olive oil. 

Restaurant Review - The Cafe at Tate Modern

I week ago I met up with my parents to brave the rains and go to see the Damien Hirst exhibition at the Tate Modern. After a horrible stormy walk through St. Paul’s and across the Millennium Bridge, we decided that lunch first was definitely in order. With much of Hirst’s work involving death, flies and ash trays of fag butts, this was probably a good decision! 

The cafe at the Tate Modern is a lovely open space, and had a very welcoming busy bustle to it when we arrived. The menu was also just as inviting, comprising of a simple yet well thought out selection including fish of the day, potted ham hock terrine along with robust looking tarts and sandwiches. I went for the fish, which was Hake on fennel with a white wine sauce, while my mum ordered a roasted squash and beetroot salad, and my dad the ploughmans. So far, so good.

Here came the first problem. It is always slightly alarming when a waiter seems to be writing an essay on their notepad, and here he was going to town. But after we confirmed our order, we sat back with content anticipation that we would be well fed. When the food arrived, mum got her salad, dad got his ploughmans, whilst I got a very gourmet spare plate. Hang on! Somehow, even after we had confirmed the order, the waiter had managed to confuse ‘hake’ with ‘plate’. I actually found the whole thing quite amusing, but although the staff were very apologetic, I was still left watching the others eat their food. 

This in turn didn’t turn out too badly, as I got to have a look at what they had ordered. Dad’s ploughmans looked great; two wedges of cheese, loads of ham, some of that ham hock terrine and homemade piccalilli. Brilliant, and I was left with a severe case of food envy. My mum on the other hand got a worse deal, with a big pile of watercress hiding the tiny amounts of beetroot and squash that had been added. Surely a roasted beetroot and squash salad should be mostly formed of that? It was nice enough, but she was left disappointed. 

When my plate/hake finally came along, I laughed quite a lot. In front of me was quite possibly the most ridiculous piece of garnish that I’ve ever seen. It’s one thing (well, it was 20 years ago) adding a small sprig of parsley or a small lemon wedge to go with a dish, but here on top of the hake they had precariously balanced a huge piece of lemon. The hake should have been the star of the show, but I just couldn’t get over how silly the whole thing looked. Aside from this, to be fair to it the dish did taste lovely, with the hake cooked well and combining with the fennel, wine and cream perfectly. 

So overall it was a very mixed bag, with my dad and I content, mum miffed by her salad, and all amused by the theatrical plate and architectural lemon. Quite apt given the setting I think.