The night-before-a-flight dinner party

So I just returned from the States yesterday after a whirlwind 9-day trip. It should have been closer to 14, but thanks to the Iceland volcano, it was cut short a bit at the beginning. So instead of flying out on Tuesday, we didn't get to fly out until Saturday.

All that aside, we had a great time celebrating my dad's 60th and our impending July arrival. We succumbed to gluttony a few times - hot chicken wings and queso dip spring to mind - but also scoffed many of my fresh favourites such as yellow squash and raspberries.

But flash back to the night before our flight out of London - we had some friends over for dinner before our trip and to show them our new place, which we'll be moving into next week. I needed something simple, fresh, and ideally easy to prepare ahead as we were doing lots of work at the new flat. I also needed something that wouldn't leave leftovers, and since the weather was so nice, I wanted something summer-inspired but in keeping with mid-spring availabilities.

Here's what I settled on:

• sticky lemon chicken (served cold)
• purple-sprouting broccoli and herb pasta salad (served cold)
• prawns in carrot sauce (served cold)
• mixed leaf salad
• fresh sun-dried tomato bread
• a round of camenbert (I abstained, pregnant as I am)
• white wine (spritzer for me)

I think it turned out well - we ate around 7:30, with it still light outside and the windows and doors open. It was a Friday, so everyone was in a good mood, and I wasn't in the least bit stressed thanks to the early preparation.

If you like any of these ideas, I've put general recipes for the ones in bold below. Check 'em out and let me know if you want more info, and I can surely provide it.

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Sticky lemon chicken
I only had an idea in mind, not a recipe, so after a bit of browsing I came across this recipe from Notecook and this one from Good Food, which I picked the best bits from.

To make:

1. Cut slices into the fat of drumsticks and thighs (maybe 10 pieces total?) and season. 
2. In a casserole dish, add the juice and zest of 2 large lemons, 1 tbsp of honey, 1 clove of garlic (chopped), 1 tbsp of oil, a pinch each of paprika/salt/pepper and whisk with a fork. 
3. Add the chicken and rub the juices into the chicken. Roast for 45 minutes or until done at 200 C / 400 F. 
4. Allow to cool, then refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Some chopped herbs on the top would look pretty here.

If I'm honest, it didn't end up quite as 'sticky' as I would have liked - I think I would have needed to add more honey or a little sugar to make it stickier. But the citrus aromas were lovely - I'd probably amp that up a little more too.


Purple-sprouting broccoli and herb pasta salad
This one was also an idea in my head - I was initially thinking asparagus, but couldn't get any British asparagus at the store. Purple-sprouting broccoli from Herefordshire looked good, so in the basket it went.

To make:

1. Blanch 400 g (14 oz) purple sprouting broccoli (regular is fine, just not as pretty) and then plunge into cold water to cool. Set to the side.
2. Boil 300 g (10.5 oz) fusilli pasta, rinse with cold water, then set to the side.
3. To make the dressing, use the juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon olive oil, a handful of chopped fresh parsley, a handful of chopped fresh dill, and 3 tablespoons of basil pesto. (If you don't have basil pesto, use a handful of basil and 2 more tablespoons of oil).
4. Combine the broccoli, pasta and herb mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more lemon juice or herbs if you like, and topping with lemon zest is a pretty touch.

Makes enough for 4 people with leftovers (so probably 6, if you're serving the chicken too).

Prawns in carrot sauce
Okay, so this one was a total cheat - my mother-in-law brought me back some carrot sauce from the Canaries, which I've been meaning to try out. It was actually quite nice - had the essence of cumin, onion and red peppers in it in my mind, though one site lists the ingredients as "oil, garlic, paprika, salt, vinegar, pureed carrot, thyme or other herbs". Anyway, it was good (though I did set the smoke alarm off in the middle of the night when I stir fried these bad boys up).

Sun-dried tomato bread
Okay, so kinda another cheat. I'm not perfect! This was a pre-mix that I used in the breadmaker - my breadmaker's not well equipped to take additions to the mix after the start, so if I want anything "fancy" I have to go pre-mix. The smell is fab. I'm sure with a little planning I could try doing something on my own, but my mind was on flights and ash clouds. Deal...

Spicy prawns with a mango and rice salad recipe

This Thai-inspired idea is on the menu tonight, and I have no idea how it’s going to turn out. Kinda like the final of American Idol, which I’ll be watching. Kris vs. Adam: the showdown, and all that jazz.

Here’s what I’m planning:

Spicy prawns with mango and rice salad
(serves 2)

200 g frozen prawns, defrosted
4 tbsp sriracha (chilli and ginger sauce), divided in half
50 g spring onions
1 mango, peeled and sliced
150 g brown basmati rice

Cook the rice as per instructions. Once the rice is on and has about 15 minutes left to go, marinate the prawns in half of the sriracha. (If you don’t have that, a mixture of olive oil, garlic and chilli is fine).

Heat a pan over med-high heat and saute the prawns until they’re ready.

Drain the rice and combine with spring onions, mango, prawns and sriracha and serve.

Now I’ll admit, I don’t know how this is going to turn out, though I like the idea of all the individual ingredients. Will let you know how it goes.

Spanish-style butter beans and mussels with tomato, chilli and garlic

Well, this pretty much does what it says on the tin! It was a perfect quick Tuesday night dish to prepare before scoffing down and heading to the Shoreditch WI meeting (first time - and very interesting!)

Spanish-style butter beans and mussels with tomato, chilli and garlic
(serves 2)

1 tin butter beans, drained
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small chilli, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
4 tsp oil (I used a mixture of olive and chilli oil)
250 g mussels (out of their shells) or 1 kg of mussels (in their shells)
2 tbsp Total 0% greek yogurt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and saute the onions for about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a further two minutes before adding the butter beans. Stir to coat the butter beans with oil, and then pour the chopped tomatoes in to the pot. Bring to a simmer.

If using mussels in their shells, add to the mixture and simmer for 10 minutes. If using pre-cooked mussels - allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes before adding the mussels for the final 5. Season and top with the yogurt and serve with a green vegetable of your choice.

Calories per serving: about 440, before the green veg. I steamed some green beans for us both - though also cooked 50 g of wholegrain rice for my husband - otherwise he would have been straight into the cupboards, hunting for any snack he could find...

retro meal for an anniversary celebration

Yesterday was our two-year wedding anniversary. We often stay in on those nights (including anniversaries before we were married) and make something decadent. For example, one year I made Delia’s sole Veronique, a fish dish with cream, tarragon and grapes that is absolutely unforgettable.

But we decided to go retro and have a 70s-inspired meal – scampi and chips, with pureed broad beans. And a bottle of cold champagne, of course.

Scampi is so much fun, though probably processed to within an inch of its life. I’ve never made it from scratch before, but I think it would be great to come up with a more wholesome natural version.

The chips are easily made by slicing up a potato, spraying with olive oil and sprinkling with salt, and baking for about 45 minutes.

The broad beans I used were frozen – again, ever so retro – so I steamed and then blitzed them with a hand blender. Yum!

But here’s the real twist – curry sauce. My husband poured it over his chips, while I mixed a tablespoon of curry sauce with a tablespoon of mayo. It sounds slightly odd, I’ll grant you, but it was the perfect final touch to the meal.

yummy prawn burritos

The Sainsburys branch in Whitechapel has been extensively refurbished, and being the grocery store nerd that I am, I was very excited. I’ve been trawling the aisles for fun new ingredients. I am a little disappointed on one front: no more tinned cherry tomatoes, the staple that gets me through the winter!

But I did stumble onto a new item: the store is now stocking whole wheat soft tortillas. I snatched them up about two weeks ago, knowing I would want to make something with them.

Last night was the night – I had prawns, salsa, low-fat crème fraiche, reduced-fat farmhouse cheese and lots of crunchy romaine lettuce. I would have been content with just those ingredients in a salad, but it might not be enough to tempt my husband on such a cold, rainy night. But pile those ingredients into a wrap and he’s happy. So I warmed up four tortillas – three for him, one for me. I was happy just to try out the new wraps. (They’re great, by the way, just as soft as white flour tortillas. I haven’t compared the calorie count, but I’ll find out.)

One wrap may not seem like much, but I helped myself to healthy portions of lettuce, salsa and prawns, still making sure to only have about a tablespoon of crème fraiche and about 50 g of cheese.

Very quick, very easy, this dish. I love the style of cooking that involved assembling ingredients for people to help themselves to. It’s such an interactive way of having dinner, and those who have favourite ingredients can help themselves, while those who are trying to watch what they eat can do so without feeling like they are putting any pressure on anyone else.

speedy prawn noodles

This is one of those dishes that I can almost always make with the ingredients I have in my freezer, fridge and cupboard. All you need is:

-prawns from the freezer (I try to keep some seafood in as it is just so handy)
-egg noodles (or rice) from the cupboard
-an assortment of veggies, fresh or frozen, though peas are quite important
-soy sauce

The quantities are generally interchangeable.

I like knowing I have a back-up dish at all times, in case one of my vegetables goes off, or I just don’t feel like having one night.

Tonight, I used broccoli, peas, spring onions, prawns, groundnut oil and soy sauce. I scavenged for some sesame seeds, but to no avail. I’ll have to get some in for next time.

Other good options: red peppers, carrots and courgettes.

Basically, just stir fry all but the noodles together (boil those separately for a minute or two), and add the noodles into the wok for the two minutes to soak up the soy juices. Serve immediately. In and out in under 20 minutes.

courgette cakes with smoked salmon and natural yogurt

Courgettes, the soft Provençal vegetable similar at first glance to the cucumber, work well in a multitude of dishes, including soups, omelettes, stir fries, and even just on their own.

I had not considered cooking them as cakes before, until browsing the back catalogue of Nigel Slater, who can always be counted on to devise something with that perfect seasonal touch.

First appearing in Observer in an al fresco collection, Slater’s recipe for courgette cakes combines spring onion, garlic, courgettes, egg, feta, flour – and crucially, dill. He recommends frying the cake mixture in olive oil and serving with ripe, red tomato chutney.

Unfortunately, the nineteenth of September did not provide the Indian summer evening necessary for this recipe, with which a late-summer tomato chutney and an urban balcony would work wonderfully.

A gray, sprinkling evening indoors was instead the setting. But actually, these courgette cakes were just as lovely indoors as out. The courgette mixture was warm and satisfying sans feta (only owing to the fact that I had run out and the weather wasn’t quite nice enough to warrant a quick nip to the shops). I used only half the quantity of olive oil that Slater suggested. Next time, I will consider groundnut oil, which will give a crispier edge.

Natural yogurt (a dollop of) replaced the tomato chutney and complemented the cakes (which I left slightly soft and ever so gooey in the centre) quite refreshingly. A few slices of smoked salmon served alongside finished off this simple yet very satisfying dish. A glass or two of rose to see off the summer felt quite justified, nearly elegiac.

sea bass - a bank holiday treat

Saturday in Frinton-on-sea was so lovely that upon waking Sunday morning, we decided to head out again, this time to Kent. We hopped along the north coast of Kent, first stopping in Whitstable, known for its fishing industry. The oysters were flowing and tourists were certainly very happy. We stopped in the fish market on the pier, which was purveying its finest local sea bass and skate. I really wanted to get some sea bass but the knowledge that it would have to sit for at least four hours in the car put me off considerably.

Next stop - Whitstable's next-door neighbor Herne Bay, then off to Reculver, a small village known for its Roman fort and country park. Last, a stop in Westgate-on-sea to dip our feet in the water and look for crabs. No luck.

Upon returning to London, I popped out quickly for some sea bass, which we roasted with spring onions, lime juice and a splash of white wines, and served with baby carrots farmed from Pete's fathers garden and steamed curly kale. The flavours were so fresh and went really well with the French Malbec. We ate on the balcony, soaking in the last few minutes of Sunday sunshine.

Sea bass is an excellent fish with white creamy flesh. It's not particularly low in calories, though, and the serving sizes were quite large - two fish, gutted and headed, were about 600 grams. Each fish would set you back over 600 calories, according to the label. It's not exactly a fish you'd just split in half to serve, though. I saved half of the fish for lunch today with a fresh green salad finished off with a peach. The lime undertones in the sea bass were still there, only just.

thursday night dinner

Before I begin, sorry for the post five days after the fact. The bank holiday weekend - and the sun - has kept me outside. But I will endeavour to catch up quickly.

Thursday night's dinner was a prawn, goats cheese and pea pasta. Now, I know it sounds a bit strange, so give it a chance. I had prawns in the refrigerator and a lovely lump of organic goats cheese beckoning from the top shelf. I used Cooking Light magazine's search engine, typing in shrimp and goats cheese and came up with what I thought was trumps:

Shrimp with Lemon, Mint and Goats Cheese
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=689943

After all, I had all the ingredients I needed - leftover mint in the fridge from tabbouleh earlier in the week, frozen peas in the freezer, and the ubiqitous tomatoes on the vine.

I didn't have any mirin, so just deleted it from the recipe, though perhaps a dry white wine would have worked. I served it with wholemeal spaghetti - 75 g for me, and 150 g for Pete. I don't think the pasta was necessary, but the meal needed to be bulked up a bit for Pete.

Looking back, I don't think the goats cheese was a good addition to this recipe. And that's hard for me to say, being a lover of goats cheese. But if I were in the same position again, I would serve pieces of a wholemeal baguette with a bit of a goats cheese shmear on top. I don't think putting the goats cheese in the wet situation with the prawns, tomatoes and lemon really complimented any of the flavours.

I wouldn't use mint again either. As much as I love the herb, the lemon, garlic, peas, spring onion (scallion) and tomatoes tasted great without the mint. I accept that the peas-lemon-mint combo is a good one (actually, the dish inspired me to make a pea soup the next night with those very ingredients) but it wasn't right for this dish. Definitely a 1-star dish in my mind.