Reciplace

Basil and Chorizo Pizza. I want to eat this every night for the rest of my life.

Every once in while I eat something that I decide I just want to eat every single day forever and ever. I imagine becoming the crazy-lady that only eats one dish.... going to the supermarket and buying the ingredients in bulk... eating that one thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner for all of eternity.

This was one of those things.  Sadly, I ended up having porridge for breakfast the next morning, so things for me and this pizza didn't turn out to be long term.  But it was only about a week before I had another delicious encounter with the World's Best Pizza.

We quite like thin crusts on pizza, so we usually use a Turkish Lavash bread for the base. (I can just HEAR the Italian readers cringing...)  You can crisp it up in the oven ahead of time, but when you eat it, it makes a nice crispy bread, which is still malleable enough to roll up.

Here's how easy it is to make this pizza:

1. In a mini food processor, whizz up 2 tbsp of olive oil with a big handful of fresh basil leaves
2. Slice up a ball of mozzarella and a bit of good quality chorizo
3. Brush the thin pizza base with your basil oil
4. Scatter the mozzarella, chorizo, and some sundried or sunkissed tomatoes over the pizza
5. Slice up an avocado and squeeze a lemon over the top
6. Bake the pizza for 10 minutes
7. Top the pizza with the avocado slices and a few more leaves of basil

Incredible! But don't blame me if you never eat anything else ever again.

Tofu and vegetable superfood skewers

Here's another superfood extravaganza for the books. And... I'm starting to sound like a broken record here.... it's from those lovelies at Tesco magazine.... but using ingredients delivered by Ocado! There just doesn't seem to be any editorial control over these people! Do they even talk to their colleagues in the products department? All of their recipes call for things like buckwheat and chinese 5 spice paste, which Tesco doesn't actually sell.

This one makes use of lovely soft fresh tofu. If you actually had to restrict yourself to Tesco ingredients, you'd have to use that awful long-life Blue Dragon tofu in a cardboard box. Retch.

This is pretty quick and easy - perfect for a weeknight. The tofu is a tad under-flavoured, but not too bad if you make sure it's grilled properly. The salad bit is gorgeous.

Ingredients

* 250 g pack tofu, cut into pieces
* 1 large courgette, cut into rings, then halved
* 2 small red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
* 8 bamboo skewers
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* juice of 1 lemon
* 1 tsp Chinese 5-spice paste
* 300 g quinoa
* 250 g cooked broccoli florettes
* 30 g fresh parsley, finely chopped
* 2 tsp harissa paste
* 100 g pack pomegranate seeds

1. Place alternate pieces of tofu, courgette and onion onto 8 bamboo skewers and brush with half the olive oil. Grill for about 15 minutes until browned, turn regularly. Then drizzle with half the lemon juice and sprinkle with 5-spice powder.

2. Cook the quinoa for 15 minutes, according to packet instructions, draining off any excess water. Mix in the broccoli, parsley, rose harissa or harissa powder, the remaining lemon juice and olive oil, then sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

3. Divide the quinoa pilaf between four plates and place two skewers on each to serve.

Yummy leeks and eggs for breakfast

This is a Sunday staple in our house.  Perfect for mornings when you sleep in a little late, and fancy some brunch.  (Brunch is my favourite meal, followed closely by linner.)  It's so easy and sooooo yum, it's great to make when you have guests staying over as it looks like hard work.

All you need is leeks, soya milk (I've also used double cream), eggs, and grainy mustard.  We make this dish so often, that it's earned it's own concatenated name, "Leggs". 

Using one leek per person, finely slice the leek and sauté in a frying pan of butter and olive oil.  When it starts to go a little soft, add a few tablespoons of soya milk, and a good few dollops of mustard.  Sauté 5 minutes more until the mixture is very very soft.

In a ramekin (one per person), line the edges with the leek mixture, then crack two eggs over the top.  Carefully pour in a small spoonful of soya milk, season generously with salt and pepper, and microwave with clingfilm wrapped tightly over the ramekin. 

How long you microwave is up to you and how much you like jiggly bits of egg.   I usually cook mine for 3 minutes, and The Husband's for 5.  Keep in mind that the egg will keep cooking after you remove it from the microwave.  Remove the film, stir, and let cool before eating. 

Black Salsify, Spinach & Gruyere Gratin

Here's a lovely recipe I was sent by my veg box people, We Love Local.  They send me all kinds of mad things every week, most of which I have some kind of idea what to do with.  But not this week!  I opened the box to find a pile of long brown sticks I had no idea what to do with.  I'd read about salsify (scorzonera) before, but never seen it up close.

Lucky for me, We Love Local had included instructions and a nice sounding recipe to go with it.  The recipe matched a ton of things I needed to use up, so half an hour later we were tucking in to a gorgeous bowl of creamy veg.  I didn't even tamper with the recipe like I usually do!

We're moving up to London in two weeks - I don't know how I'm going to live without my beloved veg box company.  I'm sure there will be plenty to choose from in London, but I will be surprised if they come close to offering the quality and variety that We Love Local do.

Black Salsify, Spinach & Gruyere Gratin

30g of butter plus extra for greasing the gratin dish
450g black salsify, peeled or scrubbed
250g baby spinach
300ml vegetable or chicken stock
300ml single cream
Gruyere or edam cheese (no exact amounts here as it depends on how much cheesiness you like!)
White breadcrumbs, a couple of handfuls

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and butter the inside of your gratin dish.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil.

Peel the salsify and cut into the desired lengths, then drop straight into the boiling water. Cook until just tender (around 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your salsify).

Meanwhile, mix the stock and cream together and season.

Place a layer of salsify in the bottom of the dish and then add a layer of spinach. Grate over some gruyere cheese then finish with the remaining salsify and spinach.

Pour over the cream-stock mixture then mix the breadcrumbs with a generous amount of grated gruyere and sprinkle over the top of the gratin.
Bake until golden and bubbling.

Tesco magazine staff - I love them!

So I'm taking a night class at the moment at the Little Portland Street Cookery School in London.  So far it's brilliant.  On the first night we learned to spatchcock poussin, cut up little ginea fowl with scissors, and all kinds of gruesome meaty things.  Being 90% vegetarian these days, I found it a bit overwhelming - but I checked that all the meat used was free range organic, so somehow I managed to deal with my delicious plate of flesh at the end of the night.

Night two was bread night.  I was pretty surprised that in a class of intermediate home cooks, half of them didn't know how to knead.  I felt like a pro as people all around me were squishing dough between their fingers, and the chef was purring to me about how I was obviously used to handling dough.  (Really?  I normally let the breadmaker do all the work!)

If you've read my previous posts about how much I love the Tesco magazine, you'll know that I keep suggesting to the writers that they use their talents for a less terrifying company, and stop calling for ingredients that Tesco doesn't even sell. 

So you can just imagine my face when I ask a fellow student at the cookery school what she does for a living and she replies that she's a writer for Tesco bloody magazine.  No, I did not immediately start ranting, or ask if she'd like to apply for a job at UKTV Food.  I kept my mouth shut.

Cut to the chef explaining the differences between fresh and dried yeast, and passing a block of fresh yeast around the class for us to smell.  He warned us not to touch the fresh yeast, incase we then touched our eyes - the bacteria in the yeast would cause an infection.  The woman from Tesco magazine responded, "Well my eye is the last place I want a yeast infection!"

I can't help it - I love the Tesco magazine writers! 

Brighton's Newest Celebrity Chef - Rosario Guarneri (The Arrogant Frog)

I love it when a plan comes together.  

Last April we went for a posh meal at Hove's best French restaurant, The Arrogant Frog.  Although not great for vegetarians (it is French, after-all), this is a fantastic restaurant.  Great food, great decor, decent prices.....  and the best part is Rosario - the Arrogant Frog - himself.

As the night went on, Rosario walked around to all the tables, making us laugh and talking about the food.  He called himself the "French Gordon Ramsay", and told us about the politicians and celebrities he has cooked for. 

He was obviously such an accomplished chef, and had such great personality, that I instantly started thinking how perfect he would be on television.  And of course, there is the small matter that I do happen to work for a food television channel.....

Monday morning I sent some emails around about Rosario, and made a few connections.  It took a while, but almost a year later, Rosario will be appearing on a UKTV Food original programme - Chefs and the City!  Top local chefs in the UK compete against ordinary people to cook with a particular ingredient.   You can see Rosario's quail recipe here, and look out for the programme to be broadcast on UKTV Food - this Friday, March 13th at 9pm.

Even more impressively, Rosario will be opening up his own catering school in Brighton later this year.  Ahhhhh if I only had 3 years of my life to spare - I would kill for this kind of opportunity.  TEACH (The European Academy of Catering and Hospitality) will take on 100 students, and walk them through every aspect of catering and accommodation, including the basics of 4 languages!  I really hope he does well with this one.

I'm kind of hoping Rosario becomes the next Jamie Oliver..... no I can't stand him.....   the next Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, so I can forever brag about how I "discovered" him.  :)