Life's A Peach

Last Sunday, Cathie and David came for dinner. I was under no illusion, this was not going to be a sober affair. We worked our way through a four course dinner and perhaps too many bottles of wine, including a wonderful Margaux and a bottle of Montrachet (my favourites).

We started with some Rhubarbellinis, if they already exist then I am sorry for copying but it was a moment of sheer genius, I am rarely excited by a Bellini these days (spoilt, moi?) but I love rhubarb and prosecco – so hey presto! I cooked a stalk of rhubarb in a pan with the juice of half a lemon and some icing sugar, I say some as I kept adding it to sweeten the rhubarb and thicken the cooking liquor. Once the rhubarb is stewed, mash up with a fork ensuring you get rid of all of the lumps; it should be pulp like in consistency. Allow to cool and put a heaped teaspoon in the bottom of a champagne flute. I happened to have some Rhubarb Liqueur (a decadent purchase Cathie and I had made a month ago in the airport) and covered the rhubarb puree in the delicious liqueur and top of with very chilled prosecco. Class in a glass!

The menu I selected is very seasonal and was to try and impress my very well fed guests....and no David, this is not in retaliation to your comment on how my peachy wedding posterior had become a little more sizeable since (I am better than that, my friend), more as they eat very well and decadently of a weekend! I also wanted to challenge myself a little, I don’t want to become entirely complacent!


Crab Bisque with Crab Beignets

First we had Crab Bisque with Crab Beignets. I was a little hesitant to give you yet another crab recipe, but I love the stuff and I even managed to engage my crab hating husband into loving this little beauty. I struggle with some crab bisque recipes or eating it in restaurants as it can be so taken over by tomato and sometimes even carrot that, the sweet crab flavour is lost.

The crab I had acquired was superb. We went to a wonderful wedding the weekend before on the Isle of Wight and watched two of our dear friends tie the knot on the beach in Ventnor. The only reason I had heard of Ventnor before was because of their infamous offering of my favourite shelled friends. It didn’t disappoint. Most of the crab was eaten naked (not me) with a little watercress, but I saved some and froze it and made some wonderful crab stock from the shells which I also froze and used for this dish.

This dish will serve 6 people as a good starter or more if you skimp on portions, which would be totally acceptable as it’s so rich. I serve it in a teacup, because it looks pretty. For the crab bisque aficionados, this is far from traditional, however I assure you, you will like it.

Heat a large knob of butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan and gently fry 4-5 shallots, 2 sticks of celery until soft. Add a tablespoon of flour and cook for a minute before adding 100ml of Marsala wine and cook off on high heat for a minute before adding 1 litre of crab stock or good quality fish stock. Then add 250g of mixed crab meat (both brown and white). Cook for a few minutes and add a small handful of chopped tarragon. Blend until smooth with a hand blender and add 150ml of double cream and season well with Maldon Seat Salt and freshly milled black pepper. You can make this in advance and reheat later, I always do this. If you are not using this on the same day, please do not add the cream on that day, most cooks do not advise you to add the cream until almost serving, it is my preference to add it and then allow to cool and gently reheat later.

The Beignets

Now for the Crab Beignets, these are delicious. A beignet is a crispy fritter made from choux pastry, a little like a doughnut...these little bites of crab taste like heaven. I have to say this recipe is not mine, but courtesy of James Martin. He can keep his crab bisque recipe though. Sorry, James.

To make the beignets you are making a choux pastry. Start by boiling 125ml water and 50g diced butter together in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Take off the heat and add in 75g plain flour all at once and beat quickly until the flour is incorporated and the mixture comes clean away from the sides of the saucepan. Ensuring the mixture is warmed through (you may need to return to the heat for a few seconds) but not on the heat, crack in two free range eggs, one at a time, beating well so the egg is well incorporated into the dough. Add two tablespoons of white crab meat and three tablespoons of brown crab meat into the mixture and season well with Maldon Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep heavy-based frying pan or in a deep fat fryer if you have one.  You will know when the oil is ready by dropping a breadcrumb into the oil, once it sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it, its ready. Now is the time I need to remind you to take caution as hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended and always have adult supervision. I had my husband to watch over me.

Drop teaspoonfuls of the beignet mixture into the hot oil in batches and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the beignets are crisp and golden...yumdiddlyumcious. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining beignet mixture until you have used it all, warning, you will not be able to stop eating these!

To serve, place two to three of the crab beignets into the centre of each teacup (or bowl) sprinkle over some finely chopped tarragon and any leftover white crab meat (I have usually eaten it). I pop the teacups onto the table and pour the crab bisque into a big milk jug and serve the bisque at the table by pouring into the teacups.

Chilli and Tarragon Soda Bread

Last week I made a chilli and tarragon soda bread – but it’s not entirely necessary. If you want it here is the very easy recipe (it’s mine not James’). Without sounding too contrite, I always have buttermilk in the fridge as if we want bread for soup or a sandwich, this traditional Irish staple can be read within 45 minutes. I have placed chilli and tarragon in today, but usually I just make it plain. You can use any herb you wish. Place two finely chopped chillies with a handful of chopped tarragon into a large mixing bowl. Add 325g plain strong bread flour, 2 teaspoons of caster sugar, 2 teaspoons of Maldon Sea Salt, 1.5 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda and combine well and make a well in the centre. Add 1, 284ml pot of buttermilk into the mixture. Mix quickly with a fork; you may have to use your hands. If you find the mixture is too wet add a little more flour or too dry, you can add a little milk. Place on a lightly floured baking tray and place in an oven preheated to 190oC for 35 minutes. You will know this bread is cooked when it’s hollow to tap.

I followed this taste sensation with Roasted Marinated Leg of Venison, Baked Onions with Gruyere and Kale with Lemon. This ended with a little Tiramisu and a lovely cheese plate (and more wine). I will be here all night if I try and write out all of these recipes and for fear of not getting the blog out for another week or sleeping in for my 6.30am training session (my attempt to reclaim the peachy heights of last December) or better/worse the presentation I have to do at 9am (I can only dream of a reason not to get up for these delights) then I will have to pass these on another time.

Give this a go the next time you have good friends over for dinner, they will love it, guaranteed. Serve with a very chilled white wine, a white burgundy would be nice if you don’t like a more floral Viognier. We took it to the max and had a Montrachet, which would have been lost had we had more chilli bread, but it was perfect. Life is good. Life is a peach, unlike my backside...;-)

No more crab for a while (I promise, hubby).

For now...x

Lunch SOS

I return with a fear of more comebacks than Britney Spears. Though nothing so scandalous, I have not shaved my head nor had a stint in rehab. I have this rather annoying thing in my life, called a job. It consumes much of my spare time. I have also had another more positive time consuming activity in that I had an event of my own to plan – our wedding, and wonderful it was too!

So the Kitchen Fairy is now a married lady and all round domestic goddess. Well, actually my domestic skills are still confined to the kitchen according to my wonderful husband, though I don’t have much more time to waste on domestic chores.. do I?! I did stop writing, but I didn’t stop cooking (or eating as my “few” extra pounds will tell you).

I had contemplated deleting my last post, to soften the embarrassment of my prolonged leave of absence. My friend James told me he sometimes clicks on my blog for his own personal amusement, at my giant grin and giant fall from comebackdom! I am what I am, an overworked Event Manager who likes to cook and has very little time to herself. Anyway, I was born sorry, and will not start every new blog posting with an apology or end with a promise, I will just do the best I can dear reader.

I had my friend Daphne over for lunch today, SOS imagination rescue - I had nothing in the fridge (apparently) or much in the cupboard but I managed to rustle up from nowhere a little gem from nowhere and a few items lying about the place!

Speedy Lunch SOS - Roasted Butternut Squash, Spinach and Camembert Frittata


Butternut Squash, Spinach & Camembert Frittata


It’s so very easy and looks beautiful. It would be a good dish to take to a picnic, poorly friend or as I intended today a quick and easy lunch for a lovely friend. Peel a butternut squash and chop into bite sized pieces, lay on a baking tray and drizzle with rapeseed oil and season with Maldon Rock Salt and Black Pepper.

Line a baking tin with baking paper or I use a silicon cake “tin” and pop a cake tin liner (available from John Lewis) in - no messing!  Cover the bottom of the cake tin with the squash, tear up some washed baby spinach and pop into a mixture of 5 free range eggs beaten with 200ml of double cream. Season with Maldon Sea Salt and black pepper. Add this to the cake tin and dot it with some cheese. You can use whichever cheese you have or prefer, I just happened to have camembert left from the weekend and it happened to work really well. I wouldn’t have chosen camembert for this, but knew the halloumi I had wouldn’t work as well.

Pop in the frittata in a preheated oven at 160oC for 25 minutes, until just firm and golden. Though do check after 20 minutes as ovens really do vary. This needs to be slightly soft (baveuse as the French call it) and keep in mind eggs keep cooking until they cool and the frittata can easily become rubbery.

I served it with a ripe avocado and tomato salad, tossed with baby spinach, parmesan and a little rapeseed oil and lemon juice. Serve it with anything you jolly well fancy. For now....x

The Come Back Kid

Well, its been a while.  I am truly sorry for my extended leave of absence.

Too many excuses to go into. But I am back and I intend to stay!  I will take the advice of my other half (or should I say, husband to be!) and will update regularly.

My previous aim was to offer you a recipe each time, but I thought in order to make my updates more frequent, perhaps I could talk to you a little more about where I get my inspiration from sometimes.

I eat out a lot. Probably too much.  Sometimes because of work, but more often because I want to. I should talk about it, I think about food all the time, so I should write about it, my thoughts, grievances and my unadulterated pleasures! 

During my extended leave from bloggerdom I realised another reason I don't update you more regularly is because I am a fortunate cook, in that I don't measure, so to convey that sexy little number I rustled up in 30 minutes for dinner will require me taking longer to make it as I will be weighing and measuring...again I will sacrifice those ten extra minutes to ensure I do just that for you and satisfy my readers more frequently.

Well if there is anyone out there that hasn't left me, watch this (short) space....

Kitchen Aide

The Kitchen Fairy has been neglecting my dear readers. One suggestion from my beloved is to make my entries shorter but still as sweet. I guess as I like to strive for perfection I feel like I am cheating you with just a little here and there, so I will shoot for little and often when I cannot write as I want to due to the constraints of my “day job.”

So, what has been happening since we last spoke? Of course I have been cooking still….aside from the daily evening feed - a couple of weeks ago it was a Mexican Feast for Friends and to celebrate the latest addition to our family (no it has not been that long, it’s still just me and him) but I took delivery also a couple of weeks ago of a shiny new Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer. Show me a food fanatic that doesn’t have or want one…and I show you a foodie fraudster. It’s truly wonderful and I am sure will feature in blogs to come. The first thing I created with my new beauty was a replica of my favourite bakery, Konditor & Cook’s Lemon Chiffon Cake. I don’t have a picture as between, me and him, the in laws and the neighbours it was gone in 60 seconds! I feel I need to make a couple of tweaks to the recipe, although it was pretty good – so the Lemon Chiffon Cake will be coming soon…


We have an abundance of tomatoes from the final throes of G’s summer harvest. I am working on one or two things to make with these, red, yellow and green beauties, and last week, I made a tomato and caramelised onion tart tatin, with parmesan pastry (thank goodness I recently hired a personal trainer!) I will work on getting the recipes together.

Today’s recipe is an ode to G, or rather his to me!  He is far more than a competent cook – what I lack in patience and technique he makes up for and then some, and he spent much of today creating a wonderful dinner for me. So I have my new KitchenAid and now my Kitchen Aide!  To begin with, we have Smoked Haddock Scotch Eggs with a parsley sauce, to follow, Roast Venison wrapped in Serrano Ham, Bubble & Squeak, Candied Shallots and Blackberry Jus and to finish (me off) we had a Chocolate & Conitreau Tart. Amazing. For whatever reason, my favourite part of the meal was the beginning. Courtesy of G here are his fishy version of the infamous Scotch Eggs.


Graham’s Smoked Haddock Scotch Eggs

wonderful, oozing, delightful smoked haddock scoth egg


Firstly, boil 4 medium free range eggs for 6 minutes. Remove and run under cold water for a couple of minutes until cool. Set aside. Next; make mashed potato by mashing 4 large potatoes with 60g butter. (G used the flat beater on my new KitchenAid). You need 400g mashed potato, season with a sprinkle of Maldon Sea Salt.

Place 400g undyed smoked haddock in a food processor and blitz until you have a coarse consistency. Then add the haddock to the mashed potato and mix well.

Break 2 eggs into a bowl, add 200ml milk and beat together. Spoon some plain flour into a small bowl and some breadcrumbs into another. (I always
keep a packet of Waitrose Cook's Ingredients Breadcrumbs in my pantry cupboard for such occasions).

Carefully and patiently (a skill I sometimes lack!) remove the shells from the boiled eggs, trying not to break the whites. Then gently, using the palm of your hand, envelope each egg with the haddock and potato to get an even covering resulting in something the size of a tennis ball(ish).

Roll each ball, one at a time of course(!!), first in flour, then in the milk and egg mixture and then in the breadcrumbs and ensure an even coating. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (gas mark 4). Deep fry the breaded eggs (we use rapeseed oil) until golden brown and then place in the oven for five minutes.

To serve, make a parsley sauce by placing 125ml white wine in a saucepan and reduce by half. Add 250ml double cream, reduce by half again. Season with salt and pepper and stir in a handful of chopped parsley.

Serve the scotch egg whole and allow the recipient the pleasure of slicing in half and the egg should ooze a little. Delicious!

We are going to try this with quail’s eggs to make mini versions - will let you know when we do!  I hope you give this a go, it really is easy and so satisfying.

For now, a very contented Kitchen Fairy x

This recipe is a version of the nation’s favourite sausage meat-wrapped eggy snack. Using smoked haddock in place of sausage, it makes a lighter and novel alternative. Try to use the best eggs you can afford and un-dyed smoked haddock.

The Good Life

We had a successful harvest from the garden this bank holiday weekend, so to pay homage to this produce and dedicated my afternoon yesterday to the kitchen seeing as G, (or should I say Tom?! has dedicated his spring and summer to our little kitchen garden. We really are the Tom & Barbara Good of London.

our harvest

I was presented with some deliciously sweet husks of corn, perfectly burgundy beetroot, horseradish, sweet shallots, fiery red chillies, green peppers, cauliflower, rhubarb, tomatoes and a lovely big squash. It was my duty to turn these into a culinary fest to close our bank holiday weekend.

I started with the end and made a pudding from the rhubarb, there was enough for me to make two - one for us and one for the neighbours to share...it really is becoming a parody of the nations favourite seventies sitcom isn’t it?  Albeit our neighbours are thoroughly lovely and not like the annoying Margot – why would I cook for them if not?!

Last week my lovely friend Cathie gave me a book as a thank you for a few kitchen fairy additions to her 50th birthday spread. It was a delightful book Beyond Nose to Tail by those talented St Johns Bread and Wine chaps, Fergus Henderson & Justin Piers Gellatly. So this is not my own recipe, but I hope you don’t mind me plagiarising just this once as it sounded delightful and it really did taste as good as it sounds!  An amazing recipe from a fantastic book. It’s a real comfort dish; it’s a cake and a crumble, what more can I say?!

Rhubarb Crumble Cake

Measure 30g Demerara sugar and 30g of caster sugar into a bowl and add the zest of 1 orange and 3 large heads of rhubarb, chopped into 2cm pieces and mix.  Leave to stand for 30 minutes.

the rhubar crumble cake - ready to eat!

Next, cream together 125g butter and 125g of caster sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Next add 3 large beaten eggs, a little at a time to avoid the mixture curdling. Then fold in 160g of sifted self raising flour. Finally stir in 50ml whole milk.

To make the crumble mix, place 95g of butter into a bowl in cubes. Sift in 125g of plain flour. Rub in until the mixture resembles large breadcrumbs. Add 60g Demerara sugar, 30g ground almonds and 30g of flaked almonds (I used toasted). Combine and set aside.

Grease and line a 20cm spring bottomed cake tin and add the cake mixture, followed by the rhubarb mix and then top with the crumble mix.

Place in the oven, preheated to 180oC for 90 minutes. I suggest placing foil over the top loosely for the first hour, the book suggest maybe doing so, but it’s a must.

I wanted to incorporate the beautiful beetroots into the main course. I had a lovely 1.7kg British duck from Waitrose so, I stuffed its cavity with an onion, a large handful of torn Lovage and a full bulb of garlic. Sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper. I put this onto 200oC for 30 minutes and then for another 75 minutes at 180oC. Take the bird out of the oven a couple of times to baste, but otherwise its fine to be left.

In the mean time I made a Beetroot Remoulade

I wanted something to compliment the richness of the duck, and this did so perfectly.

I peeled and boiled 2 beetroots, until just cooked, but still firm, left to cool.  During this time, I mixed 1tsp good quality mayonnaise, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp English mustard in a cup and whisked until silky smooth.  Once the beetroot is cooled, grate along with a small knob of fresh horseradish into a clean bowl and add the remoulade sauce. I have tried to adapt the remoulade from the French and Danish versions by using British ingredients and making it my own. Let me know what you think!

I served with some boiled baby British Charlotte New Potatoes.

Finally, the starter! One of my favourite soups – well actually a chowder, incorporating several ingredients from the garden harvest.

Crab, Corn & Harissa Chowder

I first tried this soup as part of a huge lunch at the Chef’s table of Gordon Ramsay’s Maze Grill. I have no idea of the recipe, but here is my take on it – and it works for me and indeed those who have tired it.  As I said before crab is my ultimate favourite and the opposite can be said of  my “Tom” but even he loved this!

Crab, Corn & Harissa Chowder Ingredients

Break up 6 large crab claws.  Mine had been frozen from fresh (I had never done this before, but did from some lovely crab my Mum brought from Yorkshire, it worked fine for this purpose).  If you don’t have a good local fishmonger than use 1 cup of white crab meat – though it must be fresh, (available from Waitrose or any good supermarket).  As you break the shells and remove the meat, throw the shells into a large pan and put on the boil for a minimum of 1 hour to make a stock and reserve the meat and place in the fridge.

Finely chop 8 shallots, 1 red chilli and 1 green pepper and gently fry in a large knob of butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan until softened, do not allow any of the ingredients to brown.  Slice 4 husks of corn vertically with a sharp knife to remove the kernels, if you don’t have your very own Tom, or the corn is out of season – then you can use 2 tins of corn drained. Add to the pan and stir for a couple of minutes. Then add a heaped tbsp of plain flour, 2 teaspoons of Harissa paste and mix. Then add, 1pt of crab stock (or fish stock if you do not have crab stock), then add half a pint of whole milk. After this add 1 crumbled chicken stock cube (I am reluctant to admit this but trust me). I use Knorr or Kalo. If you prefer not to use this use a little Nam Pla (Thai Fish Sauce).

Crab, Corn & Harissa Chowder

Simmer for 10 minutes and then add a large heaped spoon of chopped tarragon. Finally add 150-200ml of double cream. If required season with Maldon Sea Salt.

This can be turned of and kept on the stove until you need to reheat and serve.  This can serve 4-6 as starter comfortably. AMAZING!

I would love to hear how you get along with these recipes...

This really was a lovely afternoon in the kitchen and an even better evening in the dining room….cheers! xx

A Little Sweetener…

Sorry for dropping off again, I am still inundated in my "day job" as an event manager and have been travelling once again. This time to our neighbouring Netherlands….to apologise for my tardiness I have the offering of one of the easiest but most satisfying puddings known to man! The humble and very versatile cheesecake! This one is a real crowd pleaser and I often keep the ingredients in, just in case we have a last minute visitor or I need to replay a favour! We had a lovely harvest of raspberries from the garden and this was a perfect recipe for them.

Gem’s Easy Raspberry & White Chocolate Cheesecake

Firstly to make the biscuit base for your cheesecake, crush 250g digestive biscuits until they resemble fine breadcrumbs add to 125g good quality melted butter. Combine and press into a loose bottomed cake tin. Put in the fridge to harden. If you are in a hurry – then do put the tin in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to speed up the chilling process.

Next, melt 200g white chocolate in a bowl placed over a pan of boiling water (or a bain-marie if you have one). Whilst the chocolate is melting (be careful not to over cook as white chocolate has no cocoa solids so can overcook and burn quickly once melted) combine 400g of cream cheese with 100g of icing sugar. Add the melted white chocolate and then carefully fold in 150g fresh raspberries. If this is one of those times that you are in a rush, I use a punnet of frozen raspberries. You don’t need to defrost them entirely, as they will defrost in the mixture whilst it’s chilling for a couple of hours. If you find the topping remotely sloppy add more sifted icing sugar and gently fold in. It will set!

Pour the mixture into the cake tin on top of the base and spread evenly with a spatula. Decorate with another 50g of raspberries.

Allow at least two hours to chill. This recipe will serve about 10 (less, if they like cheesecake a lot!)

As a substitute to the raspberries you can use 4-5 passion fruits instead and for the avoidance of doubt, create a Passion Fruit & White Chocolate Cheesecake – delicious!

I have never had a complaint about this so far, so I look forward to hearing how you all get on.

Until next time xx

Broaden Your Horizons - Part II

A number of you have asked about the meat accompaniment to my Broad Bean, Asparagus and Halloumi salad. (Thank you!) In this case I cooked Slow Roasted Shoulder of Lamb.

Here goes..

Take a 1kg shoulder of lamb (or two half shoulders) and place the meat fatty side down on to a chopping board and pierce all over with a sharp knife.

Insert into the “inlets” 10-15 cloves of garlic, freshly chopped red chilli (as much as you require – but I suggest any more than two chillis will take over) and then at this stage you can add 1 tin of anchovies in oil - push one anchovy in with the garlic/chilli in the inlets to the meat.  If you don;t like anchovies do skip this part...though I think I converted my other half into liking them through my sheer cunning in putting them in there this week.  Though I don’t always put them in my dish – personally I think it adds a whole new depth of flavour to the dish –and after 4-6 hours in the oven they melt into nothingness – and just leave a lovely salty undertone. Yum.

In a large deep baking tray, thickly slice 2 large onions. Lay the onions on the baking tray in the centre and place the lamb on top, season well with salt and pepper. (though only very little salt if you are using the anchovies).

Pour over the lamb one bottle of wine. Normally I use red, however we had friends over on Tuesday evening and I wanted a lighter, more "summery" finish so used a white Merlot and it worked beautifully. Then add 1.5 litres of chicken stock. You can use lamb stock if you’d prefer - though i prefer the finish using the chicken stock. Then throw in some of your favourite herbs, I favour thyme and rosemary.

Place in the oven at 220°C for 30 minutes and then turn the oven down to 150°C and cook for around four hours. Baste every now and then. The lamb should be succulent and falling off the bone. Basically the longer you can leave the lamb the better – up to around 6 hours.

Take out of the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Slice and serve on a lovely wooden platter. You can serve this with salad, and buttery mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes – or make a cous cous with some of the meat juices.

Meanwhile drain the juices through a sieve into a clean saucepan, and boil until reduced, this will create a wonderful jus/gravy.

This really could not be easier, and yet again you cannot go wrong with this – just put it in the oven and leave it all afternoon, so you can carry on with your day and not worry about dinner. Such low maintenance!

My plea for feedback didn’t fall on deaf ears this time, thank you – and it seems that the Chorizo and Courgette Pasta isn’t just the food of love in our household either...it brings out the red hot lovers all over the country...! The new food of love..spread the word!

I have lots of ideas churning around and a few new postings on the go...I would love this to be my day job, but alas I must get back to mine and until next time....xx

Broaden Your Horizons

Another of my favourite things, is the understated broad bean. They may drudge up memories of rubbery, hard bullets of khaki choredom to you...but I want to let you into a secret...beneath the shell of the velvety pod of the broad bean, lays those daunting, kidney shaped, khaki pods. Not so appetising if you ask me.... But, if you blanch them in hot water for a couple of minutes and then peel away the pod to reveal a lovely bright green delicious treat, then you have another vegetable altogether.

I adore them, and they’re totally in season in Britain right now. Though we are yet to have a harvest in our garden....watch this space on that!

On Saturday the In-Laws were over and I made a small feast for the occasion. Shots of chilled asparagus soup, Mini Coquille St Jacques and Mushroom and Truffle Bruschetta to start, washed down with some fizz, in the garden.

For the main event, we had lamb, which I had slow roasted for about 6 hours in red wine, herbs and stock – and to combat its richness, we had a lovely..

Warm Salad of Asparagus, Broad Bean and Grilled Halloumi

This was made by chopping 250g fine asparagus, 300g broad beans and 225g of cubed and then grilled halloumi.

Heat a knob of butter and a small glug of rapseed oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan and add the asparagus and broad beans and stir fry for 4 minutes, once cooked add along with the juices (which serve as a dressing) to a nice serving bowl and season with maldon sea salt and freshly milled black pepper. Add the halloimu and toss with a squeeze of fresh lime. This is a great accompaniment to a slow roasted meat.

You can of course also add broad beans to your list of accompaniments to a roast or as side dish to any meal but if you want to be a little more adventurous with our little green friends...try this...

Broad Bean Pesto

Perfect for spreading thick on toassted ciabatta and topped with parma ham – makes a great starter or party nibble.

Pour 125ml of Farringtons Rapeseed Oil into a food processor, add 100g Pine Nuts, 50-80g Fresh Parmesan, 25g Basil and 150g double podded Broad Beans. Blend to a pulp. This needs to be fairly thick, like a paste or spread, not the usual thin pesto for pasta sauces. If this is too thick, thin down with a little more oil. Season with freshly milled black pepper and Maldon Sea Salt. Adjust the ingredients to suit your taste.

I really hope this helps boost your appreciation of what I think is a really under appreciated vegetable.

I will be back to you all shortly. I am still travelling so much...though...I am beginning to wonder if perhaps I am talking to myself?  I can see by the special technical stats thingy, that I have readers in the USA, Mexico, South Africa, Dubai, Jordan, most of mainland Europe, yet noone is talking to me...let me know if I you want me to wave my wand your way, anything you want to hear about...ask me about or just feed back to me and let me know the kitchen fairy has worked a little magic somewhere..


For now....x

'Tis The Season To Be Jolly...

No its not Christmas just yet, though equally as exciting, a time of optimism, will we have a summer? Will the sun keep on shining? Of course it will.

But in the mean time and in this jolly early summer season, here are some other things to be excited about...crab, samphire, asparagus, courgette, halibut, rocket...did I mention crab and courgette? Two of my favourite things..so why not put them together? Hmmmmmm..

I actually started this piece several weeks ago, but my day job as an Events Manager took me away from my normal world for a little while....so we are nearing the end of this fabulous season now, though not quite yet. We have some lovely courgettes in our garden almost ready for harvesting, whilst I wait, I thought I could share with you one of my favourite risottos. This should make up for lost time. Absence makes the heart grow fonder I hope...

Crab, Chilli & Courgette Risotto – serves four (or 6 less hungry peeps)

Melt 50g of butter in a large heavy based frying pan. Add 4 finely chopped shallots, 1 red chilli, 2 cloves of fresh garlic and fry gently until softened (please do not brown these or it will impair the flavour massively – the key is low and slow – a low heat and cook them slowly) and then add 300g of good quality risotto rice.

Turn the heat up a little and cook for about 3 minutes you can often hear the rice almost squeaking at you, begging for more hydration. Add 125ml of white wine. Allow the rice to absorb the wine and continue stirring.

Next, add a ladleful of hot chicken stock (use homemade if possible, if not a good quality bouillon or shop bought stock is fine) to the rice and stir until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time until all the stock has been absorbed. This should take about 13 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile in another heavy based pan add a knob of butter and 3 grated courgettes and cook for a few minutes, until the courgette has reduced in size.

I sometimes use crab stock though it depends on my audience as it then becomes extremely rich and very fishy. When my Mum visits us from Yorkshire she often brings me a couple of fresh crabs, so I make this risotto and various other treats with them and then boil the shell and make some fantastic quality crab stock, and if we are crabbed out and don’t fancy a bisque then I will freeze it for times like these. I also make a wonderful Crab Linguine and a Creamed Crab, Sweetcorn & Harissa Soup or just simply a lovely fresh salad with king prawns, crisp romaine lettuce and avocado.

Now, back to the task in hand….!

Stir in the cooked courgettes, 150g of brown picked crab meat and 150g of white picked crab meat into the risotto, along with 2 tablespoons of mascarpone, 60ml of double cream, salt & pepper and 1 heaped tablespoon of parley.

Ensure the risotto is seasoned well and is still wet. There is nothing worse than a congealed lump of rice on the plate impersonating a risotto; it should be wet and creamy.

I don’t feel parmesan is necessary in this risotto though it does lend itself well if this makes the dish for you. I sometimes make a parmesan crisp - by grating fresh parmesan onto tin foil into a round disk and then grilling until crisp on one side and turn over and grill on the other, take out and peel from the foil and place on to greaseproof paper to cool.

To serve, divide between four plates or bowls, and sprinkle with fresh white crab meat and a pinch of finely chopped parsley and the parmesan crisp if you made them.

I would enjoy this with a crisp, well chilled glass of Sancerre. Actually, who am I trying to kid, I would have some risotto with a bottle or two of Sancerre!

I have been travelling a lot lately, and hope to incorporate this into my next postings and will certainly be paying homage to my lovely friend, the broad bean…keep with me fairyites!  If you try this or any of my other recipes I would really appreciate your feedback. I won’t leave it so long next time…until then…enjoy. KF x

My Favourite Waste of Time

I did some ironing yesterday. So what? I hear you ask. Well, what an utter waste of life that is. Some people find it therapeutic I understand, but not me. I also understand some people think that way about cooking too, though it’s beyond me why.

Creating something to eat from scratch isn’t just a hobby, or a passion, or what I start to think of as soon as I wake up, but its also as I can see a necessity. Its probably a lot to do with the way I was brought up, the fact that I read my sister’s Mrs Beeton’s Cookbook (all 487 pages) from cover to cover as a child, but I can’t help but think – why wouldn’t you? Why wouldn’t you want to create the plate in front of you, why wouldn’t you be interested in every ingredient that you put into your food? OK, I understand this may not be as important to you, but I rather hoped I could make you think otherwise. Maybe in time!

But ironing (except on demand), I just don’t get it.

People often ask how I can get in from work as late as I do and start cooking. For me it helps me lose the stresses of the day and allows for some creativity and I just enjoy it. If you don’t feel that way, here is something to get you started; this is our speedy supper, a firm favourite in our house.

Courgette & Chorizo Farfalle (serves 4)

Start by lightly toasting 3 table spoons of pine nuts and set aside. I do this in a dry frying pan.

Next, add 250g Chopped Chorizo (my lovely friend Emma and I decided dried was best but you can use any chorizo you have in) to the frying pan. Once cooked add 3 grated courgettes and 1 red chilli finely chopped. Cook for a minute or two and add 150g Mascarpone. Stir off the heat until melted. Keep off the heat.

Cook 4 helpings of De Cocco Farfalle – you know how much you eat so this is up to you, in a pan for 12 minutes as directed. I cook my pasta in chicken Stock to add to the flavour and add a splash of rapeseed oil to prevent sticking.

Once the Pasta is cooked, drain off all liquid and add the pasta to the sauce on a low heat . If the sauce needs to be a little wetter, add Double Cream. Heat through but do not overcook your pasta, it should still be al dente. Season and serve with freshly shaved parmesan and the toasted pine nuts.

This is fool proof and a real winner to all that have tasted it. It can be done in 20 minutes from chopping board to plate. About the same time it takes you to heat through a ready meal and about the same time it takes me to iron a shirt. I know which I prefer.