Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Seasonal Produce

Two-Minute Power Blender Hollandaise (with asparagus)

Asparagus

It’s almost British asparagus season and so I’ve been looking forward to all the ways that I’m going to be enjoying our native grown asparagus as we roll into spring. I’ve also been experimenting with my new blender to make sauces as well as healthy green smoothies.

With a tiny bit of practice and plenty of tasting along the way, I’ve perfected a two-minute power blender hollandaise sauce, made with fresh egg yolks, butter and lemon juice. Fresh asparagus really needs nothing more, simply snap the spears, blanch in boiling water for two to three minutes and make the sauce. Then pour over and enjoy. You don’t even need a knife and fork – simply smother in sauce, pick up the spears and eat!

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Simple and in Season May Round Up

Finally I’m back with a round up of all the lovely entries for Simple and in Season May/Spring. A new round is open now for June, with lots of inspiring entries coming in already. At 40 weeks pregnant, there’s now very little space between my bump and the laptop, so please forgive the efficient nature of this round up!

Entries 1-6
Entries 1-6

1. First past the post was Kellie from Food to Glow who sent across her delicious Deconstructed and Reconstructed Rhubarb and Fruit Crumble with the option of using spelt flour, wholemeal flour or a gluten-free mix along with oats.

2. Next, Sally from My Custard Pie in Dubai used bulbs of fennel and rocket from the last market of the season to make a Lentil, Fennel, Orange, Chicken and Rocket Salad. 

3. Ceri from her blog Natural Kitchen Adventures made a Wild Garlic and Amaranth Tabbouleh – move over quinoa!

4. Ros from the More Than Occasional Baker used seasonal British asparagus to make Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Quiche.

5. Choclette from The Chocolate Log Blog used nettles to make some delicious Nettle, Lemon and White Chocolate Cupcakes.

6. And the team at Pro Ware Kitchen (helped by Luna the dog) made a wonderful Thai Red Curry Soup using up pak choi from their veg box.

Entries 7-12
Entries 7-12

7.  Kellie from Food to Glow came back to us with a beautiful supper of Quick and Spicy Crab Parcels (with a vegan option) – using in-season crab.

8. Andrea from Shabby Chic paired two of my favourite things asparagus and halloumi cheese to create her dish of Grilled Asparagus with Halloumi and Myrtle Berry Oil.

9. Elizabeth over at Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary made a super-comforting dish (which I could eat right now!) of Hidden Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Sauce, served with tagliatelle using cauliflower from her veg box.

10. Charlene at Food Glorious Food used Granny Smith’s apples to make her Pork Chop Bake.

11. Vanesther over at family food blog Bangers & Mash made a Wild Garlic Pesto Tear and Share Bread – perfect for the World Cup this weekend!

12. Whilst the very clever Laura from How to Cook Good Food made a stunning recipe of Spaghetti with Fresh Herbs using pea shoots, homegrown leaves and a selection of pretty, fresh herbs.

Entries 13-18
Entries 13-18

 

13.  Camilla from Fab Food 4 All made a Slow Cooked Pulled Lamb with White Wine and Root Vegetables – gorgeous recipe.

14. Sudha at Spicy, Quirky and Serendipitous made Asparagus with Garlic and Soy Sauce.

15. Aniko at Multiculti Kitchen made a refreshing Peach, Rosemary Blossom and Rhubarb Iced Tea – perfect for our warmer weather.

16. Camilla over at Fab Food 4 All came back to us with her Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam recipe.

17. Elizabeth at Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary also came back with another impressive recipe for a Rhubarb and Saffron Yogurt Cake.

18. And Alida at My Little Italian Kitchen showed us her step-by-step Colourful Fruit Tart or Crostata Di Frutta.

Simple and in Season 4
Entries 19-27

19. Katie at Feeding Boys and a Firefighter is part way through her Weight Watchers Step into Summer Challenge and sent across her Creamy Tagliatelle with Bacon, Asparagus and Tomato – using British asparagus.

20. Vohn over at Vohn’s Vittle’s made a bright and colourful Wild Garlic and Hazelnut Pesto.

21. Anneli at Delicieux made a pretty Layered Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Coriander.

22. Nadine at Juggle Mum made and sent in her Vegetable Ribbon 3 Cheese Pasta, also known as her Pasta Fakeaway.

23. Nazima at Franglaise Kitchen firstly sent in her Jasmine Rice Pannacotta and Rhubarb  Cardomom Compote – well worth a visit.

24. Secondly, Nazima at Franglais Kitchen linked up her Spiced Apple and Rhubarb Hand Pies – for mini hands.

25. Mireille from Chef Mireille’s East West Realm in NYC made a Rajasthan Watermelon Curry – a great way to use up a big watermelon.

26. And Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni joined in with her Garlic Chilli Mogo – using a vegetable I’ve never used before – fresh mogo.

27. To follow up, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni also send across her Eggless Upside Down Mango Cake – delicious!

Simple and in Season Badge

All of which bring’s May’s Simple and Season to a bountiful close. I’m looking forward to visiting June’s entries already – baby permitting!

LINK UP HERE WITH YOUR POSTS FOR SIMPLE AND IN SEASON JUNE 

A huge thank you to everyone for joining in!

 

Simple and in Season April Round Up

Welcome to the round up of April’s Simple and in Season blog event here on Fabulicious Food!  Once more, we’ve had a delightful selection of seasonal produce, local to all those of you who joined in, including tulip petals, wild garlic, Alphonso mango, figs, watercress, purple sprouting broccoli and lots of ideas for rhubarb. There’s bound to be plenty to inspire you all here!

SimpleandinSeason

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In Season: Welsh Lamb with New Potatoes and Asparagus (One Pan)

Whenever we go on holiday to Wales, I go into ‘buy local’ overdrive. Surrounded by lush green fields bordering the coast in North Wales, some of the very best Welsh lamb and Welsh Black Beef is available. It’s a chance to reconnect with the food chain. The local butcher carries only local meat and tells you which farm you are buying from and even the particular breed. The very freshest fish can be found directly from the shores of the Llyn Peninsula, with fishmongers able to tell you the time of the catch. Even some of the bigger shops and supermarkets specifically label fresh and local produce; organic free range eggs from Treddafydd Farm, fresh cream from the dairy less than four miles down the road…I wish local food shopping were always this easy.

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Simple and in Season on Fabulicious Food! Winter Round-Up (Part One)

Wow, thank you again to everyone who linked up to the last round of Simple and in Season on Fabulicious Food! There were so many treats in store, some of them festive too.  Apples, pears, butternut squash and pumpkin were all very popular. The cakes, cookies and sweet treats were truly superb, all of them showcasing a fantastic range of autumnal as well as winter produce, some of it home grown!

 Here are the first half of all your wonderful entries:

1. The More than Occasional Baker started us off with a delicious Apple Streusel Cake, perfect with a nice hot cup of tea.

2. The lovely Shu Han of Mummy, I Can Cook made a lovely Dessert Turned Salad of Cinnamon and Coriander Roasted Pumpkin.

(Unfortunately I can’t seem to get the photo to work, but it was really a stunning salad…)

3. Karen over at Lavender and Lovage made a great Mash O’ Nine Sorts, packed full of seasonal veg for a spooky Halloween supper!

4. Inspired a a trip to my local Morrisons of all places (flagship store no less!) I made Yottam Ottolenghi’s Aubergine with Buttermilk Sauce – SO yummy!

5. Amanda over at Dancing Veggies made Ravioli in Pumpkin Sauce – delicious!

6. Hilani from Handmade by Hillani joined in with her Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies – thank you!

7. Mark over at Mark’s Veg Plot made a very seasonally inspired Polenta with Cavolo Nero – home grown no less! Stunning Cavolo Nero – go have a peek.

8. Mark also came back from his veg plot with this really tasty looking salad of Radicchio with Pears and Blue Cheese (with home made Fougasse too…)

9. Jennifer over at L’Heure du The made The Easiest Cake in The World which was, if fact, a beautiful clementine cake from Nigella’s How to Eat – must try.

10. Helen from Fuss Free Flavours joined in with her Butternut Squash Gnocci with Harrissa Onions. I must say, I have never tried harissa, and I must. Helen also used a great piping bag technique for her gnocci so do go and check that out.

11. I linked up my Spiced Toffee Apple Cake that I had spied on the cover of BBC Good Food. I’ve since made it four times it was so good!

12. Karen from Lavender and Lovage joined in again and sent over her Quince and Pear Double-Crust Pie. I’ll definitely be looking out for more quince again next season to try this.

13. Karen also shared her recipe for Wee Whiskey Doused Hogmanay Dundee Cakes – let me tell you, Karen really knows how to celebrate in style!

14. Jude from A Trifle Rushed showed us how wonderful is is to make your own infused vodka with her Cranberry and Orange Infused Vodka – really inspirational, thank you Jude!

15. Helen came back with another great recipe for Chestnut, Cranberry, Stilton and Sprout Pasta – definitely bookmarked for next year.

16. The More than Occasional Baker also came back with a second cake, this time a Pear and Cinnamon Yoghurt Cake. I love the idea of pear and yoghurt, in a cake.

17. Mel over at Sharky Oven Gloves in Scotland sent over these lovely Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins. I loved these AND they were quite healthy with homemade pumpkin puree and lots of lovely spices.

18. The Taste Space made this wonderful Brazilian Black Bean and Vegetable Stew – a great vegetarian delight.

19. The Farmers Market Vegan made a Christmas Tree Socca (With Beets and Spinach) – so intriguing and super healthy. Thanks for entering!

20. And I got us to to the half-way mark with these Buckwheat and Buttermilk Pancakes with Pears and Maple Syrup (almost healthy too!) 

Come back for Part Two of the Winter round-up of Simple and in Season on Fabulicious Food!

Thank you to everyone for entering.

Simple and in Season Winter Recipe Link Up

Welcome to another round of Simple and in Season. Each month I wonder whether it will be the last, but with 45 entries last month, which I had to split into savoury and sweet in the round-ups, I am encouraged to keep going and open up a new round! Thank you to everyone who took part last month.

Next weekend, the clocks will go back in the UK which means that the days will seem even shorter, light will be at a premium and I’m sure we’ll all be eager to make warming winter food!

My apple tree is laden with apples and my neighbour’s tree has pears, so I’ll be busy baking! This week I’ve made the cake that’s featured on the cover of BBC Good Food magazine – a really yummy Spiced Toffee Apple Cake  that I’ll be posting about soon – perfect for Bonfire Night, or really any night!

At this time of the year, you’ll also find lots of squash, beetroots and  winter cabbages. I’ll also be hosting a Crock-Pot giveaway too this month and am looking forward to sharing a few slow-cooked soups and stew recipes too, mmm.

And, if you are preparing food in advance for Christmas, feel free to link-up too – maybe you’re making fruit liqueurs…?

Anyway, as always, I’ll look forward to seeing what’s in season wherever you are around the world – so many of you have been submitting so many really inspirational stories and recipes.

Don’t forget, if you are on Twitter, you can Tweet Me and I will Re-Tweet any links I see – @RenBehan 

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Simple and in Season September ‘Savoury’ Recipe Round-Up

This month the Simple and in Season link-up had 45 entries! Granted, the round was open slightly longer than usual, but the end of summer and beginning of autumn did bring an abundance of seasonal treats.

So, for this round-up, I have split the entries into Savoury and Sweet – and we’ll start with a round up of savoury recipes before moving onto dessert with plenty of inspiration in time for National Baking Week!

Savoury Entries

We start with a recipe from Lauren over at The Past on A Plate who made a Beetroot and Apple Salad – prefect for the competition, it’ simple and it’s in season! I love Lauren’s retro-style photo.

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British Baby Leek and Mushroom Three Grain Risotto

Having survived National Cupcake Week, my scales are pleased that we are now into British Food Fortnight. Whilst I could continue to bake cakes, I am moving instead, into savoury, autumnal cooking-mode.

I know, I know, I could have chosen a British dish to cook, but I was mainly inspired by the lovely British baby leeks that are in season at the moment and by some British mushrooms (not foraged, this time) and by coming across a ‘three grain’ risotto in the back of my cupboard.
 
I’ve been buying locally produced organic spelt flour for some time now (made at Redbournbury Mill) and often enjoy spelt bread, but I have never actually cooked with or eaten spelt as a whole grain. So, I was quite keen to try it. The three grains I used included long grain rice, pearl barley and pearl spelt and I cooked them in the same way that I would cook a normal risotto. 
 
The baby leeks and wild mushrooms give this risotto a lovely flavour and if you top it with some vegetarian cheese, it will also tick the Meat Free Monday box. Aren’t we all being so good? 
 
 
 
You shouldn’t have any trouble at all finding British produce to cook with if you are in the UK, particularly during British Food Fortnight, but I am finding that generally, shops are very keen to push British produce and the double-bonus is that fresh British produce will most likely be in season too.
 
As a random aside, if you are interested in hearing more about spelt, catch up with this week’s Nick Coffer’s Weekend Kitchen on iplayer. Nick’s guest was Edd Kimber, the winner of last year’s Great British Bake Off and about half an hour into the show you’ll also hear me talking about spelt flour in my ‘Ren Recommend’s’ slot! If you are into baking, you’ll find a factsheet on the same page with lots of free recipes on it too, including Edd’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and his Orange and Passion Fruit cake.
 
 
Over the next fortnight up until 2nd October, look out for ‘meet the producer’ style events, special promotions in the shops and in restaurants, healthy eating activities for kids (or, if like me, you overdosed on cupcakes, then for yourself) and generally for the “Buy British” message that the campaign is trying to push.
 
If you are a tweeter, you can follow @theBritFFGirls and add the hashtag #BritFF to your posts/tweets too.
 
You can also follow the campaign by ‘liking’ the Love British Food Facebook page.
 

 

British Baby Leek & Mushroom 3 Grain Risotto

Serves 4
 
Ingredients:
300g Three Grain Risotto (I used the Riso Gallo brand)
1 Tablespoon British Rapeseed Oil
1 Small Onion, finely chopped
220g British Baby Leeks, cleaned and finely chopped
150g British Oyster Mushrooms, chopped
50g British Chestnut Mushrooms, sliced
1 Litre Vegetable Stock
 
For the topping
110g British Baby Leeks, washed and finely chopped
15g Butter
A twist of pepper
A handful of freshly grated vegetarian-style Parmesan cheese
 
Method:
 
1. Boil the kettle and make up the vegetable stock to one litre in a separate sauce pan. Leave the pan on a low heat so that your stock is constantly simmering as you add it to your grains/rice.
 
2. Add the oil to a large heavy-based pan and gently fry the onions and leeks for around five minutes. Add the rice, stir it well until it is coated in the oil and mixed with the onions and leeks.
 
3. Add the mushrooms and risotto rice/grains, mix well until all the grains are coated. Over a medium heat, add a ladleful of stock to the rice and vegetables and simmer. As the stock bubbles in the pan and is absorbed, add another ladleful and again stir. If your rice/grains are in any way sticking to the pan, your heat is too high. Add more as necessary, until all the stock has been used up and the grains are cooked. The grains should take no more than 25 minutes to cook and should still have some bite to them, but should not be hard.
 
4. Using your (now empty) stock pan, add the butter and the extra baby leeks and gently fry for three minutes or so. Serve your risotto in bowls and top with the extra baby leeks, a twist of pepper and plenty of grated cheese.
 
 
 
I will be linking this recipe up with Simple and in Season – running up until 15th October.
 
Don’t forget to leave me comments too if you are writing about or eating British food over the next two weeks.
 
Thank you for all your help, comments and feedback about my blog name! I am sticking with Fabulicious Food! and the move is happening as I type.

Spiced Seasonal Vegetables with Puy Lentils

September means change. The summer has flown by and a new term starts this week. It doesn’t feel as though summer should be over and it doesn’t feel as though autumn should be starting, but it’s windy here and there are showers and saying goodbye to the sunshine seems inevitable.

I feel like eating lentils. There is something wholesome and comforting about lentils. And I have lots of veggies left over from my organic veg box delivery, deep purple glistening aubergines, still earthy carrots, imperfect courgettes. Chopping up these veggies into very small pieces is strangely therapeutic. Minimal cooking, maximum flavour. The spices in my shiny new tin want to be used too, some cumin seeds, mustard seeds and coriander.  Nothing wild, just some extra warmth. I’m very happy to throw in ready-cooked lentils, I’m not in the slow cooking zone yet…
 
You can use any veggies that you have around for this recipe, red peppers would work well too, though I have an aversion so they never feature in my cooking. Tiny cubes of butternut squash would also be nice, if you have the patience to peel and want orange fingers.   
 

 

 

Spiced Seasonal Vegetables with Puy Lentils and Crème Fraiche
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 aubergine, cubed
5 baby carrots, peeled and cubed
2 courgettes, cubed
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
100g chopped tomatoes
1 packet or tin of ready cooked puy lentils
2 tablespoons Crème fraiche or natural yoghurt
Baby herbs to garnish
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan big enough to fit in all your chopped veggies. Gently fry the cumin and mustard seeds for one minute.
2. Add the chopped onions to the pan and cook for five minutes until soft. Add the aubergines and carrots cook for another five minutes. Add the courgettes and stir them around to coat them, cook for two minutes.
3. Sprinkle over the ground coriander and add the chopped tomatoes.  Season with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook on a gentle heat until the carrots are just soft.
4. At the end, add in the puy lentils and heat through. Serve with a few spoons of crème fraiche and baby herbs, such as coriander or Greek basil.

Look out for more changes to come in the coming weeks…a big switch over to Word Press for me.

Thank you also for all your entries into August’s Simple and in Season – a round-up will follow!
What are you eating now? Are you into autumnal comforts yet or are you staying faithful to summer?

Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables

A really big thank you to everyone who entered the Forman and Field/Knorr Giveaway towards the end of last week here on Fabulicious Food! It was a fantastic response to a lovely prize and there were some really interesting ideas for what to do with the Oak Smoked Trout and the new Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pots.

I’m pleased to announce that the winner of the Gourmet Hamper Box was Phil Simpson in Inverness – your box is on its way to you!
I was quite eager to get stuck in to the contents of my box, which included some lovely fresh seasonal vegetables, lamb neck fillet from Allens of Mayfair, as well as the smoked salmon and trout from Forman and Field.  I was also eager to try the new Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pots. The stock pots should be available in the shops soon.
I decided to use up the vegetables first and give the Herb Infusion Stock Pots a go and came up with a recipe (below) for a Quick Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables, using some leftover chicken. I have to say, since I made this soup in less than ten minutes, I was very impressed with the flavour so the stock pots were a definitely a hit! The kids really enjoyed it too.
My trick was to cook the vegetables in the Herb Infusion Stock Pot, adding a knob of butter and to gently pan-fry the (cooked) chicken breast pieces in a separate pan to give them a little colour before adding it all together. Using fresh seasonal vegetables (spring onion, carrots and fresh peas) and adding a touch of butter to the herby stock pot gave a lovely sweet tasting soup – nothing else at all was needed.
I’m yet to have a go at the Quick Lamb Stew recipe created by Marco Pierre White for Knorr and I will share that with you as soon as I’ve road-tested it along with a recipe using the salmon or trout from Forman and Field.
My favourite idea from among those suggested in the competition was to make a smoked trout pâté. My own idea would be to make a quick and easy Hollandaise sauce to go with the trout…so watch this space! 
Quick Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables

 

Ingredients:

1 Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pot (contains vegetable stock, bay, thyme and parsley)
500ml boiling water
25g butter
4 spring onions, washed and trimmed
8 baby carrots, peeled
250g fresh peas
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 Pre-cooked chicken breasts (sliced) or left-over roast chicken

Method:

1. Mix the Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pot with 500ml of boiling water. Stir until dissolved and add it to a saucepan.
2. Bring the stock pot back the the boil and add in your spring onions, baby carrots, fresh peas and butter. Boil for 7 minutes.
3. In the meantime, while the vegetables are boiling, heat a separate frying pan and add in the olive oil. Gently fry the sliced chicken breast pieces until golden then flip over and fry on the other side.
4. Add the cooked chicken to the vegetables and stock.
5. Serve at once.

Simple & In Season August – Now Open!

Hello again! We’re firmly into school holiday territory now and finding the time to blog is proving to be quite a challenge.  However, today I’m launching Simple and in Season August!

There are so many great summer ingredients at their best in August as we get the best of the late summer fruits just before moving into Autumn, including even more berries and my favourite fruit – Victoria plums. If you are a keen vegetable gardener you might have broad beans or courgettes growing in abundance – both are also widely avaiable to buy and at great prices.
I was asked the other day whether following the seasons in the kitchen is more expensive and my answer was a very emphatic NO! It is actually cheaper! Markets and shops are so keen to push British or local produce – it costs them less to supply it because they aren’t having to paying for produce to be shipped in from across the world. Many places will have entire sections offering seasonal produce at cut-prices or you can go and pick-your-own fruit or take a huge bag to the market. If you go later on in the day stall holders always try to shift bowls of seasonal produce for a fraction of the normal price. Or, if you are growing your own your garden will be full of free produce! 
Cooking according to what’s ‘in season’ has long been the secret of great chefs. Why? because seasonal food tastes so much better and so really, you have to do very little to create good flavour. Seasonal food really speaks for itself. 
I love that you are all linking up your recipes and showing us what is available and where. I’m on a personal mission to find courgette flowers this month (as per the picture above) as they are edible and look so pretty.

Link Up HERE –

 

August’s winner will receive a copy of Mark Diacono’s lovely book A Taste of the Unexpected. Mark won the Guild of Food Writers Food Book of the Year Award in 2011 and it really quite an inspirational and unique book.
A Taste of the Unexpected

Here is a re-cap on the guidelines:



•All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, mention Simple and in Season/Fabulicious Food! and add a link to your post in the box above (via Simply Linked).

•This is the third round and it will runs up until the end of July. I will pick a winner on 1st August (excluding myself obviously) and will include a round-up post soon after including everyone who has entered as well as launching the next month’s challenge

•You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it

•Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish.

•Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules)

•The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere. I’m happy to post prizes abroad and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.

•If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.

Feel free to use this badge on your blog, simply copy and paste.

 

Beetroot, Feta and Walnut Salad

I was having a chat on Twitter earlier on with Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes about the lovely sunny weather today, which made us both feel like eating salad. Totally the opposite to yesterday’s weather, which actually saw me making a huge Cottage Pie!

Jacqueline mentioned her love of a ‘Caprese’ salad, with tomatoes and mozzarella adding fresh avocado too. I also love the simplicity of such a salad, especially with a few basil leaves thrown over the top from the garden and even a sprinkle of puy lentils and balsamic vinegar. 
 
Today, however, I fancied a Beetroot, Feta and Walnut Salad which really couldn’t be simpler. I first had this salad at Marco Pierre White’s restaurant when I went along to a cookery demonstration there. I came home, immediately re-created it and have been making it ever since. 
Print

Beetroot, Feta and Walnut Salad

A light salad using seasonal beetroot, paired with feta cheese and walnuts

Ingredients

  • 250g Beetroot, drained (*See note below for fresh beetroot)
  • 150g Feta Cheese or Goat's Cheese
  • 8-10 Walnuts
  • 1 Tablespoon rapeseed or olive oil
  • 1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • A scattering of fresh herbs (baby basil or baby coriander)

Instructions

  1. Thinly slice the beetroot (I use a knife but you could use a mandolin) and scatter it over a large plate.
  2. Chop up some walnuts or lightly toasted pine nuts and sprinkle over.
  3. Crumble over some feta cheese, as much or as little as you like. Goat's cheese would be fine too or even Lancashire cheese.
  4. Drizzle with rapeseed or olive oil and season with the pepper. Add a few basil or micro leaves to dress.

Notes

If using fresh seasonal beetroot, remove any stalks or leaves but leave the beetroot whole and leave the skin on to prevent it from bleeding. Boil in a large pan of water for 1-1/2 hours until tender. Wear plastic gloves and peel the skin off by hand. Alternatively, microwave the beetroot (again, skin on) for 8-10 minutes.

 
I hope you get to try this simple, seasonal salad.

Simple and in Season June Round-Up and Winner!

I can’t quite believe that the second month (June) of ‘Simple and in Season’ here on Fabulicious Food has been and gone and that we are already linking up to the third month (July) of seasonal recipes. 

Once again, picking a winner proved to be the toughest bit, although it was very enjoyable clicking through to all the posts and exploring your seasonal recipes. I was really astounded, particularly by the variety of seasonal produce used. I’m pleased to announce that June’s winner is Melanie from Sharky Oven Gloves who not only graduated from St Andrew’s University in Scotland, but also declared it ‘Pimm’s O’Clock’ by making a very seasonal ‘Strawberry Pimm’s Jam’ adapted from BBC Good Food.  Congratulations Mel, not least for graduating! A set of colourful Joseph Joseph food preparation bowls are on their way to you.  Scroll down to see Mel’s entry.
So, here is the round-up for June, but please keep your creative entries coming for July and link them up here
The lovely Working London Mummy kicked off June’s seasonal recipe link-up with ‘Baked Cod with an Olive Crust and Stuffed Courgette‘ recipe, which I loved. Nazima combined her own recipe for seasonal stuffed courgette with an Aldo Zilli fish recipe – and had the pleasure of meeting the man himself earlier on that week!
Next, the lovely James Brewer from Back to the Chopping Board shared a seasonal recipe for ‘Asparagus and Ricotta Tart with Lemon and Mint,’ making excellent use of locally picked British asparagus.
DSC_0461
 
We received two entries from Taste Space all the way from Canada. Janet linked-up an amazing looking ‘Carrot and Roasted Red Pepper Soup’ which looked so comforting, yet so light. A second, truly beautiful entry also followed called Blueberry, Mango Quinoa Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing – thank you so much.
The opening line in the post from Chez Cayenne – Recipes from a Spicy Vegetarian Kitchen – made me giggle, “Squirrels are jerks” referring to the fact that firstly, they ate her cauliflower and then then ate her squash seedlings. Still, she managed to share a recipe for ‘Rigatoni with Summer Squash, Vegan Sausage and Breadcrumbs,” which, well, made me want to try vegan food! Thanks for entering.
Next, another vegetarian recipe, this time from The Casserole Queen who found an easy way to make ‘Mashed Avocado Sushi’ sushi. I’ll definitely be giving this one a go.
vegetable sushi
Shaheen at Allotment 2 Kitchen made a ‘Green Pasta Loaf’ with the chard and perpetual spinach coming from her own yard. What a creative recipe! Thank you for sharing.
Another post from Toronto, this time Torview entered her ‘Swiss Potato Pancake Rosti’ which is really easy to make, looks delicious and I’m sure tastes yummy too.
Shu Han from Mummy I Can Cook entered a really recipe for Saag Aloo adding seasonal new potatoes called ‘Spinach Curry with Jersey Royal Potatoes‘ which I think I’ll be making tonight for supper. The colour of the spinach in this dish is so vibrant and is simply stunning.
Well timed for Father’s Day, R&R from Tadka Pasta made ‘A Puffy Pie for Peachy Dad’ which was adorable and very clever, using seasonal peaches. They then followed this up with a second entry called ‘Cool Cantaloupe Salsa’ which also looked delicious. Thank you for sharing twice!
The gorgeous Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes who also kindly keeps the Food Blog Diary featuring all of these wonderful blog events made a recipe from Annabel Langbein’s new book The Free Range Cook called ‘Blueberry Crumble Cake.’ This is actually my favourite cookbook of the moment and I WILL be making this cake soon with seasonal blueberries. Thanks for linking up, Jacqueline. 
 
Ahh, the lovely Sally from My Custard Pie in Dubai linked up a great recipe using okra, brilliantly entitled ‘I will not ever never eat an okra,’ when some okra arrived in her seasonal Bumble Box veg box. I love Sally’s posts and beautiful photographs. Go and check them out!
crispy okra
Next, a gorgeous recipe for ‘Devon Cream Tea with a Twist’ came from Laura at How to Cook Good Food. I love the idea of using seasonal strawberries and baking your own rolls for cream tea sandwiches!
 
A very beautiful and unusual recipe came from Dancing Veggies called ‘Zucchini Fritters and Cucumber Sauce’ making great use of seasonal courgettes/zucchini.
MeLikey UK made and entered a beautiful ‘Broad Bean, Mint and Feta Salad’ taking seasonal broad beans and pairing them with Crispy Sea Bass. MeLikey also told us that in Italy, many people carry a broad bean in their pocket for good luck!
Marija at Palachinka made ‘Royal Cherry Cakes’ and since cherries are currently in season in the UK, I would encourage everyone over here to give these a go! Adapted from a Serbian magazine, Sale & Pepe, the cherry cakes are served with a sour cherry sauce.
Marija then wowed me with her truly delicious looking ‘Red Currant Pie’
Both of these entries look truly wonderful. Thank you Marija.
Royal Cherry CakeRedcurrant Pie
Katie Bryson over at Feeding Boys and a Firefighter made ‘Father’s Day Chocolate Beetroot Brownies’ making fine use of the seasonal beetroots in her allotment. I have tried chocolate cake with beetroot in the past and have to say I loved it, so I will definitely be trying these. Thank you Katie for linking up. They look truly decadent yet easy to make. I love the plate!
**WINNER**
Mel, over at Sharky Oven Gloves not only managed to graduate from St Andrew’s University but also managed to make this lovely jam using seasonal strawberries called ‘Strawberry & Pimm’s Jam‘ adapted from BBC Good Food making her this month’s very worthy winner. I agree Mel, it must be Pimm’s O’clock! Congratulations!
SGD at Cook-a-Doodle-Do made ‘Mango Kulfi’ using seasonal mangoes which looked divine, I will definitely give this a go over the summer. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe.
Clare, over at The Vegetarian Experience shared another vegetarian recipe called ‘Aubergine and Red Pepper Creamy Rigatoni,’ which looked yummy and also used my favourite type of pasta. Thanks for entering this one Clare!
Finally, I was inspired to link up a seasonal Polish Potato Salad recipe given to me by my mother. We would always eat this salad at home at parties and other family occasions and it is a great way to make good use of seasonal new potatoes.
Once again, thank you to everyone who entered. I look forward to all the entries for
July’s Simple and in Season.

Simple and in Season July Blog Event Now Open

Hello and thank you to everyone who entered the second round of Simple and in Season – June here on Fabulicious Food! 

If you haven’t joined in and linked up before, please do, you are very welcome. The guidelines and the link-up are below.
We are in peak berry season and there are some really delicious summer fruits all around us.  I’m hoping that we’ll be inspired by berries in some form or another, including raspberries, strawberries and gooseberries. You could also look out for British cherries since many of our varieties are under threat because we now import around 95% of the cherries that we eat!
If you are more into veg, you might find some broad beans, courgettes, beetroot, spinach, new potatoes or aubergine about.
If you are further afield, whet our appetites with what is to come or with what’s in season for you.
ENTER HERE
July’s winner will be able to chose from two cookbooks – either A Slice of Cherry Pie by Julia Parsons or Small Adventures in Cooking by James Ramsden – both equally lovely, inspirational books written by food bloggers/new voices in food.
A Slice of Cherry Pie  Small Adventures in Cooking - New Voices in Food

Here is a re-cap on the guidelines:
•All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, mention Simple and in Season/Fabulicious Food! and add a link to your post in the box below (via Simply Linked).


•This is the third  round and it will runs up until the end of July. I will pick a winner on 1st August (excluding myself obviously) and will include a round-up post soon after including everyone who has entered as well as launching the next month’s challenge


•You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it


•Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish


•Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules)


•The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere. I’m happy to post prizes abroad and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.


•If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post

Here are my favourite websites if you need a little inspiration –

  • What’s in Season (a great website with an A-Z picture guide of what’s in season)
  • Eat the Seasons (tells you what’s good this week, eg jersey royal new potatoes, asparagus etc)
  • Well Seasoned (more about what’s in season including seasonality charts)
  • British Peas and Beans (featuring A Taste of Summer with tons of inspiring recipe

‘Simple and in Season’ May Round-Up and Winner!

Another month has flown by and it has been so exciting to see all the entries for the the very first round of my new ‘Simple and in Season’ blogging event. I have to say, that putting together this round-up has left me feeling so inspired by all the wonderful seasonal recipes that you have all entered. I was a little bit anxious about hosting a new blogging event, partly because there are so many great events out there to join in with already, but also because it is always hard to gauge what kind of recipes people like to make. I think this round-up clearly demonstrates how easy it can be to incorporate seasonal food into a recipe and whilst, between us, we have done our bit to champion British seasonal produce, some of the entrants have also showcased seasonal food from around the globe.

It was also so inspiring to see so many of you growing your own, picking your own, and in some cases, foraging for seasonal food. Thank you so much to everyone who entered and supported this event. I wish I could send everyone a book, but alas, I have had to chose only one winner….but it was so hard!

Here is the amazing round-up: 
Our very first entrant was the lovely Helen at Fuss Free Flavours who linked up A Simple Garden Salad showcasing Jersey Royals – which was a brilliant and perfect start to the event. This is definitely a salad I could literally dive into. Helen’s British garden salad certainly ticked all the right boxes for me. Thank you so much, Helen, for linking up.
Jersey Royal Salad
Our next entrant was Genevieve Taylor, a food stylist and author of ‘Stew’ who writes a blog called An Egg a Day following her own foodie adventures as well as those of her chickens! Genevieve linked up Asparagus Season is Here! signaling the start of British asparagus season which took off a little earlier this year due to all the fine weather we had in the early spring. Genevieve’s Crispy bacon, asparagus & egg salad with creamy mustard dressing can be whipped up in a matter of minutes too, so do visit Genevieve’s blog for the recipe.
Next, was a very healthy Quinoa Asparagus and Sweet Potato Salad from Pippa who writes The Intolerant Gourmand sharing amazing allergy-friendly recipes and advice.  I hadn’t seen Pippa’s blog before her entry and I’m so glad to have found it.
A delicious Asparagus Potato Soup was linked all the way from Toronto featuring on a blog called Torview. Thank you so much for your entry! I love the little bowls your soup was served in and I actually have all the ingredients in my fridge so will be making this today.
It was lovely to see an entry from new blogger Clare of The Vegetarian Experience who linked a post called Best of British Seasonal Produce including a recipe called ‘Roast Asparagus, Tomato and Cheese Tart, served with Jersey Royal New Potatoes and a Rocket Salad.’ Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe and I hope you are enjoying blogging.
Chez Cayenne is another vegetarian blog sharing spicy vegetarian recipes who linked up a recipe for Grilled Pineapple – served as a side dish involving rum and Chinese five spice, I can’t wait to try this one.
Sally from one of my favourite blogs out in the UAE called My Custard Pie shared a post called Hooray the mangoes have arrived! which was actually the first of two posts entered into Simple and in Season highlighting the start of juicy Alphonso mango season in India and Pakistan. Sally served her mangoes with a margarita cream – divine!
Grilled mango and margarita cream
Hazel from a lovely blog called Hazel’s Home Grown told us about some of the wonderful offerings in her garden and allotment, including her very first few strawberries, asparagus and herbs. Hazel’s post went onto share a recipe for her “proper” Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream and Elderflower Cordial. Hazel’s blog is really informative and inspirational and it was lovely to find it through the blog event.

The Beet Reporter over in the States shared a recipe for Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Short Stacks with Lemon-Thyme Drizzle. Aubergines (Eggplant) are in season a little later on in the year in the UK so this is definitely a recipe I will be trying late summer.
Laura from How to Cook Good Food entered a tasty Griddled King Prawn and asparagus salad with a citrus grain mustard dressing. How good does this one look?! 
James Brewer who writes a great blog called Back to the Chopping Board shared a lovely recipe for Dippy Eggs with Asparagus and Prosciutto Soldiers. I was really impressed with this post especially as James had picked his own asparagus, strawberries and rhubarb from a local farm inspiring him to make this simple and seasonal dish for his snack when he came home. 
Dippy Eggs with Asparagus and Prosciutto Soldiers
A second Dippy Eggs and Asparagus entry came from Sarah at Maison Cupcake. I was so pleased that Sarah was able to enter as she has to be one of the busiest bloggers on the block! I have so much enjoyed taking part in Sarah’s blog event ‘Forever Nigella’ and it was so kind of Sarah to support my first event too. I loved the fact that Sarah tried to get her little boy to eat asparagus with dippy eggs, to which he replied  “that is yuck” (I had a similar response from my little boy, but as mothers we must try! All the more asparagus for us, I say. It was also lovely also to see Ted’s growing collection of egg cups and a very fun looking egg- spoon! 
Eggs and Asparagus Soldiers by Sarah Trivuncic Maison Cupcake
For the Love of Food sent across a really interesting post using up her ‘glut’ of radishes called Radish Top Soup with Tempura Radish Croutons having planted a row of radish seeds just 8 weeks earlier. In an inspired move, Bea used the tops to make a soup, much as you would do with a nettle soup and then made radish croutons with the left over radishes. Genius!
As if all the asparagus, new potatoes, exotic fruits and radishes weren’t enough, two of our entrants went foraging for elderflower to make cordial. I hadn’t even thought of elderflower when I first came up with the concept of Simple and in Season, but elderflowers definitely count.
A Trifle Rushed made Elderflower Cordial & Elderflower Presse  inspired by the lovely Vanessa Kimbell’s post on making Elderflower Syrup from her latest cookery book Prepped! 
 
Katie, who writes Feeding Boys and a Firefighter also made Elderflower Cordial: Simple Summer Pleasure in a Bottle and I especially liked her description of elderflower picking: “I felt like I ought to be wearing a straw hat, wearing a billowing white broderie anglaise sundress and carrying a wicker basket as I gathered elderflowers from the hedgerow in the little cut-through behind Sam’s school” before using her mother-in-law’s hand-written recipe and a pretty cool looking jelly strainer for the job from Lakeland. Of note was one of the comments to Katie’s post suggesting that a splash of elderflower cordial does wonderful things to a G&T. I will certainly be giving that a go!
 
Next came a totally jaw-dropping cake from Spoons ‘n’ Spades called a Berries and Cream Cake. Just look at this and tell me you’re not inspired to go and find the sweetest juiciest berries you can find before having a big bake-fest! Paula was inspired by a glut of home-grown strawberries and layered her berries up with custard and cream.
 
Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe entered these delicious looking Ricotta Hotcakes with Stewed Plums which were part of a very entertaining post involving exploding eggs as well as seasonal fruit! Thank you Johanna for showing us what’s in season all the way from Australia. Plums are one of my favourite fruits so I can’t wait to try these when they come into season.
Mel, from a great blog called Sharky Oven Gloves sent in a wonderful recipe she had tried from the June edition of Delicious. Magazine called White Chocolate Strawberry-Surprise Muffins, which look really tasty and are a great way of incorporating fruit into a sweet treat. Thank you so much for entering.
I was so pleased to see an entry from Working London Mummy, who, as Sally had done in her post, showcased the Indian mango, which she had found in London. I have to say, I am tempted to go and seek some out myself. Her recipe Spiced Lamb in Filo with Mango and Red Pepper really got my taste buds tingling.
Dancing Veggies who enjoys cooking healthy food on a budget also entered a lovely recipe called Farmers’ Market Quiche inspired by locally-grown broccoli over in the States. I love quiche so this is definitely a recipe I’ll try.  
Whilst I was away over the weekend I received a text message from a good friend Claire who said that her brother, Ian, was in charge of the cooking and was trying my Pull Apart Spring Lamb recipe in Anglesey using locally-reared Welsh lamb so I had to include that too into the round-up! Thank you guys for trying the recipe and for the great feedback.
There were also two last-minute entries from another blogger in Toronto called The Taste Space. A really amazing looking salad – Asparagus, Strawberry & Basil Salad with Mosto Cotto
Along with an asian-inspired Edamame Miso Dip (Hummus, Asian-Style). Both of these recipes are delicious and really unusual. I can’t wait to try the strawberry and asparagus salad.  
Finally, right at the beginning of the month I shared two seasonal recipes of my own (because I though no one would enter!) My Asparagus Toasts hit the spot for snack-time whilst my British Asparagus & Smoked Trout with Dill Tartlets made a great outdoor lunch.
How to chose a winner? I couldn’t, so I let my four year old look at all the pictures and pick one…It was quite funny, his response to all of them was “ooh yeah” and I have to say it was a tie between Hazel’s “proper” Mint Ice-Cream and Chez Cayenne’s Grilled Pineapple. As he went with ice-cream first I will be sending a copy of Skye Gyngell’s ‘How I Cook’ to Hazel over at Hazels Homegrown blog. 
THANK YOU so much to everyone who entered. A new round of Simple and in Season has been launched for June and I can’t wait to see what this month has to offer.

Fresh Pasta with Asparagus, Goat’s Cheese and Lemon

I was challenged by the lovely Giulia of Juls’ Kitchen to make fresh pasta for this month’s Monthly Mingle. This was such an exciting challenge for me, since I recently took a pasta class with Katie Caldesi to learn exactly how to make it although since taking the class I hadn’t put my new found skills to the test. So, the question for me was whether I had actually retained any information from that day?! My first stop was a visit to Buongiorno Italia, an award-winning local Italian food store close to my home. With Giulia as our judge, I was determined to do this the Italian way!

Established over 30 years ago, Buongiorno Italia is exactly the type of food store you want to have on your doorstep. Tony, the owner, goes to Covent Garden Market to bring back the best seasonal produce every week as well as stocking a huge array of authentic Italian food, including cheese, cured meats, olives, pasta, cakes, wine and lots more (including a small selection of Polish food which I was also pleased to spot!) Tony was lovely to chat to and he showed me his plans for expanding the store so that by the summer he will have some outdoor seating and an authentic cappuccino bar.

I was immediately inspired by the fresh produce on offer, finding some lovely bundles of British asparagus, new season’s garlic (the best I’ve ever seen) and even more exciting some goat’s cheese made on a local farm called Childwickbury by Liz and David Harris, nestled alongside the Italian cheeses. I think it is really nice to see local produce being showcased as well as Italian produce and of course, I couldn’t resist buying some Polish pasta, pierogi since they were there.

This is exactly what I love about local food shopping – you don’t always find the obvious, but in many cases you stumble across some real treats. I also picked up some ’00’ grade Italian pasta flour, some fresh, large free range eggs and a very fragrant tub of fresh basil.

      
I have no idea whether Italians would put asparagus, garlic and goat’s cheese together but I do know that Italians are very keen to use local produce and that they let the flavours of fresh food do the talking, so why not? I also had some lemon-infused olive oil at home, though regular olive oil would have been fine, perhaps just with a grating of fresh lemon zest at the end. As it’s National Vegetarian Week it was also nice to create a meal without using meat.

Back at home, the next challenge to overcome was the fact that I had not managed to find a  pasta machine. A quick phone call to a friend out in town revealed only one machine which was £60 in a cook shop. It may have been the crème de la crème of pasta machines, but I think it is a lot of money to spend especially if it is not something you will use every day. Though we had been taught how to make pasta using a machine in the class, a quick flick through ‘The Italian Cookery Course’ by Katie Caldesi (which I very much enjoyed reviewing recently for The Foodie Bugle) suggested that I could make and cut fresh pasta entirely by hand so I decided to give it a go without the machine.

I’m relieved to say that it worked just fine, though I will look into buying a pasta machine in the long run as I think you are able to get your pasta slightly thinner (it should be almost see-through) – although not having one shouldn’t deter you as my hand-rolled, hand-cut pasta actually tasted delicious. Next time I will try experimenting with beetroot to make lovely purple beetroot pasta.

To roll and cut by hand, you go through the basic stages of making a pasta dough and then you roll it on a floured surface until it is as thin as you can get it. You then roll up the two edges until they meet in the middle and using a sharp knife cut the pasta into the width you want it. You can then slide your knife beneath the pasta and as you lift the pasta up the rolls unfold.

I also found a handy step-by-step guide by Jamie Oliver – How to make fresh pasta 

I used one egg to 100g of flour and that made enough for about two portions. If you make more, you would have to split the dough into smaller portions (and keep it covered) to have enough room to roll it all out.

The pasta making was fun and I ended up with a really delicious meal – definitely superior to any shop-bought pasta though of course, you could make this recipe by using any type of pasta you fancy. I’m so pleased I did give this a go myself at home and that I had remembered everything that Katie had taught me!
Pasta with Asparagus, Goat’s Cheese & Lemon

Serves 4

Ingredients:
 
Fresh pasta (use 6 eggs and 600g of flour for four people)
OR – the best pasta you can buy if not fresh
2 bundles (500g) fresh Asparagus
4 cloves garlic
A drizzle of lemon-infused olive oil
OR plain olive oil plus a tablespoon of fresh lemon zest
140g Goat’s Cheese
A handful of  fresh basil leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
 
Method:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius

2. If you are making fresh pasta it would be better to do this first as the pasta should be left to rest for around thirty minutes.

3. Chop your asparagus into bite sized/2cm pieces and put them in a baking tin along with the cloves of garlic (no need to peel), a sprinkling of sea salt, fresh pepper and a drizzle of lemon  or plain olive oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
 
4. Boil a large pan of water, add a tablespoon of salt and cook your pasta according to the instructions (fresh pasta doesn’t need long at all so keep testing it to see if it is cooked.)
 
5. Drain the pasta, saving about two tablespoons of the pasta water.
 
6. Take your tray of asparagus from the oven and pick out the garlic cloves from the roasting tin (they will have infused the oil enough) and tumble the pasta into the tin with the roasted asparagus. Drizzle with more olive oil so that all the pasta is coated.
 
7. Crumble over the goat’s cheese, sprinkle with fresh lemon zest and a handful of basil leaves. Serve!
 
 
“Buon Appetito!” – I am looking forward to seeing how every one else got on with this month’s slightly more challenging mingle!
 
Thank you Giulia for setting this challenge – it was exactly what I needed and has definitely encouraged me to experiment more and continue to make fresh pasta at home.