Spring BBQ
I’ve been twitchy since the first buds appeared on the trees, but yesterday it finally looked as if it wouldn’t rain all day, so we had a BBQ.
Trout Stuff with knobs of butter and wrap in fennel leaves. Place on a double layer of foil, add a splash of white wine, season & crimp the top, allowing space for steam to build up. Place on BBQ for 20-30 minutes.
Courgettes and cherry vine tomatoesLeave the tomatoes whole. Use a zester or similar to cut ridges in the courgette’s skin for the herbs to cling, then halve and toss in extra virgin olive oil with garlic, crushed rosemary/thyme/majoram (whatever is at hand), coarsely ground pepper and flaky salt.
Lamb skewersMarinate the lamb in olive oil with bruised lemon thyme (we have our own potted little herb-garden), salt & pepper and thread onto soaked bamboo skewers, interspersed with sliced lemon wedges and slivers of garlic. It’s very lemony and garlicky.
Chinese spiced porkFive-spice mix: Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel. Dry-roast and grind. Mix with chilli flakes, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and a dash of light vegetable oil and marinate meat for a few hours.
Chicken wingsA freebie from the farmshop (!). Mix ketchup, Worcester sauce, a dash of soy sauce and some banana sauce (for heat and because I had to use it up. Better still use Encona or Tabasco red sauce), adjust taste with sugar, vinegar and paprika powder and toss wings. Place in oven at 160° C for 20 minutes or until just heated through but not browned. (those wings still had feathers attached and I’m not taking any chances with Salmonella).
Walnut, watercress and orange saladDry-roast a good handfull of walnuts and crush a few of them in a pestle and mortar with the zest of ½ orange and a clove of garlic. Stir in 1 tbsp each of balsamic vinegar and orange juice, season and add walnut oil to taste (also works with olive oil). Scatter some walnuts and zest over watercress and drizzle over dressing.
Mixed saladLettuce, tomatos, spring onion & cucumber dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil with crushed garlic, a bit of grain mustard and a dash of wine vinegar.
Lemon semolina cake with summer berriesI’ve still had those berries from Scotland. Ditto the semolina. It was time to use it up. This is adapted from Gary Rhodes who currently shows off what a git he is in Hell’s Kitchen (final today!)
Whisk together 4 eggs and 50 ml vegetable oil, Mix and add: 125g semolina, 100g ground almonds, zest of 2 lemons, 2 tsp baking powder, 75g sugar. Stir in 7 tbsp milk and pour into 20cm buttered tin. I have a 15cm tin and a 24 cm tin. I chose the 24 cm tin and the bastard cake did not rise. So why the baking powder? The recipe in my Greek-style cookbook (from where he seems to have the idea) advises instead to whisk the eggwhites and fold into the mixture. I know what I’ll do next time.
Make a syrup with 100g sugar, 200 ml water, zest of 1 lemon and a dash of vanilla essence. Add juice of the 3 lemons.
Pierce the cake while still warm and gradually feed with the syrup until all is absorbed.
Serve with summer berries which have been slowly heated with icing sugar to coat and soften the berries. Nice with a bit of crème fraîche or a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
—So there you have it. And all that for just 2 people… Well you can never tell with the weather and by the time we committed it was too late to phone around. When we live in Australia, this will be our daily dinner—with more fish & veg and more mates & beer! Do they have cider Down Under??
Tags: 'Round the World Recipes, Tag Index
Denni