April recipes: Close to nature

Round & About

Posted on

food

Qualified natural chef Jo Keyes shares some wholesome recipes devised in her Time To Nourish kitchen for body, mind & soul

Homemade granola

Ingredients:

• 150g mixed nuts chopped
• 200g coconut flakes
• 200g rolled jumbo oats (gluten free)
• 50g pumpkin seeds
• 50g sunflower seeds
• 25g golden flaxseeds
• 2tbsp chia seeds
• 100g unsweetened dried fruit chopped if necessary eg raisins, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, chopped apricots (optional)
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 medium banana
• 6tbsp apple puree
• 100ml melted coconut oil

Homemade granola is a great way to cut out some of the nasties many of the shop bought versions have. Many are often high in sugar and use unhealthy fat as well as unnecessary fillers. Homemade versions can be customised to personal taste and be full of nutritious and satisfying ingredients.

Nuts and seeds add texture and flavour and are high in protein and micronutrients like calcium, zinc and magnesium. Oats are full of soluble fibre, iron and folate. The coconut oil adds the healthy fats making this a great recipe to support a healthy heart to help balance blood sugar.

MAKES: 11 (80g portions)

NOTES: Enjoy with your favorite milk or use to top, chia pudding, overnight oats or fruit and yoghurt

ALLERGENS: Nuts, Sulphur Dioxide (in preservatives esp dried fruit)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 175°C.

Place the chopped nuts in a mixing bowl and add the coconut flakes, oats, seeds, dried fruit and cinnamon.

Melt the coconut oil and add to a small blender with the banana and apple puree and blend until smooth.

Mix the puree into the oaty mixture with a wooden spoon until everything is well coated.

Tip the mixture onto a lined baking tray and spread out in a thin even layer (you may need to use two trays).

Bake for 40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes to get an even colour, or until the mixture is crunchy and golden brown.

Remove the tray from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container or kilner jar.

Thai slaw

Ingredients:

• 200g bean shoots
• 2 small carrots peeled
• 1 green pepper de-seeded
• 2 spring onions

Dressing

• 1tbsp tamari
• 1tbsp fish sauce
• 1tsp honey
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1tsp fresh ginger grated
• 2tbsp avocado oil

Garnish

• Chopped cashews toasted
• Sesame seeds toasted

This crisp and fresh slaw is reminiscent of a pad Thai. The raw vegetables bring the benefits of digestive enzymes which are often lost during cooking and the variety of colours bring different phytonutrients with antioxidant properties.

SERVES: 2

ALLERGENS: Fish, Nuts – Cashew, Sesame

Method:

Prepare the vegetables by cutting or grating into thin julienne strips and then mix together in a large bowl.

Whisks dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Add the dressing to the prepared vegetables and mix until well coated.

To serve add to a bowl of mixed green leaves add some cooked chick, fish or grains and top with garnish.

Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 140g mixed leafy greens (eg spinach, rocket, kale, watercress)
• 100g mix non leafy greens/fruit (eg cucumber, celery, broccoli, apple, pear, mango)
• 20g avocado
• Thick slice of fresh ginger
• 2tsp fresh lemon  or lime juice
• Pinch salt (Himalayan or pure sea salt)
• 300-400mls liquid (eg water, coconut water, nut milk)
• 3 ice cubes

Optional add ins:

• Superfood powders (eg wheatgrass, spirulina, chlorella, maitake)
• Rolled oats
• Nuts or nut butter
• Seeds (eg pumpkin, sunflower, flax, chia)
• Protein powder

SERVES: Makes 2 -3 servings

Method:

  1. Chop non-leafy greens into cubes and de-stalk leafy greens if required (eg kale or cavalo nero).
  2. Place all the ingredients into a high powered blender and blended until smooth, add more liquid if required.
  3. Pour into glasses and enjoy.
  4. Store in a glass air-tight container in the fridge and consume within 48 hours or freeze in portions for consumption later.
Quinoa Tabbouleh

Ingredients:

• 200g uncooked quinoa
• 500ml boiling vegetable stock
• ½ cucumber, de-seeded and fine diced
• 3 large tomatoes, de-seeded and fine diced
• 28g bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 28g bunch mint, stalks removed and leaves finely chopped
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2tbsp lemon juice
• ¼tsp ground allspice
• ¼tsp black pepper
• ¼tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼tsp ground cloves
• ¼tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼tsp ground ginger
• 100ml avocado or olive oil
• 50g pomegranate seeds
• 30g flaked almonds

A twist on the traditional Lebanese dish which uses bulgur wheat this recipe is a great alternative to pasta salad at a BBQ or the perfect side to any meal. The use of quinoa in this tabbouleh provides a plant-based complete protein which is also gluten free.

SERVES: 4-6

NOTES: Store in an airtight container for 4-5 days

ALLERGENS: Nuts (almonds)

Method:

Add the quinoa and the vegetable stock to a saucepan and bring to the boil, cover and simmer on a low heat for 10-12 mins until the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is cooked. Remove from the heat and spread out onto a baking sheet to cool to ensure it does not overcook.

Meanwhile chop all the herbs and vegetables and place in a large bowl.

Make the dressing by whisking the lemon juice, spices and oil in a small jug.

Bring the tabbouleh together by adding the cold quinoa to the vegetables and herbs along with the dressing, mixing well to combine.

Stir though some of the pomegranate seeds and flaked almonds reserving a few to garnish.

Serve with bean burgers and relish or as a side to meat skewers or grilled fish.

 

See our other recipes

Click here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Barking to baking

Round & About

Posted on

food

Cook up some peanut butter cookies for your four-legged friends!

The award-winning team behind The Big Bakes are helping dog owners across the nation turn Barking to Baking with their new free online classes as part of a mini series helping owners make simple dog treats at home.

The Big Bakes is the UK’s first and only live baking competition, where guests take part in live bake off events in fully decked out marquees in London and Birmingham. Whilst we are all isolating at home, they are hosting an array of remote tutorials across their instagram and facebook channels to get the nation baking.

Keeping us humans company during our new indoor time is hard work for our four legged friends, so to say thanks, homeowners across the country can now bake their canine companions some special treats to say thank you.

Eloise Frank, co-founder at The Big Bakes said: “My dogs Luna and Freddie have provided me unconditional love and friendship, making life in lockdown infinitely more manageable which is why it is great to be able to return the favour and spend time together baking their favourite dog treats!”

The new mini pet baking series, available now, will see recipes launched twice weekly for an array of pets in the home. The baking team will be sharing two pet treat bake-at-home classes each week across their social media channels, airing on IGTV every Monday and Friday – make sure you look out for the cuteness overload making a guest visit in the Peanut Butter Dog Cookie recipe airing today, Monday, 6th April. All recipes use day-to-day ingredients and standard kitchen equipment found in the home.

To take part in these digital sessions, all people need to do is visit @Thebig_bakes on Instagram or The Big Bakes on Facebook where they will find a list of all the necessary ingredients needed for their up-coming class. And the good news is, there are also plenty of free baking classes on the channel for us humans too. Once people have completed their home made creations, they can share a photograph with @Thebig_bakes, in order to be in the running for a prize. Each week, the team will choose the winning amateur baker, who will receive vouchers to attend a live session later in the year.

The Big Bakes is all about bringing people together through a love of baking (and eating!) so they thought why not extend this to all members of the household, including those with four legs as well as two!

Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Cookies  

Ingredients:

• ⅔ cup or 85 grams fruit puree e.g. pumpkin, banana, apple  

• ¼ cup or roughly 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter (Do not use peanut butter spread that contains sugar, or additives, this should be an all natural whole nut butter suitable for animal consumption e.g. Meridian or Pip and Nut as Xylitol, the sweetener most often used in peanut butter with sugar is toxic to dogs).  

• 2 large eggs  

• 3 cups or 384 grams plain flour wholemeal or rye  

Method:

1  Begin by preheating your oven to 180c degrees and line a large flat baking tray with baking parchment or a silicone baking mat.  

2  Take your large mixing bowl and crack in your eggs and then add the peanut butter and fruit puree. Now mix the wet ingredients until combined using an electric whisk with the paddle attachment or with a wooden spoon. Remember to give it a good mix if you are using a spoon! 

3  Once combined, gradually add your flour about a quarter at a time and fold into the wet mixture. If you are using an electric whisk then beat this slowly until just incorporated. Then repeat to add the rest of the flour quarter by quarter until the dough is no longer sticky.  

4  Now, form your dough into a ball TIP: you may need to use your hands to do this, so dust them with some flour first.  

5  Then, once your dough is bound together in a ball, dust a work surface with flour and then knead the cookie dough (use your knuckles to press firmly and turn the dough a few times) until it comes together. If you are finding the dough to be sticky just sprinkle on some more flour. 

6  Then, using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is about the thickness of a £1 coin.  

7  Once rolled, take your cookie cutters (you can also make these by choosing some stencil shapes online and printing and cutting these out using a piece of card) and cut out your desired shapes and place onto the prepared baking sheet leaving a little space between each cookie.  

8  Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until they start to turn a golden brown and they are firm to touch.   

9  Once ready, leave to cool completely before treating your 4 legged friend to a delicious peanut butter treat! 

See our other recipes (for humans)

Click here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

British Pie Week

Round & About

Posted on

food

Never has the saying ‘nice as pie’ been so apt – who doesn’t love a tasty pastry pie and what better time to indulge than in British Pie Week. 

With so many great recipes to choose from all you need to do is decide whether it’s savoury, sweet, crumble or pasty – why not make a different one every day this week and get all members of the family involved in the cooking too? 

According to the most common internet search results, here’s our top 10, love them or loathe them:- 

1: Cottage Pie 

2: Fish Pie 

3: Shepherd’s Pie 

4: Chicken & Leek Pie 

5: Chicken and Mushroom Pie 

6: Steak and Ale Pie 

7: Meat and Potato Pie 

8: Pork Pie 

9: Steak and Kidney Pie 

10: Corned Beef Pie 

We asked our star baker Christine Wallace to share a pie recipe with us so why not put this on the menu this week? 

Left over turkey, leek and mushroom pie 

 

• You will need an 8” (20cm) Pie dish.
• 500gm block of butter puff pastry.
• 1 large leek – cut into large chunks
• 120g button mushrooms
• 300g cooked turkey meat
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tblsp oil
• 50g butter
• 50g plain flour
• 1 pint milk
• ½ tsp onion salt
• White pepper
• Beaten egg for glaze

Method 

• Place the oil and butter in a pan and add the leek, gently sweat for 5 minutes but do not brown.

• Add the mushrooms and thyme, cook for a minute.

• Stir in the flour and gently cook for a minute.

• Slowly add the milk until you have a nice thick sauce, add the turkey meat and cook for a couple of minutes.

• Add the onion salt and a little pepper then pour into your pie dish

• Roll out the pastry and cover the pie, sealing well and fluting the edges.

• Brush with beaten egg and cook for 30 minutes or until the pastry is well risen and golden brown.

N.B. If you are making the pie to freeze, do NOT add the turkey meat until the leek and mushroom sauce is completely cold. Use fresh puff pastry if you are freezing, not frozen! 

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Hockney’s way

Round & About

Posted on

food

Spanning six decades of work, David Hockney: Ways of Working takes an in-depth look at the artist’s genius and shows there’s much more to him than just swimming pools.

Hockney has explored a variety of media – painting techniques, printmaking skills, photography and designs for the stage as well as embracing the iPad and Photoshop among other technologies.

The exhibition at The Lightbox in Woking which runs until 19th April will delve deeper into his work and will include photos of Hockney seen working in his studio creating paintings, drawings and prints. Visitors will also be able to see a 14-page letter never seen before which describes his processes in his own words.

Hockney is probably best known for his series of Californian swimming pools but one of the largest sections of the exhibition is devoted to his methods of printmaking. Also on display are drawings in watercolour, chalks, pencil and ink as well as digital illustrations on the iPad, merging drawing with his fascination with new technology.

Throughout the exhibition there will be hands-on learning activity in the Main Gallery, enabling children and families to engage with the artwork. As part of Hockney week, during half-term, children will be invited to contribute to a large mosaic-style artwork, reflecting the artist’s processes.

The exhibition will also feature a selection of talks, tours and creative workshops.

More info..

For more information about these and the exhibition David Hockney: Ways of Working

The Lightbox

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Food, friends and fun

Round & About

Posted on

food

Host a supper club on 7th March and raise funds for Eva’s Friends

If you enjoy food, friends and fun while raising money to change children’s lives then Eva’s Friends Supper Club is the event for you.

It couldn’t be easier to get involved – just invite some friends round for dinner on Saturday, 7th March and ask them to donate to Eva’s Friends what they would have paid if they’d gone out to eat and if you don’t fancy cooking, drinks and nibbles works as well.

Last year more than 40 supper clubs were run in aid of the Oxfordshire-based charity and they’re hoping for more this year which will also feature an online auction and competitions too. Chefs Tom Kerridge and Richard Bertinet donated raffle prizes last year.

Eva’s Friends works to fund research into rare neurological conditions in children and is currently helping to fund a gene therapy project to find a cure for Rett Syndrome which affects thousands of children, almost exclusively girls, leaving them unable to walk, talk or use their hands.

There is no known cure and it is thought to affect about 1 in 12,000 girls born each year such as Eva after whom the charity is named.

If you can’t make the main Supper Club event on the 7th, why not arrange another foodie treat in the week beginning 2nd March, how about brunch with friends, afternoon tea, cakes at work – whatever you fancy.

Simply register by emailing [email protected] to receive a fundraising pack and get cooking!

More info..

To find out more about the charity and how you can support their work visit

Website

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

March recipes: Not your average Joe!

Round & About

Posted on

food

Fitness star Joe Wicks –AKA The Body Coach – has teamed up with cancer charity Macmillan to share some veggie recipes for March

Rosie’s Beautiful Lentil Bolognese

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Large onion, finely chopped
• Two medium carrots, peeled and chopped into cubes
• Salt and pepper
• Two cloves garlic, crushed
• Two sprigs of rosemary
• 200g dried green lentils
• A glass of red wine
• Two 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 60g walnuts
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Cooked pasta of your choice
• Grated cheese, to serve
(optional)

This one [inspired by Joe’s wife Rosie] is a great recipe to make ahead. It will keep in the fridge for two or three days and freezes very well.

Method:
Add the oil to a saucepan over a low heat. Tip in the chopped onion and carrots, along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for six minutes until mostly softened. Stir in the garlic and rosemary sprigs. Cook for another minute until it smells fragrant, then tip in the lentils. Give everything a good stir, then pour in the wine.

When most of the wine has bubbled off, chuck in the chopped tomatoes, then re-fill one of the tins with water and pour it in. Stir in the tomato puree then leave to cook for 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the lentils are soft. When the lentils are nearly cooked, toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until lightly browned and smelling nutty.

Allow to cool and roughly chop, then add them to the pan. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and season your bolognese to taste, removing the rosemary sprigs. Serve with cooked pasta and, if you’re like me, loads of grated cheese on top!

l To support this fantastic charity please visit www.macmillan.org.uk

Peri-Peri Halloumi Burger

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp peri-peri sauce
• 100g halloumi, cut into four slices
• 1 tbsp mayo
• One baby gem lettuce
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• One medium tomato
• Burger bun

Method:
our two tablespoons of the peri-peri sauce into a shallow bowl. Add the halloumi slices to the bowl and turn them so that both sides are covered in the sauce. Leave to marinate for a few minutes.

While your cheese is marinating, stir the remaining peri-peri into the mayo. Separate the lettuce leaves and slice the tomato into rounds. Warm a dry non-stick frying pan over a high heat. When it is hot, chuck in the halloumi slices. Dry fry for two minutes each side, spooning any of the leftover marinade over the cheese as it cooks so that it becomes sticky and crisp. Take off the heat. Toast your burger bun, then spread the base with spicy mayo. Stack in the halloumi, lettuce and tomato.

Avo & berry breakfast pot

Ingredients:

• Half an avocado, flesh scooped out\
• One small banana, roughly chopped
• Two handfuls of mixed frozen berries
• 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
• 1 ½ tbsp rolled oats
• 1 ½ tbsp. mixed seeds
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• Drizzle of honey

Make ahead – You can blitz the fruit and yoghurt the night before and keep it in the fridge

Method:
Place the avocado, banana, frozen berries and natural yoghurt in a blender and blitz with a splash of water until smooth. Tip into a bowl or pot to take to work. In a dry frying pan, over a medium heat, toast the oats and seeds until the seeds start to pop. Take off the heat. When you’re ready to eat, top the avocado berry pot with the toasted oats and seeds, almond butter and a drizzle of honey

See our other recipes

Click here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

Tuck into Cornish Pasty Week

Round & About

Posted on

food

Yesterday marked the start of Real Bread Week and today it’s the turn of Cornish Pasty Week.

Ok, so we’re a long way from the West Country here but who doesn’t love a pasty, but did you know:

No meat other than beef can be used and no vegetables other than sliced or diced potato, swede (turnip), onion and salt and pepper should be used in the filling.

There must be at least 12.5% beef and 25% vegetables in the whole pasty. All the ingredients must be uncooked when the pasty is assembled and then slowly baked to develop all that famous Cornish pasty taste and succulence.

Pasties traditionally went down the mines, across fields and out to sea, so they had to be able to withstand rough treatment. Once created, the edges should be sealed by crimping – if it’s not crimped it’s not Cornish.

Most importantly it can only be called a Cornish pasty if it’s produced west of the Tamar, in Cornwall.

The Oxford English Dictionary indicates that the pasty was identified in around 1300 and at that time was enjoyed by the rich upper classes and royalty.

In the 1700s it became a staple of poorer working families in Cornwall and in the 1800s came into its own as an important art of the lives of many Cornish families.

The week, which runs until 29th February, will be celebrated with a competition to find the world’s finest crimper and the world pasty championships at the Eden Project. All are welcome to join in the fun, taste one or two and have a go yourself.

The 2020 World Pasty Championships take place on Saturday, 29th February.

Have a go yourself with the ultimate pasty recipe from the Cornish Pasty Association:

FOR SHORTCRUST PASTRY

(rough puff can also be used):

• 500 g strong bread flour (it is important to use a stronger flour than normal as you need the extra strength in the gluten to produce strong pliable pastry)

• 120 g lard or white shortening

• 125 g Cornish butter

• 1 tsp salt

• 175 ml cold water

FOR THE FILLING

• 400 g good quality beef skirt, cut into cubes

• 300 g potato, peeled and diced

• 150 g swede/turnip*, peeled and diced

• 150 g onion, peeled and sliced

• Salt & pepper to taste (2:1 ratio)

• Beaten egg or milk to glaze

*The vegetable to use is the yellow-fleshed swede, not a white turnip. This is known commonly in Cornwall as the turnip. It’s also known as the yellow turnip/Swedish turnip in some places and in North America it is called rutabaga.

METHOD

Add the salt to the flour in a large mixing bowl.

Rub the two types of fat lightly into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add water, bring the mixture together and knead until the pastry becomes elastic. This will take longer than normal pastry but it gives the pastry the strength that is needed to hold the filling and retain a good shape. This can also be done in a food mixer.

Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 3 hours in the fridge. This is a very important stage as it is almost impossible to roll and shape the pastry when fresh.

Roll out the pastry and cut into circles approx. 20cm diameter. A side plate is an ideal size to use as a guide.

Layer the vegetables and meat on top of the pastry, adding plenty of seasoning.

Bring the pastry around and crimp the edges together (see our guide to crimping).

Glaze with beaten egg or an egg and milk mixture.

Bake at 165 degrees C (fan oven) for about 50 – 55 minutes until golden.

Get involved...

To find out all you could possibly want to know about pasties and more visit

Website

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

February’s recipes: Rice & easy!

Round & About

Posted on

food

We’ve teamed up with Tilda to serve up some recipes to make the most of their new flavoured easy-cook sachets

Chicken Massaman curry

Ingredients:

• One red chilli, deseeded and cut into very thin matchsticks
• One spring onion, trimmed, halved and thinly shredded
• 50g peanuts
• 400ml can reduced fat coconut milk
• 200ml hot chicken stock
• One cinnamon stick
• 100g Massaman Thai curry paste
• 500g skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
• 300g baby potatoes, halved
• 350g Tilda Fragrant Jasmine rice
• Large handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped (see cooks tip)
• Finely grated zest and juice of one lime
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Lime wedges to garnish, if liked

Method:

Place the chilli and spring onion into a bowl of iced cold water and set aside while cooking the curry.
Dry fry the peanuts in a small pan for one or two minutes until toasted. Set aside until ready to use.

Place the coconut milk, chicken stock, cinnamon stick and curry paste into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir in the chicken and potatoes, cover and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes or until the potatoes and chicken are tender and cooked through.

Meanwhile, place the rice into a sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear. Tip into a large heavy based saucepan and season with a little salt. Pour over 600ml boiling water and bring to the boil. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook over the lowest heat possible for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to stand until the curry is ready to serve.

Discard the cinnamon stick from the curry. Stir in half of the coriander, lime zest and juice and season to taste.
Fluff up the rice with a fork and arrange into individual serving dishes. Spoon over the massaman curry. Scatter over the peanuts and remaining coriander. Drain the spring onions and chilli and scatter over the curry to serve. Serve with extra lime wedges to squeeze over.

Cook’s tip

There is lots of flavour in the stalk as well as the leaf of fresh coriander don’t be afraid to chop up both and add to the curry. For an even quicker version of this recipe substitute the jasmine rice for 2 x 250g sachets of lime and coriander basmati rice or sweet chilli and lime basmati rice.

Advertisement

Kimchi rice

Ingredients:

• One pack of Tilda
• Long Grain rice
• 2tbsps vegetable oil
• One clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• One onion, finely chopped
• 50g kimchi, drained
• 3tbps soy sauce
• Two eggs
• One spring onion, finely sliced

Method:

In a large pan, heat one tablespoon of the oil and gently fry the onions, garlic and ginger for a few minutes until softened. Add the drained kimchi and heat for a couple more minutes

Heat the long grain rice in the microwave for one minute and then add to the kimchi mix.

Drizzle in the soy sauce and mix in well. Keep warm.
Fry the eggs in the remaining oil for a few minutes.
Divide the kimchi rice between two bowl and top each with a fried egg and a sprinkle of spring onions.

See our other recipes

Click here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

January’s recipes: Vive la revolution!

Round & About

Posted on

food

We share two exclusive recipes from Ollie Hunter’s brand new sustainable cookbook with two copies up for grabs

Chicken breast tagine

with locally dried fruit

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp paprika
• Two raw chicken breasts
• Oil of your choice, for frying
• One onion, diced
• Six garlic cloves, diced
• A handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), with stalks diced
and leaves left whole
• One red chilli, diced
• 100 ml/31/3 fl oz or 1/3 cup
red wine, water or even cider (hard cider)
• 1 x 400g/14oz can of
chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp apple molasses, or use whatever molasses is locally produced
• 1 x 400g/14oz cooked beans
or pulses – cannellini beans
are delicious
• Handful of local dried fruits such as prunes, damsons
or apricots, pitted
• Salt

To serve

• Dollops of plain yogurt
• Grains such as spelt or couscous, cooked

Method:
reheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Mix all the spices together and set aside. Rub the chicken breasts with 1 tbsp of the spice mix. Add a few glugs of oil to an ovenproof saucepan and place over a medium heat. Quickly fry the chicken breasts – just to sear the outside on both sides – then remove from the pan and leave to one side.

Add some more oil to the same pan and then sauté the diced onion, garlic, coriander stalks and chilli until soft. Once soft, stir in the rest of the spice mix and cook for a few minutes. Add the wine, cider or water to deglaze the pan. Add the tomatoes and molasses and give it a little stir. Simmer for 10 minutes to reduce the sauce.

Add the drained beans or pulses and dried fruit, stir and season with salt. Nestle each seared chicken breast into the sauce, then add 100 ml/31/3 fl oz/1/3 cup cold water and transfer to the oven to cook for between 30 and 35 minutes.

Serve the tagine scattered with fresh coriander leaves and perhaps some edible flowers, with dollops of yogurt and some spelt or couscous.

Beetroot leaf dhal

Ingredients:

• 100g/3½ oz/½ cup dried red split lentils or split peas
• Oil with a high smoking point such as rapeseed or sunflower, for frying
• One onion, diced
• Chunk of fresh ginger, diced
• Six garlic cloves, diced
• Handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), stalks diced and leaves left whole
• One red chilli, diced
• One cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• Four fresh tomatoes,
chopped (or ½ x 400g/14oz can of tomatoes)
• Four beetroot stalks and leaves, thinly sliced (save the beetroot for another meal)
• Salt
• Dollops of plain yogurt,
to serve

One of the great things about eating from root to fruit is the added variety of flavours and textures available to us. For example, sage flowers have the subtle taste of sage but are a little more floral than the leaves. Pea shoots offer a lighter and more delicate pea flavour than the pea. In this recipe, beetroot stalks bring that earthy beetroot taste, but with added crunch and freshness.

Method:
If you’re using split peas, then they’ll need to be soaked overnight in plenty of cold water before using.

Put a good amount of oil into a large pan (skillet) over a medium-high heat. Add the diced onion, ginger, garlic, coriander stalks and chilli and fry until soft.

Once they’re soft, add the cinnamon stick, ground spices, mustard seeds and continue to cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes and lentils or soaked and drained split peas. Season to taste with salt and stir. Add one litre / four cups of cold water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes if using lentils (or 40 minutes if using split peas).

Stir in the sliced beetroot stalks and leaves for the final five minutes of cooking. Serve the dhal scattered with the fresh coriander leaves and dollops of yogurt.

See our other recipes

Click here

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter:

A golden example of dining

Liz Nicholls

Posted on

food

Liz Nicholls reviews the newly opened Ivy Oxford Brasserie.

In these strange, straitened times, luxury feels like it’s in short supply. In fact, “luxury” has become so rare a concept that it feels a retro, almost naughty. Luckily, the energetic team behind The Ivy Oxford Brasserie haven’t received this particular memo.

From the moment we were ushered inside, off the bleak wintry high street into the velvet-coccoon of the cloakroom we were (to quote Beyoncé) living lavish.

The Ivy Oxford Brasserie’s arrival in this often austere city of broken dreams has caused a big fat buzz for good reason. Because we’re all hungry for some luxury, and a place to celebrate rather than commiserate.

As with its celebrity honeypot mother branch in London, and the successful brasserie outposts in Winchester and Marlow, the Ivy brand is all about the best of the best. That’s most thrilling, on first entry, with the service. The staff offer the level of old-fashioned courtesy and enthusiasm that makes you feel like you’re winning at life. I go weak at the knees for a good banquette (especially a curvy orange one) and the effervescent Karim’s recommendation – truffle arancini – were balls of richly flavoured sexy joy; the perfect accompaniment for Magdalen Manhattan.

You can’t visit this Ivy branch without being wowed by its interior. Instagram has helped to gild the Ivy Oxford’s golden age because it really is a maximalist wonderland that feels designed to be snapped. For Pinterest fans like myself, the general vibe could be defined as “1920s Flapper Luxe”, with huge botanical motifs (toucans, butterflies, rainbow trout) and shiny surfaces at every turn. The old bank’s stately dimensions make it the perfect stomping ground for anyone in need of a bit of glam – even strutting up the copper-hued illuminated staircase to the ladies makes you feel special. The toilets themselves (which you might have seen on Insta) are worth special mention: rose quartz sinks, brass taps, gothic-gold floral wallpaper and jewel-hued pouffes… No wonder, then, that the smallest rooms have apparently been papped even more than the chocolate bombe (which comes a close second). And the enamel-ceilinged private hire party room is a golden example of how to create a setting where you can and should celebrate in debauched yet elegant style, a la the Ivy alma mater.

Hype can really detract from a good meal, and I had thought this Ivy outpost might be more style over substance but happily I was proved wrong. Tempura prawns and salt & pepper squid, in their conical silver salver, were crisp and gorgeous dunked in their wasabi and miso dressing and – a greedy choice – the lobster risotto was a divine creation of sweet meaty flesh doused in a seafoamy bisque dressing with a perfect partner of tender samphire.

Another greedy winter choice (and Karim’s recommendation), chicken Milanese was peak pleasure, coated in brioche crumb but kept savoury by a shiny tureen of truffle cream sauce that I kept trying to steal and topped with a rudely perfect fried egg. Then, as if to prove more definitely is more, the blackened cod fillet. This has almost become a cliché dish, which footballers plump for at Nobu and other top-tier celeb haunts, but technically the Ivy version is very hard to fault: pearly succulent fish, baked in a banana leaf beautifully fragrant with sesame and helped to sing with its citrus-pickled fennel (genius) broccoli and yuzu mayonnaise. Top marks too for a sublime sweet potato side and creamed spinach with pine nuts. All of it looked beautiful but tasted even better.

That much-Instagrammed chocolate bombe is also worth its 15 minutes: a grenade of golden flavour whose honeycomb centre oozed out to mingle with the vanilla ice cream once the hot sauce was poured on top to make a big sticky mess.

With all this glitz & glam, you’d expect the Ivy to be expensive but it’s reasonable: a la carte starters hover about the £10 mark, mains around £20 and there’s a three-course set menu for £21 which is stunning value, all things considered.

Hats off to the Ivy team. They’ve managed to live up to the not-inconsiderable hype. From my grandmother – who toasted her 94th birthday here earlier this month – to youngsters in athleisure chinking drinks at the bar, being made to feel like royalty is surely the best measure of success.

See their menu and book here

Visit

Get the latest news straight to your inbox

Choose which newsletter: