prawns with harissa dipping sauce and cumin salt

Prawns served with the spicy chilli dip, harissa and a squeeze of lime brings back memories of a holiday in Tunisia.

I actually got the idea for the recipe from an old copy of Australian Gourmet Traveller, one of my favourite food magazines, which in its turn got the inspiration from a chef called Matthew Gudykunst from the Smolt restaurant in Tasmania. And that’s all she wrote.

nut and mozzarella lamb kebabs

nut, mozzarella and lamb kebabs

Silvena Rowe's Purple Citrus + Sweet Perfume is a glorious adventure in the food of the Eastern Mediterranean. This is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire; of the Oriental Mediterranean from eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Crimea to Turkey, the Lebanon and Syria. A style of cooking that certainly here in Britain, we seem to be much less familiar with. If this is a best kept secret in the culinary world then it is one that is screaming out to be made heard. So please pass it on!

eating for england

Faster, higher, stronger?
I am ready to serve my country . . .
I realise that recently I have been concentrating on the favourite food of the kind of people who like lots of variety in flavours and textures. Mezze, tapas and antipasti are perfect, not just for the summer (what summer I hear you ask, as the rain pelts past the window), but for champion nibblers like me. In fact, if grazing were an Olympic sport, I suspect I would have a shot at medal glory. 

what's in season: september

English apples - by Phil Eldon

From the dew-soaked hedge creeps a crawly caterpillar
When the dawn begins to crack
It's all part of my autumn almanac.
Ray Davis - Autumn Almanac

September is the pinnacle of perfection in terms of the vegetable patch; a truly excellent month for fruit and veg such as sweetcorn, broccoli, apples, blackberries, damsons and early pears. Glorious salad vegetables such as peppers and juicy tomatoes are still around and I am still working out what to do with a glut of courgettes. It is definitely time to start thinking about preserving this embarrassment of riches in chutneys, jams and my favourite fruit vodkas.

romesco sauce

romesco sauce

Romesco is a lovely word - there is something beautifully rounded about it. I like the way it sounds when I say it, as it rolls around my mouth. I think it is one of those words that looks rather beautiful on the page, whether printed or in my somewhat reubenesque handwriting. The Catalan sauce, Romesco, has a rather fulsome round beauty too. 

tapas: garlic mushrooms

garlic mushrooms

I am pretty mad about mushrooms. I love their intense meaty flavours and have rarely met a mushroom I didn't like. Although I can't much be bothered with those anaemic white button mushrooms so beloved by supermarkets. Always, always go for the brown (chestnut) mushrooms: they actually taste of something and if using in soups or stews, impart a spicy mossy flavour. 

This is delicious with some good rustic bread, to mop up all the buttery garlic cooking juices.

tapas: spanish tortilla (tortilla española)

tortilla espagnola (Spanish egg and potato omelette)

This ubiquitous tapa is served all over Spain. It is also a fabulous lunch dish; a great way of using any leftover boiled potatoes and both cheap and easy to make. 
 
While it is a rather forgiving recipe and you can use any vegetables such as peppers or courgettes as you like, so long as they are chopped to the same size and you need to keep the proportion of eggs to vegetables the same (basically one egg to one potato). You could also use leftover scraps of ham too. I am rather fond of peas in mine. (Although in my mind, every day is Pea Day!) 

tapas: marinated cracked green olives

cracked marinated green olives

Spanish cuisine from the Andalusian region has been much influenced by its Arab history, (the Moors and Berbers of north Africa) using spices such as cumin, paprika, saffron, rice, citrus fruit and lots of olives.
 
These olives are full of herbs and spices; the longer they marinate, the tastier they become.

tapas: meatballs in tomato sauce (albondigas en salsa)

albondigas en salsa

Meatballs are one of my favourite tapa, but equally delicious as a main course, with noodles or rice. These tapas are from the La Mancha region of Spain, and are made with a mixture of minced meat, such as beef and pork. Although you could use veal or lamb (or a mixture of all). I serve them with a classic tomato sauce (there are always tubs of this in my freezer).

This is a great recipe to make with children; (they do love getting their little paws dirty!) The meatball mixture also freezes easily, so is good to make in advance for a party, or to freeze any leftovers, (not that I imagine you would have any, these are deliciously moreish!)

a taste of tapas: small plates of something delicious

a selection of tapas

"I love anything that involves getting to eat seven different kinds of food in a single sitting"

So says the character Ellie Hatcher in Alafair Burke's City of Fear referring to her love of tapas. A woman of impeccable taste, I suspect.

To me tapas mean several things - simple food cooked really well; a myriad of gorgeous flavours; a gathering of friends - convivial and ever-so slightly bibulous; of Spanish holidays and the ultimate taste of summer. Tapas is the perfect food for hot summer days when traditional British stodge just won't cut it; when you want something that is full of profoundly Mediterranean flavours.

courgettes with parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs

courgettes with parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs

We had this to accompany last Sunday's roast; I have a glut of courgettes to use up, about the only thing in my garden that seems to have grown well this year. 

It would also make a great light lunch with a tomato salad and some good rustic bread and a large glass of chilled white wine. Another perfect summer meal. 

when life gives you lemons . . . make lemons awesome!

heathcliffe's mead

Let me introduce my guest blogger, Heathcliffe's, first post. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. (Yay, Heath!)

This week I've made mead and a fridge.

See, the big problem here is that I've just moved into a new flat and, right now, I have no appliances and no money left. I have an Argos catalogue shining out from my lone bookshelf like a beacon of all my life could be, but my bank account says no. So I figure a plan is in order.

So when life gives you lemons . . . let's make lemons awesome.