an italian-style bread salad: panzanella

panzanella (Italian bread salad)

I was in a hurry and needed to throw together a quick lunch for two and the cupboard was almost bare. Almost bare, but not quite. Even when I am down to the basics and a few crumbs, I will always have a chunk of bread (since I bake about twice a week), a heap of tomatoes (whether fresh, tinned or dried) and a few jars of olives. This is life in the Kelly household; you can never go hungry.

sweetcorn fritters with crème fraîche, hot smoked salmon and chives

sweetcorn fritters with crème fraîche
and hot smoked salmon

My friend Rachael rescues retired battery hens, who like jaded showgirls arrive with tattered feathers and fading plumage. She seems to name her birds after Victorian parlour maids (Gladys, Betty, Mildred and Flo), who once they have acclimatised to their new life, learn to roost and overcome their fear of the outdoors, to roam across her property, where they like nothing more than to gorge on sweetcorn and chase marshmallows up and down the lawn!

smoked salmon pâté with peter's yard crispbreads

smoked salmon pâté

If my mother taught me anything about cooking it was about being prepared and keeping things simple. She loved hosting parties, but she always ensured that she had prepared some of the dishes in advance, keeping herself serene. I can only dream of serenity. My default position is more Tasmanian Devil, (dim-witted and short-tempered) than glamorous Rachel Allen, the cookery Queen of Serene! Which is why many of my mother's cold soup or fish pâté recipes, easily prepared a couple of days before the main event, are now part of my hoard of good party recipes. Effortlessly delectable; the perfect party food.

dinner with delicious magazine

the menu!

I was lucky enough recently to be invited to a "meet-the-Editor" dinner at Delicious Magazine. It was a chance for the magazine to talk to some of their readers and to find out what we really think about food magazines; what we like to eat, cook and what sort of food do we aspire to cook.

grilled salmon in smoky tamarind sauce

grilled salmon in smoky tamarind sauce

In the past, if asked if I would like to go to a Mexican restaurant, I would typically answer "no". My experiences of Mexican food in London (and New York for that matter) had been typically awful - generally mushy beans, beans and more beans, with overly sweet sauces, uniformly sickly, accompanied by rotgut tequila. It turns out that I had been mistaking TexMex for genuine Mexican and that real Mexican food could be fresh and tasty without any kind of reliance on sugar and powdered garlic!

books galore and a chance to support your local library

BBQ cookbook display
in the window of
my local library

"The sun will come out tomorrow" so said the mawkish song as well as British weather forecasters, but if it doesn't this might be a really good time to check out your local library. You might be surprised to learn that amongst the highbrow, lowbrow, CDs, DVDs and games, that your library has a number of cookbooks to provide inspiration on even the darkest and dampest of days.

At a time of austerity, I had to face up to the fact that I had a serious addiction. A book addiction. A dependence that in frugal times I could no longer afford to support. I would rather feed myself than feed my habit. 

something for the weekend? roast leg of lamb with a greek-style marinade

lemon and garlic roast leg of lamb

This is a suggestion for Sunday lunch, since the weather forecasters are predicting sunshine and this meal is bursting with sunshine flavours and a slight whiff of the Mediterranean. Of course, a girl can dream! And even if the forecasts are wrong, lamb cooked with lashings of garlic, herbs and lemon is a meal perfect for any dinner table or barbecue.

rhubarb and pink gooseberry crumble

rhubarb crumble

I am rather fond of rhubarb, as much for its sour, yet fruity flavour as for its air of mystery; this is a vegetable that masquerades as a fruit - a cross-dresser in the kitchen. Combined with the eeriness of the Rhubarb Triangle and the unearthly sound of nightly creaking as the rhubarb is forced upwards in the dark is a quality which I find equally thrilling.

moors and christians rice (moros y christianos)

moors and christians rice (moros y christianos)

I have always been intrigued by the name of this dish, one of Cuba's traditional recipes - a mixture of black beans and rice.

The Spanish name refers to a time during the Medieval period, when Muslims and Christians lived side-by-side in harmony. Sadly the Inquisition put paid to that but concord lives on in this delicious dish.

sour orange mojo sauce

Cuban sour orange mojo sauce

A mojo sauce is a mixture of garlic and oil which is often used either as a marinade for chicken or fish or as an accompaniment for meat or fish, rice or potatoes. It is so versatile since you can cook it or just use as a marinade or dip or drizzle over cooked rice, couscous or salad vegetables. It is the perfect way to use Seville oranges, which have a beautifully tart flavour.

cuban roast chicken with sour orange mojo sauce

Cuban roast chicken with sour orange mojo sauce

When I think of Cuba, I think of Hemingway, louche cocktails, cigars and the Buena Vista Social Club, but the food is something of an unknown quantity in the UK.
 
Cuban food is a fabulous combination of their historical influences and local ingredients. Since the island is the perfect example of melting pot influences, from Spanish, Portuguese and South American Indian to African, Chinese and Arab.
 
The food is also the food of ingenuity and creativity. You have to be imaginative when you are surrounded by hardship; when food is rationed. I had never been made more aware of this until I read the books of Leonardo Padura

salad of poached cherries and feta

cherry and feta salad

I may be feeling grumpy at lack of home computer but a tangy feta and sweet cherry salad are a marriage made in food heaven and enough to soothe even the grumpiest brow. 

It is worth bearing in mind that English cherry orchards are in a parlous state; we have lost 90% of our traditional orchards over the past 50 years and the UK now imports 95% of cherries into the country. Yikes! Support the Cherry Aid campaign at FoodLovers Britain or on Facebook. As part of the campaign, you can plant, rent or even adopt a cherry tree to show how much you love them.