strawberry and hazelnut meringues

strawberry and hazelnut meringues

I wanted to make Eton Mess (a traditional British pudding of crushed meringues, strawberries and cream), and decided to follow Sarah Raven’s recipe for basil, raspberry and hazelnut meringues from Food for Friends and Family, using strawberries rather than her preferred raspberries.They were light and crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Just the way I like them - not bad for a first attempt at meringues!

chorizo and nutella: a winning combination!

chorizo and Nutella party bites

When Spanish pigs graze on acorns and olives, the resulting jamón ibérico de bellota ham is the stuff that dreams are made of, with a higher fat content and more flavour than other types of ham. It occurred to me that slices of ham with some kind of nut mixture might be a winning combination. I like the idea of companion eating - serving meat with the kind of fruit or vegetables the live animal might have eaten - so venison with blackberries, or pork with apple. I like the way they complement each other both in nature and in the kitchen.

three, two, one . . . perfect shortbread every time

shortbread biscuits

When you hear the countdown "three, two, one" you might be forgiven for thinking that I might have been infected by London 2012 Olympic fever. The thought of me in a set of starting blocks is enough to bring any self-respecting athlete up short (chortling with laughter, no doubt) and it is quite clear that Team GB are doing perfectly well without me (who knew?) No, 3:2:1 are the magic numbers when making shortbread; it is the time-honoured formula for measuring out quantities of the flour, butter and caster sugar. 

he goes to my head and intoxicates my soul: calvin trillin

Calvin Trillin's The Tummy Trilogy

You go to my head
And you linger like a haunting refrain
And I find you spinning 'round in my brain
Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne . . .

. . . You go to my head with a smile
That makes my temperature rise
Like a summer with a thousand Julys
You intoxicate my soul . . .  

It was my birthday a few weeks ago and I wish I could tell you that I was awash with birthday champagne or even Pimms, but I wasn't. During the neo monsoon season that had cloaked Britain in grey clouds and downpours for months, I was in a foul mood. Things were bad. I didn't even feel much like cooking. Yes, it was that bad. I even cancelled my birthday drinks due to lack of interest (my own) and had returned to my cave to sulk.

summer treats: raspberry swirl cupcakes

raspberry swirl cupcakes

Raspberries are probably my favourite of all the summer fruits. They sing “summertime and the living is easy!” There is something about the way that their muted pink colour rebukes the showy brashness of the strawberry which appeals to me. I also love the sensation of the raspberry's multitude of little drupelets exploding in your mouth with an eye puckering sweetness and floral aroma.

smoked paprika and rosemary roast chicken

I love the taste and smell of smoked paprika and am always trying to find a new way of using it up. This easy marinade seemed the perfect way of infusing some flavour into pieces of chicken. This is about as easy as can be, which is just the way I like to cook!

what's in season: august

my garden tomatoes!

Oh baby, baby what can I do?
You know you drive me crazy when I'm looking at you
The summer's really here and it's time to come out
Time to discover what fun is about
Here comes the summer
Here comes the summer
Here comes the summer 
John O'Neill, The Undertones - 1978  
 
Ah, happy memories. The Undertones with all their teenage exuberance can still bring a smile to my face. I have another reason to have fond memories in that that after my little brother had sneaked backstage, they had signed a birthday card for me back in those more carefree days. What nice boys they were!

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!