a simple pleasure: tomatoes on toast (pan con tomate)

tomatoes on toast (pan con tomate)

Contrary to my family lore, my father Henry did not invent tomatoes-on-toast. But ask any member of the family and you will find that one of their all-abiding memories will be of my father eating tomatoes on toast, tomatoes on crackers, tomatoes on biscuits or sometimes, just on their own. This is a man who has no shame and will quite happily forage in other people's kitchens for a simple snack at all times of the day or night, evidenced by a smear of tomato pips, dried-up nubs of garlic and a trail of crumbs.

where the wild things are . . .

Mrs Fox and her three cubs

The bottom of my garden is where the wild things live. I'd like to tell you that it's because I have created a wild garden to give the local fauna a bit of a feeding playground. In my heart of hearts, I really want to believe that that it might be hiding a few wild fairies too, but the truth is that I don't particularly like manicured gardens and I am something of a lazy gardener. 

flying saucer eggs with grilled vine tomatoes, mushrooms and red chard

Healthy breakfast with grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, red chard and flying saucer eggs

I wanted a substantial breakfast to set me up for the weekend. This one does the job and is surprisingly healthy. Of course it would have been even healthier if I had left out the butter, but mushrooms and butter are a marriage made in heaven and I couldn't resist.

perfect whatever the weather: nigel slater's smoked haddock, potato and bacon

Nigel Slater's smoked haddock, potato and bacon

Why Rachel, when your profile says that you love to cook seasonally, are you posting a dish which screams winter comfort in June? A reasonable question.

Well it is for several reasons, one of which is the bloody English weather. After a weekend away enjoying balmy sunny weather (I even managed to catch a touch of sun), I have returned to London to grey skies and a distinct chill in the air. It feels like 2012 all over again. Bah!

what's in season: june

my father's violas - and they're edible!

Rise up, and do begin the day's adorning;
The Summer dark is but the dawn of day.
The last of sunset fades into the morning,
The morning calls you from the dark away.
The holy mist, the white mist of the morning,
Was wreathing upward on my lonely way.
The way was waiting for your own adorning
That should complete the broad adorned day.

Rise up, and do begin the day's adorning;
The little eastern clouds are dapple grey:
There will be wind among the leaves to-day;
It is the very promise of the morning.
Lux Tua Via Mea: your light's my way -
Then do rise up and make it perfect day.
Hilaire Belloc, 1870–1953

thai-style noodle salad with crispy garlic pork

thai-style noodle salad with crispy garlic pork

Another lucky dip day, when I turn spring cleaning the freezer into a food adventure. What do we have today? Er . . . well . . . um . . . it looks like meat. I'm not sure what it is. All my well intentioned plans and new year's resolutions to start labelling what I put in the freezer have gone awry again - clearly the freezer-proof pen that I had used to label the container wasn't actually proof against my hot sticky fingers. The neatly printed label is now merely a smear of black ink. Perhaps I could market it as art - take a photograph and suddenly it's all a bit William Eggleston. Or not!

langoustines with creamy wild leek and chilli dipping sauce

langoustines with creamy wild leek and chilli dipping sauce.

Their bodies are fiddly to peel and I see their beady eyes glaring reproachfully at me in my sleep, but their flesh is so sweet and juicy that the langoustine really is worth the effort (and even a few nightmares!)

A lucky dip in my freezer picked out a bag of frozen cooked langoustines (nephrops norvegicus) but what to do with them?

green again! wild leek soup

wild leek soup

I'm feeling a little bit green again, It is partly to do with the fact that I have been doing a bit of less-than-intrepid foraging in my back garden for the past month or so, but also because of the unseasonably damp weather conditions here in England.

I mean to say - a hail storm in May? Monsoon conditions in London again? Just like last year, it has started to rain; this does not bode well for the summer. But at least I can take my mind off things and ease my sustainable conscience (as well as reducing food miles), by making a thrifty soup from a deliciously dark home-made and very wobbly chicken stock (made from last Sunday's roast chicken carcass) and my foraged wild leeks. 

(overnight) stuffed deli sandwich: it goes to work while you sleep!

stuffed deli sandwich

The French have pan bagnat, those from New Orleans have the muffaletta. Here in Kentish Town, I have a deli sandwich that goes to work while you are sleeping and tastes divine.

Take your favourite deli ingredients (and yes potato salad isn't traditional, but I like it) stuff them into a hollowed-out loaf, wrap in clingfilm and press down. Leave overnight in a cool place. By the time you unwrap the sandwich all the ingredients have got to know each other and the olive oil soaks through the bread, infusing it with yet more flavours. Absolutely delicious.

apple and mincemeat suet dumplings - a little treat for george orwell

apple and mincemeat suet dumplings

How do you submit a recipe for a recipe swap on the subject of LOCAL when your locality seems bereft of any iconic foods? It's time to get creative, or that's what I tried to do recently in a submission for The Guardian's new Cook section and their weekly Readers' Recipe Swap, around the theme of LOCAL.

so excited and just can't hide it . . .

I am so excited, though a bit nervous too, as I was asked by my local library if I would like to take part in their Adult Learners Week programme of events.

I adore libraries. I think they are one of the most fabulous of local resources. It is what makes us civilised! So on being asked to run a taster session on How to Start a Blog,  I could hardly say no. so I said yes. And while I am really excited I am also thinking yikes, what happens if no-one turns up?

a sort of shaggy dog story - saint nigel bounds to the rescue again! braised neck of lamb with apricots and cinnamon

Nigel Slater's braised neck of lamb with apricots and cinnamon

If this blog post was a song title it would be stormy weather because yet again the capricious British climate strikes again. (Of course if this blog post was a "type" of literature, the less kind might describe it as a shaggy dog story!)