Ok, I’m back to reality this week; our week in the Cotswolds was very special, and was generally a ‘foodie’ success! We stayed at two boutique hotels, one was an incredible experience whilst the other, was one that I’d rather not repeat(!) – you can read more about that on my new ‘Eating Out’ page!

More than anything, after months under ‘Covid lockdown’, I appreciated the change of scenery that our break offered. I have returned home inspired, with many recipe ideas and I am now back to trying and testing recipes in my kitchen; trying to emulate the flavours of the meals I had. Naturally the food that was cooked for me last week was done so by professional chefs, so many of the recipes were rather complicated and would demand too much preparation and cooking time for a weekday meal. I want to produce the flavours of these meals but without having to spend hours in the kitchen(!), so I have started searching through my many cookbooks for recipes which will use the same combination of ingredients thus have the same beautiful flavours, but which won’t require too much time to cook. Over the coming weeks I hope to share some of these new menu ideas with you!

This week’s first menu, Lamb chops & Parsley Butter, is extremely simple to cook. Last week Nick and I shared a beautiful rack of lamb which was served with a ‘summer, white wine jus and dauphinoise potatoes,’ it was admittedly delicious, but at home when we haven’t got the time to breadcrumb a rack of lamb, make a jus and dauphinoise potatoes, a simpler recipe such as these individual lamb chops served with a parsley butter are just as gratifying as a ‘posh’ rack, and are ready in minutes! The second menu, Sole with a Crab Stuffing, is inspired by a starter and a main course that we had at Foxhill Manor, all the flavours are combined into one dish. I found this dish by coincidence in J. Sheekey’s ‘Fish’ cookbook, it is a very impressive and seemingly complicated dish yet it is incredibly easy to cook and a great ‘Fish Friday’ treat! Finally as figs are in abundance at the moment, I have decided to use them for a wonderfully quick dessert, Marsala Fried Figs with Vanilla Mascarpone – these days we are able to buy figs throughout the year, so this delicious dessert is worth remembering all year round!

Menu One

Lamb Chops & Parsley Butter served on a Bed of Watercress with New Potatoes (Serves 4)

Despite the simplicity of this recipe it has lots of flavour. The watercress is an excellent accompaniment to the lamb whilst the parsley butter, with its touch of lemon juice, enhances the flavours superbly. A real midweek treat! You won’t use all the butter but it is great to have in the freezer – ready to slice and add to steamed potatoes on any occasion. This recipe calls for curly parsley rather than flat leaf, simply as it adds a little more texture and has a milder flavour, but you can use either type.

400g new potatoes

8 lamb chops

A little olive oil

100g butter, softened and cubed

A bunch of curly parsley, chopped (see note above)

Juice of ½ lemon

200g watercress, trimmed

Sea salt and black pepper

1. First make the parsley butter. Place the butter in a bowl with the chopped parsley, lemon juice and seasoning, mix well. Spoon on to a sheet of cling film and roll into a log shape, place in the freezer, wrapped in the clingfilm. Do not wash up the bowl that you used for mixing the butter – you can use it to season the steamed potatoes when serving!
2. Steam the potatoes for 20 minutes or so until cooked.
3. Meanwhile place the watercress on your plates.
4. Season the lamb chops and brush with a little olive oil, fry on a griddle pan (or in a normal frying pan) for about 2½-3 minutes each side so that they are still pink in the middle. Place the chops on the plates, on top of the watercress.
5. Now take your reserved ‘butter bowl’ and place the cooked potatoes in it, mix them around so that they get a good coating of the leftover butter, then place them on the plates.
6. Finally cut four slices from the parsley butter and place on top of the chops.

Menu Two

Plaice with Crab and Olive Stuffing served with Sautéed Spinach and Steamed New Potatoes (Serves 4)

Plaice with Crab and Olive Stuffing

This is a very impressive, elegant dish yet unbelievably easy to cook – my favourite kind of dish! The crab stuffing is the star of this recipe, any unused stuffing is equally delicious spread on toast for lunch the next day or stirred through spaghetti as a sauce. I only use crab in my stuffing, but you could cut it with fresh bread crumbs, using half crab, half breadcrumbs – which will keep the cost of the dish down. I serve this with sautéed spinach with garlic (recipe below) and steamed new potatoes. This recipe is from the London restaurant, J. Sheekey, and can be found in their cookbook ‘Fish’.

4 skinned plaice fillets

50ml white wine

1 lemon, juiced

Olive oil

For the stuffing:

50g unsalted butter

1 shallot, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ red chilli, deseeded and chopped

200g white crab meat (or 100g crab meat and 100g fresh white breadcrumbs – see note above)

30g black Kalamata black olives, chopped

½ bunch parsley, chopped (and a little extra to serve)

1 lemon, zested (use lemon from above)

Olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

1. For the stuffing, heat the butter in a saucepan, add the shallot, garlic and chilli and cook for 2 minutes, then, if using breadcrumbs add these and cook for a further minute.
2. Remove from heat and add the crab meat, olives, lemon zest and parsley – season and mix well – if it seems a little dry add a splash of olive oil.
3. Lay the plaice fillets out flat and place some stuffing in the middle of each fillet, roll the fish up from the tail end.
4. Place each rolled up fillet in a baking dish. Splash the olive oil, lemon juice and white wine over the fish and place in a preheated oven, 200’c, for 15 minutes.
5. Sprinkle over the remaining parsley and serve with sautéed spinach and steamed new potatoes.

Sautéed Spinach with Garlic (Serves 4)

2 large bunches of baby spinach (washed) – about 400g

Olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute until the garlic is beginning to brown.
2. Add the spinach, turning it over to coat in the olive oil. Place a lid over the pan and cook for 1 minute. Remove the lid and stir. Return the lid and cook for a further minute.
3. The spinach should now be wilted, add a drizzle of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Menu Three

Marsala Fried Figs with Vanilla Mascarpone (Serves 4)

This must be one of the quickest desserts – perfect for a midweek treat…(and it almost feels healthy as it’s fruit!!). Like Maderia wine, Marsala wine, once opened can be kept refrigerated for some months without deteriorating, it is great to have around as just a splash will often lift a simple sauce – try it!…

200g mascarpone cheese

2 tablespoons icing sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla paste

20g unsalted butter

8 ripe figs

1-2 teaspoons honey

4 tablespoons Marsala wine

30g sliced almonds, toasted in dry frying pan (optional)

1. Place the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla paste in a bowl and use an electric beater to whip for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan, once foaming add the figs, rounded side down. Fry for 1 minute. Add the honey and turn the figs over, fry for another minute then pour over the Marsala, allow it to bubble for a minute or so until syrupy.
3. Spoon the mascarpone into bowls and top with the figs and some of the sauce. To finish sprinkle with the toasted almonds.
4. Enjoy!

I have a confession to make, this week I am not cooking at all…at this very moment Nick and I are in the Cotswolds having a mini holiday in a beautiful boutique hotel! It’s not the Italian summer holiday that I was yearning for last week, but it is an extremely good alternative! We will be spending this week in two hotels, we have chosen them both for their reputation for being a ‘foodies’ heaven, so I am hoping that next week I will be able to share with you our food heaven experience! Let’s hope, as you read this, the sun is shining for us and that we are able to enjoy some walks in the Cotswolds countryside followed by a glass of champagne, and dinner al fresco – perhaps I’m expecting too much from our British weather?!…

Anyway, being the control freak that I am, I have prepared Menu Mistress for my absence, and have had this week’s menus ‘up my sleeve’ for some time. The first menu is very unusual but very delicious, I had never cooked cucumber before coming across this recipe in a magazine a few years ago, and it was a revelation. The cucumber in this dish, complimented by dill, makes a simple chicken breast truly memorable – it will make any week day dinner seem like a very special occasion, yet, like all of Menu Mistress’s recipes, it is not too time consuming to cook during the week when time is precious. I serve this dish with plain, unadorned, green fine beans and ‘Concetta’s Potatoes’; if you read my blog last week you may recognise the name of Concetta, who is our friend and the chef at the’ bagno’ which we visit annually in Italy, these potatoes are nicknamed after her as they are one of the recipes she shared with me many years ago. They are quite simply, sliced potatoes baked with garlic, rosemary and sage until crisp. The second menu is another special treat – sea bass. It is worth cooking this dish simply for the lemon potatoes – and indeed I will be adding the recipe to my ‘staple side dishes’ as they go beautifully with other fish recipes and also with simple roast chicken. The sea bass is cooked whole, it just needs 20-30 minutes in the oven, after which you’ll have a perfect summer dinner. Finally, I’m sharing another ‘no churn’ ice-cream recipe, it is flavoured with the taste of British summer, strawberries!

So, although I’m not cooking this week, there is no excuse for you not to cook….Enjoy!

Menu One

Chicken Breasts with Cucumber, Dill and Mustard Served with ‘Concetta’s Potatoes’ and Fine Green Beans (Serves 4)

I must admit that I had not come across cucumber cooked in a sauce before finding this recipe in a magazine, but it was a revelation, you must try it! It really adds a special dimension to a simple chicken breast recipe. I like to serve it with fine green beans and with ‘Concetta’s Potatoes’, these are named after our Italian friend (and chef), who gave me the recipe many years ago; they are sliced baked potatoes with garlic, rosemary and sage, alternatively steamed new potatoes go very well with this dish.

40g unsalted butter

4 skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon flour (use gluten free flour if required)

100ml dry, white vermouth

600ml chicken stock

1 cucumber

175g créme fraiche

2 teaspoons grain mustard

Juice of half a lemon

A small bunch dill, chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Melt 25g of butter in a frying pan. Lightly brown the chicken breasts, season and sprinkle over the flour, cook for a minute and then add the vermouth, reduce by two-thirds.
2. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to simmer gently. Cover and cook for about 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through
3. Whilst the chicken is cooking, peel the cucumber, cut it in half and deseed, then cut into slices the thickness of a pound coin.
4. Fry the cucumber slices in the remaining butter. Cook quickly until they are just tender – not floppy – and tinged with gold in places. Remove to a plate.
5. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan, keep warm. Boil the remaining liquid until it is reduced by half and starting to look slightly syrupy. Add the crème fraiche, mustard and half the lemon juice. Cook until the sauce has thickened to the consistency of single cream.
6. Return the chicken to the pan along with the cucumber and the chopped dill. Taste to adjust the seasoning – perhaps a dash more of lemon juice or mustard.
7. Serve with ‘Concetta’s potatoes’ or steamed new potatoes and green fine beans.

Concetta’s Potatoes

4 large potatoes – such as Maris Piper (roasting potatoes)

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried sage

Sea salt and black pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Olive oil

1. Peel and slice the potatoes, and parboil in boiling water for 4 minutes.
2. Place in a roasting tin, sprinkle over the rosemary, sage and garlic, season with salt and black pepper and drizzle over some olive oil – mix well.
3. Place in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for 35-40mins until crispy and well browned.

Menu Two

Baked Sea Bass with Lemon Potatoes and a Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette (Serves 4)

This is a lovely, simple recipe which I found in the cookbook, ‘Cook; A Year in the Kitchen with Britain’s Favourite Chefs’, just as its title indicates, it contains many different recipes from various chefs; this particular recipe is by Bill Granger and is one that I have cooked on numerous occasions. Cooking a whole fish can seem daunting – but believe me this recipe is particularly easy! It is worth cooking this dish simply for the lemon potatoes – they are delicious, I often make them on their own to serve with simple roast chicken or other fish recipes.

*You can see the video of this fish dish being made by clicking on this link to my Instagram Page

1 whole sea bass for 4 people

1 bunch of coriander

10 spring onions

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

For the Lemon Potatoes:

1 kg new potatoes (waxy potatoes)

3 tablespooons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

125ml fish or chicken stock

60ml lemon juice

100g pitted black olives, sliced (optional)

1 small bunch parsley, chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

1. For the lemon potatoes, cut the unpeeled potatoes into thick slices and place in a roasting tin. Add the olive oil, garlic, stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and toss to combine.
2. Bake in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes
3. Meanwhile put the coriander, spring onions, chilli flakes, olive oil and salt in a processor and process to make a coarse paste.
4. Make 3 slashes on each side of the fish and place on a baking tray. Spread the paste over the fish rubbing it into the slashes.
5. After the potatoes have cooked for 30 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 180’c and place the fish in the oven on the shelf below the potatoes.
6. Bake the fish (and continue baking the potatoes) for 20 minutes or until cooked through, 5 minutes before the end of cooking add the olives and the parsley to the potatoes.
7. Serve immediately

Staple Side Dish – Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Make up a salad as desired and dress with this lemon vinaigrette (I particularly like a green salad with sliced fennel with this fish recipe):

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

finely grated zest and juice of half unwaxed lemon

pinch of sugar

sea salt and black pepper

1. Whisk all the ingredients together.

Menu Three

Strawberry ‘No Churn’ Ice-Cream

Another ice-cream recipe using condensed milk, so once again super easy – no ice-cream maker needed. By roasting the strawberries the flavour becomes more intense; I have tried making it without roasting the strawberries and believe me it definitely makes a difference, so it is worth the effort!

*You can see the video of this dessert being made by clicking on this link to my Instagram Page

1kg strawberries, hulled and sliced (plus extra to serve – optional)

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 can (397g) condensed milk

500ml double cream

1. Put the strawberries on a baking try lined with greaseproof paper. Sprinkle over the sugar and toss to combine, spreading them out in one layer. Place in a preheated oven, 160’c fan. Roast for 45 minutes, then stir and cook for a further 15 minutes.
2. Remove from the oven and place the strawberries in a processor to blend until smooth. Leave to cool completely.
3. Add the condensed milk and vanilla extract to the cooled strawberry mixture, beat with a handheld electric beater to aerate for about a minute.
4. Place the cream in another bowl and beat into stiff peaks.
5. Add a dollop of cream to the strawberry mixture, fold through and continue to gently add the remaining cream to combine.
6. Tip the strawberry mixture into a container (with a lid). To stop ice crystals forming, cover the mixture with a sheet of greaseproof paper before putting the lid on.
7. Freeze.
8. Remove from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving to soften.

Like many of you, this year my summer holiday plans have been scuppered due to the ‘pandemic’. Normally we spend our summer break in Italy, last week reality struck (not for the first time), and I started to yearn for the Italian sun and particularly the food. Over the years, we have been fortunate in building strong friendships with Italians from the local area we visit, and have often joined them at their family dinner table to taste the true flavours of ‘La Cucina’. I have enjoyed being the ‘hovering’ chef as my friend Betti has cooked, among other things, a spaghetti vongole – revealing that the very best Italian vongoles are made with prosecco or sparkling wine. After tasting the result I’m not going to argue with her; perhaps it’s my imagination – perhaps it’s just the Tuscan sun, but it seems to make the sauce a little sweeter. Other times we’ve enjoyed a whole roast suckling pig, or simply ‘lardo’ with chestnut honey. I always remember when our late, very dear friend, Franco introduced us to lardo over 17 years ago, I looked at the white ‘fat’ and really didn’t fancy it, but for want of not appearing rude I soldiered on…it was a revelation, particularly drizzled with chestnut honey – a beautiful combination of sweet and salty! These days it’s possible to buy lardo from good Italian delicatessens in the UK, if you haven’t already tried it, I urge you to, particularly if you can find ‘lardo di Colonnata’.

We have visited the same family run ‘bagno’ (beach club) for more years than I wish to admit. Most of these family run ‘bagni’ have their own trattoria’s which serve incredible pastas, simple but delicious. Concetta, the cook at our bagno, serves among other things a delicious Spaghetti alle Frutti de Mare – a real treat at lunchtime after a morning on the beach. Knowing how I love cooking, she always likes to tell me, with animation and pride, her recipes for the sauces, and on occasion I have even been invited into her little kitchen – a great honour! But alas this year our aperitivi in the Piazzas, al fresco dinners, and late evening ‘passeggiate’  with a gelato will have to wait until next year. So in the meantime, I thought that this week I would present a version of my Italian menu which, English weather permitting, we can enjoy al fresco, and perhaps if I close my eyes whilst savouring these Italian recipes, I can imagine that I’m really on my Italian holiday!…

To start with I’m sharing my recipe for Spaghetti Vongole, then, for the taste of a true Tuscan feast, menu two is ‘Tagliata’ steak with a herb dressing. Naturally I couldn’t go to Italy without having a fish dish, so for menu three I’ve chosen an easy ‘all in one’ recipe, Baked Sea Bass with Fennel and Potatoes. To end my Italian feast I have, of course, chosen gelato; a ‘no churn’ coffee and cardamom ice-cream, incredibly easy to make yet soft and creamy – just like a real Italian gelato. Finally, for my husband Nick, I’m sharing the recipe for a Negroni, his favourite Italian tipple!

Spaghetti alle Vongole (Serves 4)

This dish is one of my all-time favourites – one of ‘my last supper’ dishes. It is extremely simple to cook and ready in minutes! I really do believe that using prosecco or sparkling wine improves the flavour of the sauce – giving it a sweetness. I buy the mini 20cl bottles of prosecco from my supermarket. I like more rather than less clams, so I suggest 1.25kg for 4 people, but you could use 1kg.

400g spaghetti

1.25kg small clams, such as palourdes (see note above)

200ml prosecco or sparkling wine (a 20cl bottle)

40g unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 garlic cloves, 2 sliced, 2 chopped

¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 bunch of parsley, chopped

1. Firstly, rinse the clams in cold water, making sure that they are all closed – tap on those that are open and discard them if they do not close, and discard those with cracked or damaged shells.
2. Put the clams in a saucepan over a medium to high heat, add 150ml of the prosecco. Cover with a lid and cook for a few minutes, occasionally shaking the pan. You will be able to hear the clams popping open as they cook. Remove the lid to check if the clams have opened, if there are still some unopened continue to cook for a minute or two.
3. Drain the clams in a sieve over a bowl – you need to keep the cooking liquid.
4. There maybe a couple of clams that will not open – discard these. Put 12 clams with their shells to one side, these will serve as decoration. Remove the remaining clams from their shells(discard the shells). You will be left with a small bowl of clams and the 12 with their shells.
5. Start cooking the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet until al dente.
6. Meanwhile cook the vongole sauce. Melt 30g of the butter and the oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic, lemon zest and chilli flakes, fry for a minute or so until the garlic is just beginning to colour.
7. Add 150ml of the reserved cooking liquid, the remaining 150ml of prosecco and the lemon juice. Cook over a medium to high heat, allowing it to bubble and reduce by about half.
8. Add the remaining 10g of butter which will slightly thicken the sauce, and all of the clams including those with their shells plus the chopped parsley, cook for a further minute. Check seasoning.
9. Finally, drain the cooked spaghetti, add to the frying pan and mix well with the clams.
10. Serve, placing four clam shells on each of the plates.

*Visit my Instagram Page to see a video of this recipe being cooked!

Tagliata Steak with a Herb Dressing and a Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette (Serves 4)

The Italian word ‘tagliata’ means sliced and this is exactly what ‘Tagliata’ is – sliced steak. Often in Italy they use the T-bone cut for this recipe, so that you get both the fillet and sirloin. However I find that it is easier and quicker to cook sirloin steaks at home, and to slice these before serving. The dressing is one which I have taken from Nina Parker’s ‘Nina’s St Tropez’ cookbook, it is quite light so does not overpower the steak. I would serve this dish with baby roast potatoes or the oven chips from my ‘staple side dishes’ and a salad of your choice dressed with a tarragon vinaigrette.

3-4 sirloin steaks (depending on how hungry you are)

Olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

Herb Dressing

1 anchovy fillet (tinned), chopped

60ml olive oil

Large bunch of tarragon, chopped

Handful parsley, chopped

Juice of ½ lemon

½ teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

20g unsalted butter

1 clove garlic, chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Remove steaks from fridge to bring to room temperature
2. Meanwhile make the sauce – put the chopped anchovy in a bowl with all but 1 tablespoon of the oil, add the herbs, lemon juice, sugar and vinegar. Then, in a small saucepan heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil with the butter, when hot add the garlic, cook for a moment before adding the mixture to the bowl with the herbs. Give everything a good stir and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm whilst you deal with the steaks.
3. Lightly brush the steaks with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and a little black pepper.
4. Heat a frying pan until very hot. Place the steaks in the pan and cook for about 1½ minutes of each side for rare or a little longer depending on your taste. I also like to turn the steaks on their ‘fat’ edge, for 30 seconds to crisp it up.
5. Remove the steaks to a plate to rest for about 10 minutes in a warm place.
6. Pour the juices which will have seeped from the resting steaks into the bowl with the dressing. Slice each steak.
7. Serve the slices on a large plate with a little of the dressing sprinkled over and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to the table so that everyone can help themselves, with the remaining dressing in a bowl.

Tarragon Vinaigrette

Make up a salad as desired and dress with this tarragon vinaigrette:

¼ teaspoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

¼ teaspoon sugar

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Pound the garlic with a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar. Add the rest a of the ingredients and mix well.

Sea Bass Baked with Fennel & Potato served with Salad and a Lemon Vinaigrette (Serves 4)

This is a simple ‘all in one dish’ – you simply cook the sea bass over the vegetables. I found this recipe in Sally Clarke’s book ‘ Thirty Ingredients’. Sally Clarke has had a restaurant (and a bakery/shop) in North Kensington for many years, if you get the chance to eat there I would definitely recommend it, it is a lovely experience, she is renowned for using the best fresh, seasonal ingredients. I like to serve it with a salad with lemon vinaigrette.

4 sea bass fillets, pin boned (ask your fishmonger to do this)

3 Désirée potatoes (or other roasting potatoes)

2 fennel bulbs

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

60ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

4 bay leaves

Peelings from an orange

1 bunch of dill, leaves picked

100ml orange juice

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Although your fishmonger would have pin boned the fish fillets, I suggest you go over them again with tweezers – by doing this you really will avoid bones in your cooked dish.
2. Peel and slice the potatoes thickly. Slice the fennel bulbs and reserve any leafy fronds.
3. Toast the fennel seeds in a small frying pan until fragrant (a few seconds), then crush with a pestle and mortar.
4. Place the vegetables in a roasting tin with the olive oil, salt and pepper, bay leaves, orange peel, half of the dill leaves and half of the crushed fennel seeds. Mix together using your hands and spread out flat in the tin.
5. Place the tin in preheated oven, 180’c fan, roast for about 25 minutes, until the vegetables are almost tender.
6. Once the vegetables are almost tender, place the sea bass fillets on top, skin side up, sprinkle with the rest of the fennel seeds, remaining dill leaves, the fennel fronds, salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
7. Bake for 5 minutes then pour the orange juice over the vegetables – not over the fish, as you want the skin to crisp!
8. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes until the fish is just cooked and the skin is crisp.
9. Serve with a green salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette – I also like to sprinkle some of the reserved fennel fronds over the salad.

‘Staple Side Dish’ – Lemon Vinaigrette

Make up a salad as desired and dress with this lemon vinaigrette:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

finely grated zest and juice of half unwaxed lemon

pinch of sugar

sea salt and black pepper

1. Whisk all the ingredients together.

Coffee and Cardamom ‘No Churn’ Ice-Cream

Condensed Milk Ice-Cream has become very popular in recent years, and it is no surprise considering how very easy it is to make – no need for an ice-cream machine! I first came across ice-cream made with condensed milk some years ago, in a cookbook by Nigella Lawson, I have since tried many different versions and this recipe with coffee and cardamom is one of my favourites. It is great served alone or as an ‘affogato‘ (with a shot of espresso poured over it – as pictured above)

2 tablespoons instant espresso

10 green cardamom pods

300ml double cream

175g condensed milk

1. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and grind with a pestle and mortar.
2. Mix the instant espresso and the ground cardamom seeds with 2 tablespoons of boiling water, leave to cool.
3. Beat the cream and condensed milk together using electric beaters until the mixture is quite thick, then stir in the spiced coffee.
4. Place in a container, cover with a piece of greaseproof paper (this stops ice crystals forming) and a lid, then freeze.
5. To serve, remove from the freezer about 5-10 minutes before serving so that it softens.

Negroni

50ml Gin

50ml Campari

50ml Red Vermouth

1 slice of orange, halved

Ice

1. Fill a glass with ice and pour over the ingredients, stir well, add the halved orange slice and serve – how simple is that?!

This week’s first menu was tried and tested, successfully, at my recent ‘virtual’ dinner party. My sister lives further afield so it has not been possible to meet up in the flesh, instead we have been using Zoom, for chats and a couple of family quizzes.  I thought it was time to spice up our chats, and so I suggested a virtual dinner party in which we would both cook exactly the same dinner and enjoy it together. The dinner menu had to be easy to synchronise between our households, so I decided on a risotto which is cooked in the oven. Before we met up, we each prepped our dishes to the stage before adding the rice. Our dinner party started with a couple of cocktails together, both my sister and I opted for espresso martinis, then, synchronising our clocks we added the stock to the risotto and placed it in the oven. Meanwhile we opened a bottle of wine to accompany our antipasti of cold meats, and forty-five minutes later, risotto was served promptly in both households with a green salad.

There is something about sharing food that always makes being with friends and family better. Even though we were miles away from each other, Zoom managed to connect our kitchens with all their clatter and atmosphere, so much so that we almost forgot about our dessert, already made earlier in the day – a lemon posset with some raspberries. It was a lovely evening, our families can always speak for hours but this Zoom call exceeded all expectations – simply because there was food! If you haven’t already tried the concept of a virtual dinner party with your far afield friends and family, I urge you to try it, it’s a novelty which I am sure you will repeat again and again!

Anyway, onto this week’s menus…those of you who are vegetarian will be thrilled to hear that the risotto is perfect for you  – a mushroom risotto with a touch of Madeira wine! The second menu is lamb chops with a pomegranate molasses marinade, a dish which has the taste of a Greek summer escape – just what we need right now, when escaping abroad is not an easy option! Finally I’m sharing the recipes for the lemon posset and of course, the espresso martini!

Enjoy!…

Menu One

Oven Baked Mushroom Risotto and a Green Salad with Sherry Vinegar Vinaigrette (Serves 3-4)

Oven baked risotto is more common these days, but when I found this recipe about 18 years ago in a Delia Smith cookbook, it was a revelation – it is such an easy and hands free dish. There is of course, still a time and a place for conventional risotto; I must admit that I find stove top risotto a rather relaxing, therapeutic exercise, but when you are in a hurry or simply want to enjoy the company of your family and friends instead of concentrating on the stove, this recipe is a blessing. It is also very tasty! Just two rules when cooking this dish – follow the cook times precisely and serve immediately. The portions of this recipe are quite small, so if you are very hungry I would double the recipe to make two dishes. I like to serve the risotto with a salad dressed with a sherry vinegar vinaigrette as it compliments the flavour perfectly. The Maderia wine is an important element to this recipe, although you won’t use the whole bottle, once opened it can be stored in the fridge for many months without deteriorating; I always have a bottle in my fridge as a small glug can lift the flavour of many sauces!

10g dried porcini

225g  flat, dark gilled mushrooms(or Portobello mushrooms)

60 g unsalted butter

1 onion, chopped

175g Carnaroli risotto rice

150ml Dry Maderia

2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated; plus about 50g shaved into flakes with a potato peeler

Sea salt and black pepper

(You will need an oven proof dish with 1.5litre capacity – approx. 23cm with a 5cm depth)

1. Begin by soaking the porcini in a bowl with 570ml boiling water, leave to soften for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile chop the fresh mushrooms into about 1cm cubes, no smaller as they will shrink with cooking.
3. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the onion, gently cook to soften for about 5 minutes. Add the fresh mushrooms, stir well. Leave the pan to one side whilst you deal with the soaked porcini.
4. After the porcini have soaked for 30 minutes, place a sieve, lined with a double layer of kitchen roll, over a bowl, and strain the mushrooms, reserving the liquid – squeeze the mushrooms out in the kitchen roll.
5. Chop the porcini finely and add to the pan with the mushrooms and onions. Gently sweat for about 20 minutes, so that the juices are released.
6. Meanwhile place a baking dish in a preheated oven, 150’c fan, to warm.
7. Add the rice and stir it around to get a good coating of butter, then add the Maderia and the strained soaking liquid. Add a teaspoon of salt, some black pepper, and bring to simmering point.
8. Transfer the risotto mix from the pan to the warmed dish, stir and place in the oven. Set the timer and give it exactly 20 minutes
9. After 20 minutes, gently stir in the parmesan. Return to the oven for exactly 15 minutes, then remove from the oven. Serve immediately with the shavings of parmesan sprinkled over and a green salad.

Sherry Vinegar Vinaigrette

Make up a salad as desired and dress with this vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon honey

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Whisk all the ingredients together.

Menu Two

Pomegranate and Honey Glazed Chops with a Radish and Cucumber Tzatziki served with Rice (Serves 4)

This recipe is from Diana Henry’s cookbook ‘Pure, Simple Cooking’, it is one of those cookbooks which I find myself going back to again and again, it has lots of really simple yet stunning recipes. This recipe has the flavours of Greece, it is a perfect summer dish, and if the UK weather permits, even better al fresco! I like to serve it with white long grain rice. Make sure you allow time to marinate the chops, anything from 1-24 hours – but the longer the tastier!..

8 thick lamb chops (chump chops)

Olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

Marinade:

2½ tablespoons pomegranate molasses

8 tablespoons olive oil

1½ tablespoons honey

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Radish and Cucumber Tzatziki

200g radishes, finely sliced

½ cucumber, cut into small cubes

300g plain Greek-style yogurt

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons mint, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

To serve:

Large bunch of coriander, leaves picked

Olive oil

1 lemon

3 tablespoons of fresh pomegranate seeds

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together, coat the chops generously and leave to marinate, refrigerated, for 1 to 24 hours.
2. To make the Tzatziki simply mix the radishes, cucumber, yogurt and garlic together, then stir through the mint leaves and olive oil.
3. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, cook the chops for about 3 minutes on each side, do not have the heat up too high otherwise you will burn the honey and pomegranate mixture.
4. Serve the chops on a bed of the coriander leaves, dressed with a little olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and the tzatziki on the side, sprinkle over pomegranate seeds. Serve with rice.

Menu Three

Lemon Posset with Raspberries (Serves 4-6)

There are lots of slightly different variations of this simple, summer dessert; over the years I have tried a few and this is my favourite…

600ml double cream

150g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

4 tablespoons of lemon juice (from above lemons)

Raspberries to serve

1. Combine the cream, sugar and lemon zest in a small pan over a low heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved, when bubbles start to appear around the edges of the mixture continue to cook without stirring for 2 minutes – Do Not let the mixture come to a rolling boil!
2. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, then strain through a sieve into a jug.
3. Pour into small dishes or glasses to serve. This is a rich dessert, so I would keep the portions on the small side.
4. Cover each dish with cling film and refrigerate for at least two hours until set.
5. Serve with raspberries.

Menu Four

Espresso Martini (Serves 2)

Another of my favourite cocktails!  If you haven’t got a cocktail shaker use a lidded jam jar. To create a creamy head on the cocktail make sure that the espresso is hot. This recipe will give you two servings – to share or not to share…?!

65ml vodka

75ml coffee liqueur (such as Kahlua or Tia Maria)

75ml hot espresso(see above)

6 coffee beans (optional)

1. Chill 2 Martini glasses.
2. Put the vodka, coffee liqueur and freshly brewed espresso into a cocktail shaker (or a lidded jam jar), with a handful of ice.
3. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds, then strain into the glasses. Top each with 3 coffee beans, if you like.

I had an adventure outside of London this week or rather a trek…we had to go up to York for the day to clear out Felix’s room at university. Normally when we visit York, we use it as an excuse to have a ‘mini’ weekend break. Those of you who know York will understand why – it really is a beautiful city and a real treat for a ‘foodie’ like me; for those of you who haven’t visited it yet, make sure you put it on your list of new places to visit when life returns to ‘normal’!

Although rules have been recently lifted and we could have found somewhere to stay overnight, I didn’t really fancy it under the current conditions, so unfortunately, our visit was a rather exhausting day trip, seven hours on the road. Before going, the question of food was high on my list of priorities – what would we do for lunch? Although restaurants are trying to get back to a ‘new norm’, I decided that the logistics would be too complicated, so the idea of a picnic crossed my mind. I must admit, I’ve never really been a ‘picnic person’, it brings back memories of family picnics in the seventies – soggy tomato and cucumber sandwiches in tupperware. I wanted to prepare something that would travel well, no sweaty sandwiches for me! I decided to make a roast spatchcock chicken and serve it with a melon, artichoke, walnut salad, all ingredients which would travel well and not wilt. It was a great success; the salad is a meal in itself, so if you’re a vegetarian I urge you to make it!

This week I’m sharing these recipes with you, as not only do they make a great summer dinner menu, but also, as lockdown eases and we are beginning to venture further afield for days out, they are an ideal choice for a picnic – something we may be having more often this summer as the rules for restaurants continue to be tight. The second menu this week is a lovely, summer fish recipe, a fillet of sole with a sauce vierge served simply with fine green beans and steamed new potatoes. The sauce vierge also features in my third menu; as an alternative dish, this sauce is delicious served with spaghetti, creating a great summer pasta dish with the added bonus of being vegetarian!

Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can share with you a ‘proper’ visit to York and some of the restaurants that I have visited, which will hopefully inspire some new menus on Menu Mistress, watch this space!…

In the meantime lets enjoy these summer menus…

Menu One

Spatchcock Chicken with Rosemary, Garlic and Chilli served with Melon, Artichoke & Walnut Salad (Serves 4 -6)

Spatchcock Chicken with Rosemary, Garlic and Chilli (Serves 4-6)

Spatchcock Chicken is a great way to roast a chicken – it enables the chicken to cook quicker and is a lot easier to carve. The rosemary, garlic and chilli oil in this recipe, is a particular favourite of mine, it is a tasty and a very simple way of seasoning the chicken. If  you get your chicken from your butcher, ask him to spatchcock it for you, alternatively it is very easy to do yourself…

How to Spatchcock a Chicken:

On the backside of the chicken, using a pair of strong kitchen scissors, cut along either side of the back bone to remove it, then flip the chicken over and press down very firmly its the breast bones, it will give a satisfying crack as it flattens! Some people like to insert skewers to help keep the chicken flat during cooking but in my experience they make no difference, so I prefer not to use them as they make it more difficult to carve the bird.

Click here to watch the video on me spatchcocking a chicken on my Instagram Page!

1 x 1.8 – 2.25kg chicken, spatchcocked

1 teaspoon of sea salt flakes

For the marinade:

1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary (about 3 sprigs)

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (about 20 grinds of a pepper grinder)

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

Juice of half a lemon

4 tablespoons olive oil

1. Firstly make the marinade by combining all the ingredients together.
2. Cover the chicken all over with the marinade – I use a brush to do this.
3. Place it breast side up, flattened out, in a roasting tin. Sprinkle over with the sea salt flakes.
4. Place in a preheated oven 180’c fan, for 45-50 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken.

Melon, Artichoke & Walnut Salad (Serves 4)

This is a great salad to accompany chicken but also, served alone, it is a meal in itself  – a great recipe for vegetarians! The vinaigrette is really tasty and worth remembering for other salads. I discovered this recipe in Gino D’Acampo’s cookbook ‘Gino’s Islands in the Sun’, which concentrates on recipes from Sardinia and Sicily, offering Italian cooking with a twist from these islands. If you are, thinking of taking this salad out and about on a picnic, carry the prepared ingredients separately (the vinaigrette in a small jar, the melon, artichokes, rocket and walnuts in separate containers) and combine when ready to serve.

1 cantaloupe melon

175g chargrilled artichoke hearts in oil, drained and roughly chopped

50g walnuts, roughly chopped

70g rocket leaves

For the vinaigrette:

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

4 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Whisk together the ingredients of the vinaigrette.
2. Cut the melon into wedges and remove the seeds, cut each wedge into 2cm chunks.
3. Place the melon in a large bowl, add the rocket leaves, artichoke pieces and walnuts.
4. Pour over the vinaigrette and toss together to mix.

Menu Two

Fillet of Sole with Sauce Vierge, Green Fine Beans and Steamed New Potatoes (Serves 4)

Sauce vierge is a french sauce generally made with tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice and herbs, there are many variations but my favourite version is one I found in a cookbook by Nina Parker, ‘Nina’s St Tropez’. It balances the flavours of the vinegar and lemon juice perfectly with the herbs, and is an ideal accompaniment to a delicate fish like sole. It is also a great sauce for pasta – so keep any leftovers for lunch the next day (see menu three below)! This fish dish should be kept simple so that the delicate flavour of the sole is not overpowered – so  serve simply with fine green beans and steamed new potatoes.

2 large knobs of unsalted butter

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 clove of garlic, finely sliced

4 sole fillets

Juice of 1 lemon, plus one lemon quartered to serve

Sea salt and black pepper

For the Sauce Vierge:

2 spring onions, finely sliced

2 shallots, finely chopped

Bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

300g tomatoes, about 4 medium

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons caster sugar

Juice ½ lemon

60ml olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, deseed, discarding any liquid – pat them dry on kitchen roll, slice into strips, then finely dice, add to a bowl along with the other sauce ingredients, mix well and season to taste.
2. To cook the sole, melt a knob of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over a medium-high heat, add half the garlic. Reduce the heat to medium, add two of the fillets, skin side down, cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Just before turning the fish add half of the lemon juice. Carefully turn the fish over and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.
4. Remove to a warmed plate whilst you cook the other 2 fillets in the same way.
5. Serve immediately with the sauce vierge and the lemon wedges, fine green beans and steamed new potatoes.

Menu Three

Spaghetti with Sauce Vierge (Serves 4)

This is a perfect summer pasta dish, a delicious ‘no cook’ sauce for spaghetti with the added bonus of being vegetarian!

400g Spaghetti

Sauce Vierge – recipe above

1. Make up the sauce vierge – see recipe above.
2. Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions until al dente.
3. Drain the spaghetti and mix with the sauce vierge.