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.

Zoom calls definitely became the new ‘norm’ during lockdown and for many of us, a means of keeping sane, allowing us to see friends and family outside of our ‘bubble’. Over the recent weeks I have continued to use my Zoom account for chats, quizzes, exercise classes, Italian and French classes, and this week for a wine tasting!…

A wine tasting certainly adds another dimension to any Zoom call! We ordered the same four bottles of wine as our friends and then met up, virtually, to share them; it was the perfect excuse to meet up with our friends who live further afield. Four bottles of wine were a little too much for Nick and I to drink alone in one evening(!), but fortunately we own a coravin system, which allows us to siphon off a glass of wine from a bottle without opening it. It is a genius system; a fine needle enters the bottle through the cork, allowing you to access the wine replacing it with argon gas which stops the remaining bottled wine from deteriorating – I would definitely recommend it.

Anyway, with our friends online and the wine bottles at the ready, we just needed a dinner to soak up the alcohol, but one that wouldn’t interfere with the flavours of the vintage (or keep me tied to the stove)! So a simple steak was on the menu, with just a salad on the side. This led me to thinking about this week’s menus for Menu Mistress, don’t worry I’m not just giving you a recipe for plain steak – I’m sure you are quite capable of working that one out for yourselves! Instead, I thought I would share a really special recipe for steak with a whisky sauce, which I came across years ago, it is a recipe that continues to attract lots of compliments whenever I make it. I suggest you serve it with homemade oven chips and a big salad of your choice, dressed with a mustard and honey dressing – this dressing compliments the sauce of the steak perfectly.

After the treat of a steak dinner, I thought I’d give you a more frugal menu, a very tasty pasta recipe which has fresh flavours, perfect for this season (and I’m suggesting a vegetarian option!). Finally, as a special treat, a simple dessert which is easy to make on any weekday – the classic Eton Mess!…

Enjoy!

Menu One

Spiced Steaks with a Whisky Sauce, Homemade Oven Chips and a Salad with a Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette (Serves 4)

Spiced Steaks with a Whisky Sauce

Steak, whisky and spices may sound a strange combination, but believe me, they really do work together and add an extra special dimension to a simple steak. I urge you to try this recipe!…The quality of the whisky does make a difference, so use the best you have, the smokier the better. Start by making the chips and the salad/vinaigrette; cook the steaks about 5 – 10 minutes before the chips have finished cooking .

2 teaspoons Schwartz Jamaican Jerk seasoning (or mix one teaspoon each of allspice and chilli powder, plus a generous pinch of sugar)

2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

2 tablespoons mixed peppercorns

4 beef fillet or sirloin steaks

4 tablespoons olive oil

10 tablespoons whisky

15g unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

150 ml beef stock

2 level tablespoons redcurrant jelly

6 tablespoons double cream

1. Crush together the salt and peppercorns with a pestle and mortar (or the end of a rolling pin), mix with the jerk seasoning (or spice and sugar mixture).
2. Use 1 tablespoon of the oil to lightly coat the steaks and press each side into the spice mix. Leave for 20-30 minutes.
3. Heat a frying pan with the remaining olive oil and add the steaks (normally I don’t add oil to the pan when I’m frying steaks, I just oil them, but this recipe needs extra oil in the pan otherwise the spices will burn). I like my steak on the rare side, so I cook them for 1½ minutes on each side depending on the thickness. Cook for longer, depending on your taste.
4. Remove the steaks to rest on a plate whilst you make the sauce. Add the knob of butter to the pan, along with the chopped garlic and the whisky.
5. When the whisky has warmed through, very carefully light the sauce using a long kitchen match. When the flames have died down add the stock, redcurrant jelly and double cream.
6. Lightly whisk, so that the redcurrant jelly melts into the sauce. Continue to heat through gently, until it is reduced and slightly thickened.
7. Serve the sauce straightaway with the steaks and their juices, the oven chips and a salad with honey-mustard dressing.

Homemade Oven Chips (Serves 4)

I always serve these when we have steak; they are easy to prepare, proving that there is no need for a stinking chip pan in order to have good chips! It is important to use baking potatoes for this recipe as they crisp up better.

3-4 baking potatoes, depending on the size and how hungry you are

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven 200’c fan.
2. Cut the potatoes into thick chips, there is no need to peel them.
3. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the chips, boil for 4 minutes then drain well.
4. Coat the chips with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and lay them out in single layer on a baking tray.
5. Place in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, turning a few times during cooking.
6. Serve immediately.

Staple Side Dish – Salad with a Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette

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

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

4 tablespoons olive oil

Finely grated zest and juice of half an unwaxed lemon

1 teaspoon of honey

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Whisk all the ingredients together.

Menu Two

Penne with Pea and Mascarpone Sauce (Serves 4)

Another recipe from my beloved cookbook ‘A Passion for Pasta’ by the late Antonio Carluccio. You could cook this dish with your eyes closed, it really is that easy, and will be ready to eat in 15 minutes! For those of you who are vegetarian you can leave out the smoked bacon – instead add a pinch of paprika to give a little smokiness.

50g unsalted butter

150g smoked back bacon, cut into strips

450g tomato passata

200g frozen peas

8 basil leaves

150g mascarpone cheese

375g penne pasta

75g freshly grated parmesan cheese

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the bacon strips, cook until beginning to crisp.
2. Add the tomato passata and the peas, cook for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile cook the penne according to the instructions on the packet, until al dente.
4. Add the mascarpone cheese and the basil leaves to the sauce, stir until warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Drain the penne, add to the sauce, finally mix in the parmesan cheese.

Menu Three

Strawberry Eton Mess (Serves 4)

There are numerous recipes for Eton Mess, and I must admit to trying my fair share of them over the years!… I think this one has the perfect balance of ingredients. In my opinion, life is too short to be making meringue to be broken up for an Eton Mess, so for this recipe I recommend you use shop bought meringue; I particularly like the meringue nests by Waitrose, which are slightly chewy in the middle. It is important to assemble this dessert at the last minute as otherwise the meringue will go soggy in the cream. (I do have a fantastic recipe for meringue which I use for Pavlova, I will be sharing that recipe in the future on Menu Mistress!…)

450g strawberries, hulled

1 rounded tablespoon icing sugar

300ml double cream

4 meringue nests (see note above)

1. Place half the strawberries in a blender with the icing sugar and whizz until puréed.
2. Pass the purée through a sieve to remove the seeds.
3. Whip up the cream until it is just floppy – not too stiff.
4. Chop up the remaining strawberries and break up the meringues into roughly 1inch pieces.
5. To assemble (see note above): in a bowl, gently mix the meringues and strawberries (reserve a few for decoration) into the cream and gently fold in about 2 tablespoons of the purée.
6. Spoon the mixture into individual bowls, top with the reserved strawberries and pour over more of the purée.
7. Serve straightaway!

I had a night out at the theatre this week, or rather a ‘night out at home’ with lockdown theatre. I was fortunate to get some tickets for the Old Vic’s live,  performance of ‘Lungs’ starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith who were acting at social distance(?!). 24 hours before the production began, we were sent a link and had to be in our seats or rather on our sofa’s for an 8pm prompt start on Saturday – just like an evening at the theatre! I decided to take our ‘night out/in’ very seriously and dressed up as if we were really going out – this is how desperate I am becoming under lockdown at home!

As of course there are very few restaurants serving pre-theatre dinner, I had to cook it myself! I didn’t want to be slaving over the stove just before the main event, so I needed something that I could put in the oven and forget about whilst I took my time getting ready and having a pre-theatre cocktail – an Old Fashioned! A perfect dish for this, needing no last minute attention, was a recipe which I have for Lemon Chilli Chicken, whilst for dessert, I decided on one of the simplest desserts possible, an Affogato.

‘Lungs’ was a great success, I must admit that I was a little sceptical before Saturday night’s show, but I was extremely impressed with how powerful the performances were despite being broadcast via Zoom; the evening felt particularly special, knowing that they were acting live, just down the road from us at the empty Old Vic. Apparently the recorded production will be shown via YouTube sometime in July, so watch out for it – I would definitely recommend it; if you have a family or are contemplating one, the subject matter will be particularly moving (no spoilers!).

My pre-theatre dinner (including the cocktail!), is one of this week’s menus on Menu Mistress – as I demonstrated it is an extremely easy dinner to prepare, you just need to remember to marinate it 24hrs beforehand. The other menu is a fresh tasting prawn stir fry, the vegetarians among you could substitute the prawns for cashew nuts and baby corn or cauliflower florets, either way serve the stir fry with the slightly spiced cucumber salad, perfect for a summer evening!…

Menu One

Lemon & Chilli Chicken, Salad and a Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette

(Serves 4)

This is a recipe that I came across years ago in a magazine. Despite having chilli in it, it is not a spicy dish, as there is also honey in the marinade; I use orange blossom honey as is has a delicate floral flavour, great for a summer dish, but you could use any runny honey. The key to this dish is remembering to marinate it 24hours beforehand as it really makes a difference, other than that this dish sorts itself out  – just pop it in the oven and serve with a large salad (and if you are really hungry some potatoes or rice).

8 chicken thighs

4 lemons

12 unskinned garlic cloves

2 small red chillies, seeded and chopped

3 tablespoons of orange blossom honey (see note above)

4 tablespoons of chopped parsley

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Halve the lemons and squeeze out the juice, reserving the squeezed lemon halves.
2. Skin and crush two of the garlic cloves, mix them with the lemon juice, chillies, the honey and seasoning. Stir well and pour over the chicken, pack the lemon halves around the chicken. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight (see note above), turning once or twice.
3. When you are ready to cook the chicken, turn the chicken pieces skin side up and scatter over the remaining garlic cloves(unskinned), keep the lemons packed around the chicken pieces.
4. Place in a preheated oven 200’c fan, for about 45mins until cooked through and well browned.
5. Scatter over the parsley; serve with the lovely pan juices and the garlic cloves which will now be beautifully soft, ready to be popped out of their skins! (you can use the lemon halves for decoration).

Salad with a Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette

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

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

4 tablespoons olive oil

Finely grated zest and juice of half an unwaxed lemon

1 teaspoon of honey

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Whisk all the ingredients together.

Menu Two

Prawn Stir Fry with Basil, Chilli & Lime served with Rice and a Spiced Cucumber Salad (Serves 4)

This recipe is taken from Diana Henry’s cookbook ‘How to Eat a Peach’, it is a beautiful book (the cover is textured like a peach skin!), the recipes are grouped into menus according to the season. This recipe is super easy to cook, just prepare all the ingredients so they can be quickly thrown in the pan, ready to cook in minutes. The cucumber salad is an important accompaniment as its subtle spice gives the whole dish more depth. Start by preparing the rice, I like long grain or sticky white rice with this stir fry. Whilst the rice is cooking prepare the cucumber salad and all of the ingredients for the stir fry, then start cooking it just as the rice is cooked. If you are gluten free, use gluten free soy sauce for the cucumber salad. *For a vegetarian option I would replace the prawns with a large handful of cashew nuts and some baby corn or cauliflower florets!

*You can see the video of this dish being made by clicking on this link to my instagram page

Prawn Stir Fry with Basil, Chilli & Lime

350g raw, shelled king prawns (defrosted if frozen)

200g sugar snap peas

1 tablespoon groundnut oil

2 red chillies and 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced (use less according to taste)

4 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons caster sugar

Juice of lime

20g basil leaves, picked

unsalted peanuts, chopped, to serve (optional)

1. Dry the prawns on kitchen roll – the drier they are, the better they fry.
2. Halve the sugar snap peas along their lengths, so that the peas peep out.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok, when hot, add the sugar snaps, fry for about 30 seconds.
4. Add the prawns, chillies and garlic, reduce the heat a little and cook until the prawns turn pink.
5. Add the fish sauce, sugar and lime, stir it all around until the sugar has dissolved, finally throw in the basil leaves.
6. Serve straight away, with rice and the spiced cucumber salad (sprinkle with chopped peanuts if using).

Spiced Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon of caster sugar

1-2 teaspoons mild chilli powder (according to your taste)

4 spring onions, finely sliced

2 teaspoons of sesame oil (optional)

Black sesame seeds (optional)

1. Cut the cucumber into wafer thin slices
2. Mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and chilli powder in a bowl (depending on how spicy you would like it, you can add more or less chilli)
3. Toss the cucumber into the bowl along with the spring onions, and if using, also add the sesame oil and seeds.

Menu Three – A Little Treat!

An Affogato and an “Old Fashioned’ Cocktail!

These two final recipes are two treats, a quick fix for any evening!…

Affogato

I am sure you all know the recipe for an affogato, but I think we often overlook its simplicity, and forget to make it (or rather I do!), so I thought I’d remind us all with the recipe. The word ‘affogato’ in Italian literally means ‘drowned’ and that is exactly what this recipe is – ice cream drowned in a shot of espresso coffee…

1 scoop of vanilla ice cream

1 shot of espresso coffee (hot!!)

1. Place the scoop of ice cream in a small bowl or cup and pour over the hot shot of espresso coffee.
2. That’s it!….The perfect pick me up!

An ‘Old Fashioned Cocktail

This cocktail is my guilty sin! Make sure you make it with bourbon, not whisky, as the  flavour of bourbon is sweeter whereas whisky has a smokier flavour –  it really makes a difference in this cocktail, I like to use ‘Makers Mark’.

60ml Bourbon (see note above)

A piece of orange peel

1 teaspoon of sugar syrup

3 dashes of angostura bitters

Ice cubes

Add the sugar syrup and the angostura bitters to a glass and with a few cubes of ice, hold the orange peel over the glass and squeeze it ‘to express the oils’ and then drop it into the glass, give everything a stir.

Add the Bourbon, stir again and serve…ahhh!

This week has once again flown by, speaking with friends it seems that this is a significant side effect of ‘lockdown’, a phenomenon that has taken us all by surprise; why does time fly by when we are staying at home, rather than living our normal, out and about, busy lives?!… My decision to start this blog was rather spontaneous, so life has become twice as busy. My second week as a ‘blogger’(!) has introduced a few new challenges. I have been continuing to try new recipes but for the first time I have been taking photos of everything I am cooking, at almost every stage, I have even learnt how to take a photo one handed whilst pouring stock into a pan in order to get an ‘action’ shot! As this proved to be rather precarious I bought a little tripod stand, and on Monday, in my venture to improve Menu Mistress, I shot my first cooking video(!), check it out on my social media pages – there’s a link at the bottom of this page! Meanwhile, my husband, Nick, has learnt that he has to wait for his food to be photographed before he can eat it!…

Those are just some of the challenges of cooking for the blog, in addition, navigating through the design of the website has been demanding to say the least, particularly as I am almost completely computer illiterate. There have been some frustrating hours but I must admit that it has been extremely satisfying when I have eventually managed to ‘embed’ a link or upload some photos (thanks to my son, Felix, for helping me navigate through ‘Wordpress’ etc and particularly his patience when I’ve had a ‘senior moment’!).

Before lockdown, Friday evenings were always the evening that Nick and I would have dinner out at a local restaurant. I must admit, eating out is the thing that I miss the most now that our lives have changed under COVID-19. Even though I enjoy cooking, I am not a saint, I do need a break from it now and again (perhaps I shouldn’t be admitting this on my second blog post?!), and last Friday, after a frustrating afternoon with the computer, the idea of cooking was exhausting. Fortunately, I had a simple recipe in mind, all the ingredients were at hand, I just needed a ‘Cook’…step in ‘Mr Menu’, Nick! The recipe was one that I was hoping to try out for the blog, a lemon, pea and prosciutto pasta – a little like a carbonara with a lemon twist, perfect, I thought for a summer menu. Nick is a capable cook so what could go wrong?… This is the reason that recipes need to be tried and tested for Menu Mistress, although it had only a few ingredients, this pasta dish needed to be balanced to perfection, and unfortunately the lemon was totally overpowering whilst the addition of cream made the dish too rich. It was a huge disappointment proving that the simplest recipe is not necessarily a winner. When you’re feeling exhausted and it’s the end of the day, the last thing you want is a failed dish for dinner, I want every recipe on Menu Mistress to work for each and everyone of you; for any cook at any level. Obviously that particular recipe won’t be posted on the blog!

Anyway enough talking, let’s start cooking, here are this week’s recipes – you won’t be disappointed, I have tried and tested each one and they are fool proof!… 

Menu One

Tarragon Chicken Pie with New Potatoes (Serves 4)

This is an absolute favourite in our house and one which Felix insists that I cook when he is back from university! It is a recipe that I picked up from a magazine years ago and have tweaked over the years. I’m gluten free, so unfortunately these days I can’t eat the pastry, but the filling is a treat in itself. I usually serve this with buttered new potatoes. I use ‘Jus Rol, Ready Rolled Puff Pastry’, they have started to make a gluten free puff pastry, I haven’t tried it, but I have heard mixed reviews and so for the moment I will continue to be an unselfish ‘head cook’ and stick to the normal pastry that both Nick and Felix love! I prefer to use fresh chicken stock, but you could use a stock cube.

320g pack of ready rolled puff pastry (see note above)

1 tablespoon olive oil

15g unsalted butter

3 spring onions, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

75g diced pancetta

500g chicken breast, cut into bite size cubes

225ml chicken stock (see note above)

250g frozen peas

8-10 sprigs of tarragon

3 slices of Prosciutto ham, each slice rolled and cut in to 2cm pieces/ribbons

2 tablespoons of double cream

Sea salt and black pepper

1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon of milk (for a glaze)

1. First of all, take the pastry out of the fridge as it needs at least 20 minutes to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven 200’c fan.
2. Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan, add the spring onions, shallots and pancetta, fry for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and fry for another 5 minutes.
4. Pour in the chicken stock and peas, bring to a simmer, and add the chopped leaves of 6-7 of the sprigs of tarragon. Cook for 5 minutes until the peas are tender.
5. Stir in the prosciutto and the cream, pour into a pie dish. Sprinkle over the chopped leaves of the remaining tarragon.
6. For the pastry top, gently lay out the pastry. Cut it into a circular shape to top the pie dish. I find that by cutting strips of the remaining pastry, pressing them around the rim of the pie dish and then topping with the pastry top, helps the pastry rise – see photo. I also cut out a few leaves for decoration, but obviously this doesn’t effect the flavour so if you’re in a hurry I’d leave this out! Lightly score the pastry with a criss-cross pattern to help it rise and make sure you cut out a deep cross in the centre to allow the steam to escape during cooking. Brush over with the egg and milk glaze.
7. Place in the preheated oven, bake for 25-30 minutes.
8. Serve with new potatoes.

Menu Two

Plaice with Almonds & Thyme with Baby Roast Potatoes and a Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette (Serves 4)

This is a lovely dinner, perfect for a summer evening and very easy to cook. Once again this week, I am serving Baby Roast Potatoes (from Delia Smith) and a Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette. These are ‘staple side dishes’, which you will no doubt see cropping up again on the recipe pages. You could, of course, use a different dressing for the salad, but in my opinion the lemon dressing really compliments the fish. The recipe for the plaice is from ‘Nina St Tropez’ by Nina Parker, this is a cookbook full of the flavours of the south of France, along with fantastic photographs of the beautiful Côte d’Azur!

The plaice cooks very quickly so it is important to get your timings right with the potatoes, they need about 30 minutes in the oven – therefore start cooking the fish 20 minutes after the potatoes have been put in the oven.

Plaice with Almonds and Thyme (serves 4)

If you are cooking this for four people you will have to cook two fish at a time as there won’t be enough space in the pan for four plaice fillets, therefore half the ingredients per pan accordingly (I have noted this in the recipe below). If you want to make this dish gluten free, substitute the flour for gluten free plain flour – I use ‘Doves’.

125g plain flour (or gluten free flour)

4 plaice fillets

20 g unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 – 8 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

40g blanched almonds halved lengthways

1 lemon cut into wedges to serve

Sea salt and black pepper

1. First of all, mix the thyme leaves, garlic and almonds together, half this mixture into two small bowls ready to add to the fish pan during cooking.
2.  Put the flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Dip each fillet into the flour, coating it thoroughly but shaking off any excess.
3. Melt half the butter and 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan, when it is beginning to sizzle add two of the plaice fillets (I find it easier to do them skin side up first). Fry for 2 minutes.
4. Carefully turn them over and add the herb mixture from one of the bowls, moving it around so that the almonds and garlic begin to colour. Cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove the plaice from the pan and pour over the herb/butter mixture, keep warm.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to cook the other 2 plaice fillets.
6. Serve immediately with the lemon wedges, the baby roast potatoes and a salad of your choice with a lemon vinaigrette.

‘A Staple Side Dish’ – Baby Roast Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary (serves 4-6)

900g unpeeled new potatoes washed and cut roughly into 1cm cubes

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, leaves chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons of olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven 200’c. Put the olive oil in a roasting tin and place in the oven to heat up.
2. Place the potatoes in a clean tea towel and dry them thoroughly.
3. Remove tin from the oven and carefully slide the potatoes into the hot fat. Sprinkle over the garlic and rosemary then stir around.
4. Cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

‘A Staple Side Dish’ – Salad with 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 an unwaxed lemon

pinch of sugar

sea salt and black pepper

1. Whisk all the ingredients together.

Menu Three

Penne Pasta with Sausage (Serves 4)

I regularly cook this pasta dish as not only is it very tasty but incredibly quick to make. Although just a pinch of nutmeg and cloves are added, they really do make the sauce. The recipe is from ‘Passion for Pasta’ by Antonio Carluccio, I first bought this book over 20 years ago, it became so tattered from over use that I had to buy a second copy! If you are gluten free, like me, you can use gluten free sausages – I get some great ones from my local butcher, you can also make it with gluten free pasta, I think these days it’s hard to fault it; I have given it to Nick and Felix before, when I’ve been too lazy to cook two types of pasta, and they’ve hardly noticed! I particularly like ‘Barilla’ and ‘Garofalo’ gluten free pasta.

*To watch the video of this sauce being made click here!

375g penne rigate

75g unsalted butter

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

300g pork sausage meat, removed from casings and broken up

1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped

150ml dry white wine

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of ground cloves

75g freshly grated parmesan cheese

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Melt the butter and gently fry the onion and garlic.
2. Add the sausage meat, continuing to break it up, mixing it in with the onion and garlic. Fry gently until well browned.
3. Add the wine and rosemary, reduce heat and cook gently for 10 minutes.
4. Add the nutmeg, cloves and season with salt and pepper.
5. Meanwhile cook the penne according to the instructions on the packet, until al dente.
6. Mix the sausage mixture with the parmesan cheese and add to the drained pasta.