The Salad of the Summer...

Goes to - Panzanella!

 Tomatoes from Cossano Belbo in Piedmont

Over the last couple of months I have been making panzanella at every given opportunity. This summer salad originates from Tuscany and combines stale bread (a perfect way to use it up) with the tastiest tomatoes, basil and cucumber in an olive oil and wine vinegar dressing. As with many recipes there are lots of variations so this recipe is a mere starting point for salad explorations.

If you are in London and want to try one of the best panzanella salads around then to head to Spuntino quickly, while they still have heritage tomatoes that will change your life or at least bring a smile to your face.

This serves roughly 4 people.

ingredients-
1 garlic clove, sliced in half
left over bread, country style such as ciabatta, torn into bite size pieces
6-8 ripe heritage tomatoes, chopped into pieces
1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped into pieces
2 tbsp basil leaves, chopped
80ml olive oil
2-3 tbsp wine vinegar
salt & pepper

I like to toast the torn up bread under the grill for several minutes. Some recipes tell you to moisten the bread with water which is another option before adding the bread to the salad.

Rub the garlic around your serving bowl and add the tomato pieces and cucumber. Add the basil to the bowl along with the bread.

Make the dressing and add to the salad, leaving it to flavour the ingredients for 15-20 minutes before serving. Add salt, pepper and additional vinegar if you wish.

Close your eyes and pretend you're on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

Read More

Entertaining

Duncan Ackery chats food at the V&A

Lindsay (honorary Keston Kid) and I recently went to hear Duncan Ackery, chef and restauranteur, chat at the V&A Reading Rooms. They mentioned that space would be tight, and it was. There was just enough room for approximately twenty girls plus one token man cram in and listen to Duncan talk about cooking and entertaining. Not only was he talking but he was cutting things up, mixing ingredients, salting vegetables and handing them round for us to taste. Yes we were in for a good night.

Duncan had been to Borough Market that morning to pick up some seasonal items to discuss with us, the whole preface being that when entertaining, it is not just about the food but about having fun with your friends, so choose recipes well, get amazing fresh ingredients, make some stuff ahead and have a good time. In a fairly brief fashion here are some great things to make in spring:

• Mackerel pate served with rhubarb and blood orange compote on top (cook the rhubarb for 3-4 minutes so that it holds its form)
• Mackerel (raw) marinated in honey and mustard - this is good
• Really good mozzarella torn up and served with olive oil, lemon zest and sea salt (fleur de sel is a great garnish salt)
• Goats cheese and beetroot
• Radishes halved and salted
• Roasted fennel - roasted in a pan
• Mussels cooked with smoked french garlic, leeks (pre blanched to take away a little of the strong flavour) and white wine
• Asparagus - blanched for 2 minutes in just water, served with clarified butter (gently warmed butter which separates into two layers - use the top layer only) and salt
• Radicchio salad - you need a fairly strong dressing, like blue cheese or something lemony

Chinese Pork Belly - recipe in full. Duncan is passionate about Asian food, this recipe in particular, and so was everyone else by the time he'd finished speaking:

- Take a piece of pork belly and take off the skin (leave the fat)

- Chop the pork into thumb size pieces

- Boil the pork in water for 3 minutes and drain

- Heat some nut oil in a wok until is is really hot (I used sesame oil)

- Add in a dessert spoon of sugar, let it caramelise (turn to liquid) and then add the pork

- Add about 3 cups of Shaohsing rice wine, soy sauce, 3-4 broken up star anise and a couple of cinnamon sticks

- If you want some liquid then add stock at this point

Serve with rice and seasonal veg - like purple sprouting, cooked separately in a wok with nut oil and garlic. Add a tiny bit of stock and cover to allow the greens to steam briefly.

This is easy and quick and really fresh tasting. I got all the ingredients from my local oriental supermarket, including fortune cookies!

Tips:

• Always have potted shrimp in the freezer - I've never used it so can't say much more. Needless to say I will buy some soon and give it a whirl...
• Chicken thigh fillet is SO much better than breast - it has tons more flavour and is great for frying
• Make use of good local beer, which is great for cooking - Fuller's Honey Dew was recommended

Read More

Chicken Superfood Salad

Guaranteed to make you feel healthier without having to leave the table!

After a big weekend/night out people have different foods they favour to get themselves ready to face the world once more. Bacon and eggs are a sunday brunch favourite in the Keston kitchen. Sometimes however it is an injection of veggies and vitamins that you need.

A few weeks ago me and Jules returned from a epic 6 days at Glastonbury, it was the festival's 40th birthday and the best year yet. There is a whole array of culinary delights to be sampled in between all the songs, sun, shopping, sculptures and the spectacular shows in the Arcadia field (where the Keston kitchen's Ceri is to be found at the helm) - but so much fun took its toll and we were in need of a seriously special salad once it was all over!

After we had made the return journey to London, had several baths and caught up on some sleep, I knew the Leon cook book was the place to look and went straight to page with the chicken superfood salad. I made loads to ensure there would be left overs to help us through the first day back at our desks.

Chicken (or Salmon) Superfood Salad

Serves 2

2 tablespoons Quinoa (I used red Quinoa which I got from our excellent local shop SMBS in East Dulwich, Quinoa is a yummy, nutty tasting little grain packed with twice as much protein as rice or barley and is excellent in salads, if you can't get quinoa I would probably use some couscous)

1/2 head of broccoli

300g Chicken thighs (I used chicken breast) marinated in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 clove of chopped garlic OR 4 X 70g fillets of salmon

2 handfuls of rocket

2 handfuls of baby spinach

2 vine ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped

120g frozen peas (boiled for a few minutes)

1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

A light sprinkling of alfalfa sprouts (i couldn't find any alfalfa sprouts so chucked in a few bean sprouts which are completely different)

3 tablespoons of aioli (this should involve egg but I just used a glug of sunflower oil, a dollop of greek yogurt, a crushed clove of garlic, plenty of lemon juice, salt and pepper)

2 tablespoons toasted seeds (i used sesame seeds and poppy seeds as that is what we had in the cupboard)

Sprinkling of chopped mint and parsley

Salt and pepper

Ideally marinade your chicken over night but an hour or so will do.

Put 80 ml of water in a pan and bring to the boil. Stir in the quinoa and boil fast for 5 minutes, then turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes more. Turn the heat off and fluff with a fork, and leave until cooled.

Pre-heat your grill to very hot or get a griddle pan smoking.

Cut the broccoli into small florets and slice the stalks into 1cm thick circles. Drop the broccoli into a pan of rapidly boiling salted water for 3 minutes, then drain and run under the tap until cold.

Season you chicken (or salmon) before you grill it: for chicken, grill for 5 minutes, turn it over, then 5 minutes more; just 3 minutes each side for salmon slices.

While all this is going on, build your salad: toss the leaves, tomatoes, broccoli and the peas in the juice of half a lemon and the olive oil.

Lift them onto whatever you're serving them on, then scatter on the quinoa and alfalfa.

The next layer is the protein (could use feta if you are vegetarian), and top it off with aioli, seeds and herbs, with the other half of lemon, wedged on the side.

Best enjoyed in front of the TV watching the Glastonbury highlights!

Rachael xx

Read More