This chapter encompasses baking recipes that use base ingredients potentially already in your cupboard (which makes baking possible when you have last-minute cravings!). As well as cakes, biscuits and tarts, there are breads such as Marmite, Onion and Cheddar Bread, which is a favourite with my kids and a lovely accompaniment to soup. When it comes to puddings, you can’t beat the Baked Honeycomb Puddings as a delicious finish to a Sunday lunch. I also focus on caramelising sugar, something which can seem a little daunting. It’s not a complicated method once you know how; the trick is to be patient and ready for the next step as soon as the sugar begins to colour. Try out the technique with one of my favourites in this chapter, the Warm Spiced Courgette Cake with Anise Caramel, which is a lovely pale green at the centre – it’s a good way to get a few more vegetables into children and for them to see the versatility of ingredients. Caramel finds its way into ice cream as well, here, for a delicious pudding of Banana and Coconut Cake with Caramelised Banana Coconut Ice Cream.
Above all, do remember to enjoy cooking. Food is something to be treasured, and cooking is such a wonderful way to learn, educate, socialise and enjoy quality time with family and friends. So please don’t be daunted by any of these recipes – they have all been written with home cooking in mind. This book is about sharing my passion for cooking and ingredients with all kinds of home cooks, from beginners all the way up. My advice is to dive straight in! Enjoy reading, creating and, of course, eating.
WATERMELON WITH PICKLED RIND, SALTED RICOTTA AND CORIANDER SALAD
Apple and cheese is a classic combination, and my twist on a refreshing summer salad is to pair watermelon and savoury salted ricotta. Instead of discarding watermelon rind, try pickling it. It has a great texture and keeps for quite some time in the fridge. It works well as an accompaniment to most meat and fish, and in salads, like this one.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus minimum 24 hours pickling
½ watermelon (approximately 1.2kg)
4 tbsp olive oil
grated zest and juice of 1 lime
50g salted ricotta cheese
¼ bunch of coriander, leaves picked
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE PICKLE
100ml white wine vinegar
4 tbsp runny honey
6 whole white peppercorns
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
½ tsp yellow mustard seeds
½ tsp table salt
Peel the green layer off the watermelon, then remove the pink flesh from the white rind (put the pink flesh in a bowl, cover and chill) and carefully slice the white rind into roughly 1cm chunks. Put all the pickle ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the chunks of watermelon rind and bring back up to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes. Cover and chill for at least 24 hours.
Cut the pink watermelon flesh into roughly 1.5cm cubes, removing as many black and white seeds as you can (with a skewer). Mix the olive oil and lime zest and juice together in a bowl. Season the watermelon with sea salt and pepper and dress it with the oil and lime.
Divide the watermelon flesh between four plates. Drain off the pickled watermelon rind and add it to the plates. Finely grate the salted ricotta over the top of the watermelon (use a Microplane grater for this if you have one) then finish with the coriander leaves.
KALE, TOASTED ALMOND AND FRIED SAGE SALAD
This is a great salad for when the weather starts to turn cooler. Kale has a rather robust texture which lends itself well to being eaten either raw or cooked. In this recipe I have included both: the raw kale adds a freshness to the salad and the fried kale adds a light smokiness to the overall flavour.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
500g kale, tough stems removed
½ bunch of sage, leaves picked
100g flaked almonds
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE DRESSING
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
125ml olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely grated
Heat half of the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the shallots, season well with sea salt and cook for 6–8 minutes, until golden. Add half the kale and cook for a further 2 minutes until it just begins to wilt, then transfer the kale and shallots to a bowl.
Heat the remaining oil in a medium frying pan. When hot, add some of the sage leaves and fry for 2–3 minutes over high heat until crispy (fry them in batches). Place on kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil and season well with sea salt.
When the sage leaves have been fried, add the flaked almonds to the pan, season with sea salt and toast until golden. Remove from the heat.
To make the dressing, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
Thinly slice the remaining raw kale and mix it together in the bowl with the cooked kale, shallots, almonds and fried sage leaves. Season with more sea salt and loads of black pepper and drizzle with the dressing.
TOMATO, GOATS’ CHEESE AND BLACK OLIVE SALAD
Nothing beats a plate of tomatoes dressed in olive oil as a late-summer starter. Here I add goats’ cheese and my favourite black olives, Kalamata, for a real depth of flavour with the sweetness of tomatoes and shallots. Tomatoes taste much sweeter when they are at room temperature, rather than fridge-cold. They will also ripen quicker stored outside the fridge.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus 20 minutes marinating
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp good-quality balsamic vinegar
1 tsp capers in brine, strained and finely chopped
2 shallots, finely sliced
4 ripe plum tomatoes, sliced
8 ripe baby plum tomatoes, halved
120g soft goats’ cheese
50g pitted Kalamata olives,