Revisiting Relish

Huge update on my website means that much of How to Feed Your Friends with Relish is now available online. I haven't revisited it for a while, but recipes such as Fish Stew with Saffroned Onions and the very comforting Sausage and Cabbage Casserole still making me proud. Can't wait to return to Beef Stew with Chilli, Chocolate and Giant Garlic Croutons. The time is now.

Saving overcooked broccoli

Okay, so I doesn't look its best, but broccoli cooked very very slowly with chilli, garlic and anchovy and tossed with pasta is gentle, aromatic with a slight hit of heat. Worth overcooking broccoli for, believe me.

Feeds 2

1 head broccoli (about 300g)
1/2 red chilli
2 fat cloves garlic
6 anchovies
4 tbs olive oil

cooked pasta, black pepper & Parmesan to serve

Break the broccoli into florets and blanch for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the garlic and chili finely, discarding the chilli seeds if you don't want it too hot. in a saute pan that has a lid, fry the chilli, garlic and anchovies gently in olive oil for a couple of minutes until the anchovies start to disintegrate and the garlic is translucent. Drain the broccoli and slice into 1/2 cm pieces. Add to the frying pan, toss thoroughly, cover and either cook over the lowest heat for 1.5 hours on the hob, or transfer to an oven  100c (you can put it in the bottom of the Aga). Stir occasionally. When utterly melting, toss carefully with pasta cooked al dente in plenty of well salted boiling water, making sure to include any sticky,caramelised  residue from the pan. Eat with an extra dribble of olive oil, grated Parmesan and black pepper.

Cobnuts and Russets

I love the fact that in Somerset, it's as common to see cobnuts as apples and pears at the local market. When I lived in London I used to cycle for miles to buy them at exceptional prices. Here's my quick solution for today's solitary but seasonal lunch. Bright, fresh flavours on a damp and gloomy day.

Cobnut and russet apple salad

Feeds 1

For the salad:

Half a round lettuce

about 10 cobnuts, shelled

half a russet apple, cored and thinly sliced

a few slices of peeled cucumber, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons of cooked Puy lentils

crumbled blue cheese

For the dressing:

2 tbs  extra virgin rapeseed oil

1 tbs cider vinegar

1 heaped tbs grainy mustard

scrunchy salt, to taste

Put the lettuce, apple and cucumber in a bowl. Beat together the dressing thoroughly and toss with the leaves. Scatter with the nuts and cheese. Eat immediately.

Solving rice pudding

I'm not a rice - or any other kind of milk - pudding fan. But I've always loved the Thai pudding sticky coconut rice with mango. So whilst writing an article about rice puddings - truly you could travel the world eating nothing but rice pudding in every country and not go hungry - I decided to see if there was one I'd gobble. Turns out, coconut and spices was the solution - no skin for me, but I might look at that again. This one is inspired by the Puerto Rican Arroz con Dulche.

Feeds 2-3


2 heaped tbs raisins (optional)
dark rum (optional)
1 tin (400ml) coconut milk
400ml whole milk
5 cm stick of cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 whole cloves
1/2 vanilla pod, split
2 tbs coconut palm sugar or golden caster sugar
60g pudding or risotto rice
2 tbs dessiccated coconut
toasted almond flakes or crushed pistachios to serve

There are 2 methods to cook this, both take their time, but not much of yours - if you're in a rush you can simmer and stir on the hob like a risotto, if you'd rather not stand over it, you can put it in the oven for a couple of hours.
First, put the raisins (if you are using them) in a small bowl, cover with rum and soak overnight. Add both milks, sugar and the spices to a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes, then set aside to cool and steep - overnight if you are doing the raisins, or for an hour or so. Put your rice either into a saucepan or into a baking dish and strain the milk over the top. If you are using the risotto method, simmer, stirring, until the rice is completely al dente and the milk absorbed - you may need to top up with a litle extra milk or water, it should take about 20 minutes to cook. For the baking method, add your milk to the rice and put into a preheated oven at 150C for 2 hours, stiring and checking the volume of liquid every 30 mins. If you want a skin, dot with butter and do not stir for the final hour. Eat warm with a scattering of toasted almonds or pistachios.

Feta fritters in the garden

So it turns out I'm a bit obsessed by deep frying (have I already mentioned that?). Today, feta and herb fritters - the feta basically dehydrates inside to leave an almost hollow, salty, tangy, herby ball of light, crispy deliciousness. Try it, I urge you, and dream of Greece, where the sun shines all summer and cooks are not afraid of oil.

200g block of feta
2 handfuls of finely chopped, mixed herbs such as parsley, rocket, thyme, chives
oil for frying (I re-use a mixture of olive and sunflower)

For the batter:
100g plain flour
1 egg
fizzy water or beer

Whisk the egg into the flour and slowly add the water, whisking all the time until you have a double cream consistency. Break up the feta and mix together with the herbs. Mould into small rounds, a bit smaller than a ping pong ball.

Half fill a saucepan with your oil and heat until a drop of the batter fizzes and quickly turns golden. Turn the feta in the batter and drop in batches into the oil. Cook for a couple of minutes, carefully turning from time to time, then fish out and drain off the oil on kitchen roll. Eat quickly, with a glass of cold rose.

Marmite breadsticks

Failed to make bread for lunch today - I'm in denial about how bread-led we are as a family. It would be admitting how often I hadn't planned ahead. We made breadsticks to fill the lunchtime pangs. Mixed a tablespoon of Marmite into the dough, huge success, happy 3 year-old.

Bright Lights on a windy night

An evening glance in the old chimney pots we use for forcing rhubarb and later in the summer growing herbs, and - oh joy! - a great sprouting of palest pink rhubarb. Wind is howling around the house, Ed has gone to bed with all the shutters open leaving me feeling exposed to the gloom. Rhubarb, quickly into the pot for a gentle and brief poaching in sugar syrup and nothing else, turns the pale pink of ballet slippers and babies' nails. Eating it straight from the pot at blood temperature, it melts in the mouth, not fibrous at all. A pleasure of country living to accompany howling of the wind and beating of rain.