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Here's a couple of comments received, the first concerning the Summer Pudding:

“We all loved the Summer Pudding, took it to a

party, adults and children all had a slice, there were

no leftovers – very easy to make”

and the second, the Risotto:

“Even a kitchen simpleton like myself could

pour and stir then wait – something happened

and it was a meal!”

Outside the box

…..the chocolate one that is!

It's that time again and the summer holidays are upon us. For those out there who'll be entertaining the children and/or grandchildren I thought you might like an idea or four in the chocolate line that may occupy the older kids (with some supervision) in that they can make these treats themselves.

First up,

Malteser Cake

125g unsalted butter

400g milk chocolate, broken into small pieces

2 tbsp golden syrup

250g digestives - crushed

135g Maltesers

Line a 20cm tin with parchment.

Melt the butter in a large pan, then add the chocolate and syrup until melted.

Remove the pan from the heat, allow to cool slightly then stir in the biscuits and Maltesers. Pour into the tin and refrigerate for two hours.

Cut into squares.

Alternatives:

Could make with chopped Crunchie bars,

Could drizzle with melted white chocolate,

Could decorate with extra Maltesers.

I say Malteser Cake, you can make it in a circular tin but these days I make it as a tray bake (standard size) – it's easier to cut into squares and therefore portion control – bite size pieces. I got this recipe from Whizzer's best friend – another thank you. A couple of tips – if you think the ingredients a tad expensive, buy “own brand” versions from one of the well known cheaper supermarkets. Sainsbury's Basic range produce 100g bars of milk chocolate and I have to say it's ideal for this recipe – at 35p. On the upside the tray bake cut into said bite size pieces will give you 4 x 500g pots so quite a substantial amount. I should be able to say how long its lifespan but in all truth it has never lasted long enough to be able to say. Realistically a week kept in sealed containers.

Here's a photo of what you can expect-

Conversely if you feel like making a posher batch for the grown ups, use a more expensive Swiss/Belgian milk chocolate and serve as the ultimate “understated petit four” - it's a bit like the old fashioned sweets – sit back and watch it disappear.

And second:

Rocky Road

250g dark chocolate

150g milk chocolate

175g soft butter, unsalted

4 x 15ml tbsp golden syrup

200g of hobnobs

*150g shelled Brazil nuts

*150g red glace cherries

*125g mini marshmallows

Put the biscuits into a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin to get a mixture of rubble.

Put the Brazil nuts into another freezer bag and bash them too.

Chop both sorts of chocolate into small pieces, or use chocolate buttons made for melting and then put them into a heavy-based saucepan to melt with the butter and syrup over a gentle heat.

Take the pan off the heat and add the biscuit and nuts, cherries and mini marshmallows. Turn carefully so that all the ingredients are coated with the syrupy chocolate.

Tip into a foil tray (I use a tray bake size), smoothing the top as best you can, although it is meant to be bumpy.

Refrigerate until firm enough to cut, which will take about 1½-2 hours. Take the set block out of the tray. With the long side in front of you cut 6 slices down and 4 across so that you have 24 squares.

Make ahead tip:

Make the Rocky Road and refrigerate to set, cut into bars and then store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 1 week.

Freeze ahead tip:

Make the Rocky Road as above and free for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in a cool place. Decorate as above before serving.

Taken and tweaked from 'Nigella Christmas'.

Here's a photo of what you can expect -

The above recipe is the basic Rocky Road recipe. You will see three ingredients above marked “*”. These ingredients can be swapped to suit your own personal taste. You can take any of the ingredients given on the following “Design your own Rocky Road” sheet.

Design your own Rocky Road

Traditionally Rocky Road is made using Brazil nuts,

glace cherries and marshmallow.

Rules are meant to be broken - take a look at the

list below and if you'd like to design your own

Rocky Road swap any or all of the three

ingredients above

(or may be four if you can't bear

to leave a real favourite ingredient out!)

Peanut

Pistachio

Pecan

Hazelnut

Glace cherry

Dried sour cherries

Cranberry

Apricot

Banana chips

Pineapple

Sultanas

Nougat

Turkish Delight

Fudge

Toblerone

Praline

Salted Caramel

Mini Marshmallow

Popping Candy

Lest you should start to suffer from a chocolate overdose, the remaining two recipes next time.

Outside the box - take II

and third,

This is an adaptable recipe, whether the children are making it, in which case you'd probably want to use milk chocolate, or for adults when you'd opt for plain chocolate.

You can swap and change your “handfuls” of ingredients to suit your own taste. Sour cherries work really well with plain chocolate. Pistachio nuts and pecan nuts are also really yummy.

If you wanted more ideas you could have a glance at the Design your own Rocky Road list.

If you live in Northamptonshire and know of the Daily Bread Co-operative (Bedford Road, Northampton NN4 7AD) they sell a fantastic selection of dried fruits not to mention gazillions of other products. Definitely worth a visit.

Chocolate Bark

Handful of chopped dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots and toasted, roughly chopped hazelnuts.

Line a baking sheet with clingfilm. (Baking sheet should be approximately 30cm x 18cm) You will find the clingfilm easier to control if you oil the baking sheet.

Break 300g of dark or milk chocolate into pieces and put in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Melt.

When the chocolate has melted pour it onto the clingfilmed sheet.

Scatter over the fruit and nuts. Wear a disposable glove and very gently ease the fruit and nuts into the chocolate.

Leave to set for 4 hours before breaking into chards.

You can use any combination of fruit and nuts to suit your taste.

Last, but by no means least,

Chocolate Hokey-Pokey

75g unsalted butter

100g pecan halves, roughly chopped

sea salt flakes

300g dark chocolate

2 tbsp golden syrup

3 x 40g Crunchie bars

Heat a small knob of butter in a pan and when foaming, tip in the pecans with a pinch of sea salt flakes. Stir over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes or till toasted – you will smell them when they are ready. Tip the nuts into a bowl and leave to cool.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt, in a medium pan, with the rest of the butter and the syrup, stirring. Once the chocolate mixture is smooth, take the pan off the heat. Bash the Crunchie bars (in the wrappers – less messy!). Add the Crunchie pieces, along with the toasted pecans, to the chocolate mixture. Gently mix together before transferring to an 18cm round or square foil tray (or cake tin if you prefer to wash-up!)

Leave to set in the fridge. Once set, remove from the tray and cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into seven or eight angular chunks.

Taken from 'The Camper Van Coast'

by Martin Dorey

I've used the toasted salted pecans in the first part of this recipe in others, for example, as a topping for the toffee apple crumble. You could also chop them, pop in a screw top jar and use as a sprinkle over ice cream.

Hope there's at least one of these four that you'll find useful and tasty!

Happy holidays.

The Ivy The Restaurant and its Recipes – AA Gill

For the uninitiated The Ivy is a restaurant in Covent Garden near London's theatre district – it is thought to have been around since about 1917 evolving into the most famous of the theatre restaurants. Even though it has a lunch service, 5.30pm sees early diners through its doors for pre theatre dinner.

Do not however expect to call and book a table for next week – or next month for that matter. Their waiting lists run to months ahead and if you'd like to think you can blag your way in and infer that you're a regular, the Ivy's definition of regular is three or four times a week.

This book is in two parts – “a day in the life of” and the recipes that form part of that life.

The phone begins to ring 9am onwards, building up to the lunch service - to the first pre-theatre early dinner guests at 5.30pm – onto 8.30pm dinner guests and then first night post theatre parties and a 1am finish. You get the idea!

For example, the fishcakes recipe used in GOM 16 came from The Ivy and it is, without doubt, the best fishcake recipe I've ever used.

From a cook's perspective it “does what it says on the tin”. There's nothing high faluting here - if you could transport your ideal comfort from home, wrapped in a throw with your favourite plate of comfort food on your lap whilst watching Love Actually (or whatever film floats your boat) then this is the place to be. In a word, unpretentious.

This book is rich in history and in recipes too. The greatest compliment any restaurant can be given is that at the heart of the menu are dishes that have been there year after year as demanded by its customers.

Mr. Gill is well known as the restaurant critic of “The Sunday Times” and his book, first published in 1997, is a worthy addition to any cook's bookshelf.

GOM: Chapter 16 The Dinner Party and Mobilising the troops

Busy day, best foot forward – of course the day begins as usual with the GOM doing their morning thing and I'm in my hide. It seems ages since I've been on duty but my efforts are rewarded. Perched on the top dock is the bluest bird I've ever seen – if I didn't know better I'd think that someone not a million miles away was playing tricks! You may not be surprised to learn it really is called a bluebird – I forgot to mention it also has an orange breast. Size wise in the UK – similar to a thrush. Another glorious addition to my every growing wildlife list. I'm sorry there's no photograph, you have to sit still or they tend to fly off!

Let's get the party started and mobilise the troops, washing the best china and crystal, laying the table, organising the wine and anything else I can think of. There's no show …... even though dress is absolutely casual, it doesn't mean you can't have a great looking table – how very Martha Stewart.

Whilst the GOM are doing their chores I prep the mash and poach salmon for the fishcakes so that they can cool in readiness for the “class” later on. Peel potatoes and carrots for the main and prep trays for the Tarragon Chicken.

Organisation is the key ….... not really sure why but I always work backwards, dessert first and my friend observes as I assemble the Orange Tiramisu – cover and refrigerate. This dessert came from my Cordon Bleu Course and is really useful – not everyone is fond of coffee.

Next step is to assemble the fishcakes and again student observing – cover and refrigerate together with the “instant” tartare sauce.

All done, can now rest up and return to the hide for an hour before glad rags on.

You'll be pleased to know that all went well, but probably the best comment came from my friend, who – like me, is not a dessert eater. High praise indeed for the Orange Tiramisu and he's adding it to his reportoire – phew!

Well done to all the troops, a good night was had by all.

Here are the recipes:

Fishcakes

(a la The Ivy)

(makes 8 – freeze what you don't use)

800g dry mashed potato, no cream or butter added

650g salmon fillet poached in fish stock and flaked

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tsp anchovy essence

3 tsp English mustard

salt and black pepper

Plain flour for coating

Mix together the potato, half the salmon, the ketchup, anchovy essence, mustard and seasoning until smooth. Fold in the rest of the salmon. Mould the mixture into 8 round cakes and refrigerate.

When you're ready to serve preheat the oven 180fan/200c/gas 6. Lightly flour the fishcakes and fry them until they are coloured on both sides. Bake for 10/15 minutes.

There will be more to follow on “The Ivy The Restaurant and its Recipes AA Gill” soon.

Quick tartare sauce

Hellmann's mayonnaise – approximately two

heaped tablespoons

Caper paste – 1 teaspoon

Cornichons – two, finely diced

Capers to taste

Mix the caper paste with the mayo and fold in the

diced cornichons and capers

et voila!!

Tarragon Chicken

Bunch of spring onions, finely diced

1 tsp dried tarragon

Fresh tarragon – chopped – approximately 2 tbsp

160ml Vermouth or white wine

Half tsp of sea salt flakes or quarter tsp of pouring salt

120ml double cream

White pepper

4 chicken breasts

Drop of canola oil (rapeseed in UK) and a knob butter to seal. (You could use a flavoured oil i.e. garlic or tarragon if you wish)

Optional

One Knorr chicken stock pot melted in 250ml of hot water and 2 tsps garlic paste, mashed together.

Heat oil and butter, add the onions, then dried tarragon.

Add the chicken fillets, seal on both sides, put on one side. (Add mashed garlic and stock**see below) Add the vermouth, let it bubble up, add salt. Pop the breasts back in the pan and cook on the stove or in the oven – 20/25 minutes (depending on size of the breasts). When ready to serve, remove the breasts, bring the liquid to the boil, add cream and fresh tarragon, then white pepper.

**You can vary your sauce by adding roasted garlic paste, mashed into concentrated chicken stock. I've tried adding this element and it's great - obviously you have to like garlic.

Roast Potatoes

I use either Maris Piper or King Edwards in the UK but here I'd use either Russet or Yukon Gold – as a rough guide 2lbs gives you 12 small to medium roasties – parboil them – just so you can insert a paring knife and take it out with some resistance. Drain well, sprinkle 1 heaped tbsp of semolina over the potatoes and then shake well – don't forget to put the lid on the pan!!!! Your aim is to coat the potatoes.

Pre-heat your oven 210c/190fan/Gas 7

It's important that your fat is hot before the spuds go in. You can use 1-2 tbsps size lumps of goose fat or beef dripping or, in my case, either vegetable or rapeseed oil. They will take an hour and straight from oven to table is best.

This is Nigella's way and it has never failed me. Taken from “How to Eat” p281.

Lemon glazed carrots

I would suggest 6-8 medium to large carrots. Peel, top and tail and cut into batons, approximately 5cms long x 1cm thick (or in old money 1 ¾” long x ¼” thick). Try and keep them a similar size. Lay a sheet of foil onto a baking tray (large enough to be able to wrap into a parcel) lay the carrot batons on the foil add salt and black pepper, a couple of slugs of lemon juice and 2/3 generous knobs of butter. Wrap tightly and pop into the oven after your roasties have been in for 30 minutes. This recipe came from my sister, Whizzer - thank you!

Steam the snow peas at the last minute.

Orange Tiramisu

Grated rind and juice of 2 oranges

20fl oz whipping cream

4tbls Cointreau (optional)

20 sponge fingers or Madeira cake

4tbls caster sugar

8oz Mascarpone or curd cheese (Philadelphia)

2oz plain chocolate (grated)

Mix the orange rind and juice with the Cointreau. Mix the cream carefully with the sugar and mascarpone. Cut up the cake in shapes that suit the bowl you are using and dip into the orange mixture.

Grate the chocolate. Layer the mascarpone mixture with the sponge and sprinkle with chocolate.

GOM: Chapter 15 – Easy down East Bay Street

Today is doing the tourist thing – a wander down one of my favourite streets Downtown Charleston, East Bay Street. It suits all of us. I drop the GOM off at their watering hole – the wine and cigar shop – looks really tiny from the outside but inside opens up into a lounge big enough to house large squidgy leather sofas and a wide screen television (you know, the sort that only shows sport) with wall to wall, floor to ceiling wines. It's a serious business wine tasting.

I'm off across the road to Charleston Cooks! - I mentioned in Chapter 7 I visit this store at least twice - today I'm spending dosh. I wouldn't describe myself as a gadget/gizmo person but now and again I come across a piece of kit that is not destined to join the box, already full to bursting, of junk that, when purchased, the mantra was “this is brilliant, I'll use it all the time”......tell the truth - how much stuff have you got stashed away gathering dust.

My purchase, I can confirm, has not been committed to the junk box. A corn stripper. The best way to describe it, is similar to a potato peeler, it has a blade in the same way and strips a cob evenly and easily without any danger of inflicting multiple stab wounds. Photograph attached so you can see what I mean. I threatened previously to book a class at the school and so pick up information.....a tempting treat for next week.

Collect the GOM and grab a fizzy water whilst they finish their Merlot. Off for a spot of lunch.

Welcome to the Brown Dog Deli - garden salads, deli salads, wraps, specialty (their spelling, not mine) sandwiches, deli classics and sides. The “specialty sandwiches” - mainly burgers, were truly inspirational, two examples, Carribean Black Bean Burger with pineapple mango salsa, 3 pepper cheese, red onion & raspberry chipotle sour cream, Broad St. BBQ – pulled pork on a brioche bun with Cheerwine BBQ sauce, bacon, cheddar, coleslaw & pickles.

The best “side” I've ever eaten - potato salad like no other. I tried very hard to isolate various flavours both with eyes and taste buds. As is the custom in the USA your “server” (not an attractive term in my view) returns to ask if you've enjoyed your meal. Our server turned out to be a guy who knew his stuff and so consequently I was able to extricate the recipe (or at least the bare bones thereof) for the potato salad. The twists to the norm were three different types of potato, new, baked and sweet. Minimal mayo, a touch of American mustard, salt and white pepper but the crowning glory, sour cream – heavenly – so much so that I rapidly made notes on a napkin before my aging memory gave out and stuffed it into my handbag, (for future translation into a recipe on my return home). Nobody does a deli better. Btw, they used small brioche buns for the burgers, it might sound weird but it works, the combination of slightly sweet but quite light in texture with the savoury burger works for me. We now know it works in the UK too for we now have brioche buns/rolls at BBQ/summer time – another excellent BBQ side or slider!

Need to walk off the lunch and so we browse a few art galleries along East Bay Street. I just love the Gullah art, it is simple and straight forward using bold and in your face colour. Should anyone visit Charleston - Lowcountry Artists, a gallery on East Bay Street is a joy, and Lynne Hardwick is one of its local artists. We had a great time chatting and exploring.

Lower down East Bay is “Marion's in the French Quarter” - photograph attached – tee hee, I wish!

How good was that.

Party Planning

A word or two about dinner/supper party planning. What you want to avoid is finishing up like a piece of chewed string, retiring to a darkened room with a bottle of gin and a straw.

So, your aim should be to do as much as you can ahead and, if at all possible, bits and pieces each day leading up to your party.

Back to the list – or in this case several lists!

First up choose your menu taking into account the likes/dislikes of your guests (and it goes without saying, any specific dietary needs). Stick with what you know. I would never cook a dish for the first time for a party – this takes flying by the seat of your pants to a whole new level.

When you've chosen your menu, taking into account what's seasonal and fab – think about the temperature – you wouldn't want to serve a winter meal in the summer if you get my drift. Conversely if you know that your guests are really into desserts – mega ones – like death by chocolate then ease up on the previous courses. Don't serve a starter - serve a canape with drinks, then straight into the main course. Warn your guests that their favourite dessert is on its way.

Sit down with your recipes (and a glass of something although this is not compulsory) and make your shopping list. Check your pantry/store cupboard – you may think you've got the herbs/spices or the icing sugar – bitter experience has taught me it ain't necessarily so – save your legs and your sanity, it takes two minutes and don't forget the lemons. You'll always need them – don't ask me why or where, trust me.

Decide what drinks you'll be serving and adjust your list, not forgetting any mixers required. Is there ice in the freezer? Ice bags are quick, easy and don't take up space. Is the white wine in the fridge?

Basic stuff – serviettes – linen or good quality disposable. Speaking of which, if you want to look fancy see the photos attached - you'll need 33cm square – two different colours and a standard wine glass. If you're using larger wine glasses you can get larger napkins.

No matter whether it's an informal supper or a formal dinner party decide on your plates or bowls you'll be using – there's so much to choose from these days, along with serving dishes too. If it's formal, set your table ahead of the game. Place the wine glasses upside down to avoid interlopers of the flying variety and dust.

Even if you don't normally use foil trays, give yourself a break – you'll be glad you did when it comes to the washing up!

Work out from your menu what's to take the most time to prep and then to cook. Prep the non perishables for each course separately (on trays if you can). Prepped perishables can be refrigerated. Your goal is to have as little work as possible to do on the day.

As an example I would choose a dessert that is better for being made the previous day – fancy desserts like the perfect chocolate fondant fall into this category and indeed can be made ahead and refrigerated or even frozen.

Success comes in the form of a relaxed and happy host who spends time with guests and not in that darkened room.

Have the best time!

San Choy Bow

I couldn't leave our culinary lucky dip in South East Asia without mentioning San Choy Bow. Thought to originate in China it's a huge hit with adults and children alike – everyone likes to get messy eating with fingers.

The dish is along similar lines to the Gorengs i.e. one pot wok, here it is:

San Choy Bow

8 Little Gem leaves

(if Little Gem not available use Iceberg -

smaller inner leaves)

500g pork mince (can use turkey mince -

or Quorn mince for a vegetarian option)

1 garlic clove or garlic paste

1 red chilli, finely chopped

150g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped

6 spring onions, finely chopped

225g water chestnuts, rinsed and chopped

200g bean sprouts, chopped

3 tbsp hoisin sauce*

1 tbsp soy sauce*

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce*

1 tbsp dry sherry or Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine)*

To garnish

50g bean sprouts

Handful of crushed, salted peanuts

Sweet soy sauce (Kecap Manis) for drizzling

Place lettuce leaves on serving plate

Combine the four ingredients marked * to make a sauce mixture

Over a high heat cook the mince, garlic, and chilli until the pork is cooked through. Add the mushrooms, onions, water chestnuts and bean sprouts until mixed through and sizzling.

Add the sauce mixture, stirring until completely combined with the pork mixture.

Place the pork mixture into the lettuce “cups” and sprinkle with bean sprouts. Serve the crushed peanuts and sweet soy sauce in small bowls so that guests can sprinkle and drizzle to taste!

As with most wok style dishes, it's cook and serve immediately. As is my usual mantra, do your prep ahead of the game.

A final “fusion” suggestion. Serve the dish with a stack of wraps – a larger more substantial version of the pancakes served with Peking Duck.

That's all on our culinary lucky dip tour for the moment – we'll be back!

The Gorengs continued – Mie Goreng

Here's the second Goreng – using leftover noodles and before we begin, a word about an ingredient you may not have come across previously – kecap manis – aka sweet soy sauce. You can get it in some larger supermarkets but, if you are fortunate enough to live near a Chinese supermarket you can buy it in larger bottles, more economical if you're going to be indulging in these recipes more than once and who knows what's coming next.

Mie Goreng

3 eggs

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp oil

1 onion, finely sliced

Drop of rapeseed or vegetable oil

3 cloves of garlic, crushed or tsps of paste

2 carrots, finely sliced (you could use cooked leftovers)

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Pinch of ground ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 red chilli, seeded removed and finely diced

1 tsp sambal paste

250g medium egg noodles, cooked

(remember the nests mentioned previously in “Thursday

supper and stir fry”)

30ml dark soy sauce

60ml kecap manis

100g beansprouts

350g cooked prawns, defrosted

100g chopped roasted peanuts to garnish (optional)

Beat the egg lightly with the 1 tbsp water. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or frying pan. Pour in the egg and cook until set underneath, turn and cook until set on other side. Slide the omelette out of the pan, roll up into a cigar shape and slice into strips – set aside.

Heat a large wok or frying pan and add a drop of oil. Add the onion and stir fry for 2 minutes, then add the garlic, ginger and carrots and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add a drop of water to prevent drying out.

Add the sambal paste, coriander and cumin and fry for 20/30 seconds – again you can add a drop of water if required. Add the cooked noodles, spring onions, beansprouts and prawns – turning until warmed through. Add the dark soy sauce and the kecap manis and repeat.

N.B. For a vegetarian version, substitute the prawns with 300g of shredded Chinese cabbage – aka bok choy or pak choi and 1 yellow pepper (cored, deseeded and diced)

Serve straight from wok or spoon into individual bowls and garnish with the omelette strips and peanuts. (serves 4-6)

A final suggestion – if you like ingredients like water chestnuts (sliced), bamboo shoots etc., add them to the dish. If you've other leftover vegetables, cooked chicken or meat – dice and add.

Be brave!

Culinary Lucky Dip – Indonesia and the first of The Gorengs

There's no logical geographical sense to our lucky dip route – it's more styled towards one pot weekend cooking that's flavoursome and a little more adventurous.

There are two types of Goreng mentioned here – Nasi Goreng which is fried rice and Mie Goreng which is fried noodles. There are lots of variations of both dishes but they have basics in common. They began life as a breakfast dish using up leftovers from the previous evening but they have evolved into a popular street food choice, right up to being served in posh restaurants. They can be spicy or not depending on your taste and vegetarian or not.

I first made Nasi Goreng in 1987 and what follows is a basic, not too spicy version.

Nasi Goreng

3 eggs

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp oil

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed or garlic paste

half tsp chilli powder

8oz (225g) cooked rice

6oz (175g) cooked chicken or turkey meat, diced

6oz (175g) peeled prawns, defrosted if frozen

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp soft light brown sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

6oz (175g) cooked wafer ham, thinly sliced

black pepper

Beat the egg lightly with the 1 tbsp water. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or frying pan. Pour in the egg and cook until set underneath, turn and cook until set on other side. Slide the omelette out of the pan, roll up into a cigar shape and slice into strips – set aside.

Add the vegetable oil to the wok and heat gently. Add the onions, garlic and chilli powder and fry until lightly browned. Add the rice and cook for a few seconds then stir in the chicken and prawns. Cook for 2/3 minutes.

Mix the soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice together, then stir thoroughly into the rice mixture. Stir in the ham then season to taste with pepper. Spoon the mixture into a serving bowl and garnish with the omelette strips. (serves 4-6)

If this dish doesn't become part of your culinary library I'd be very surprised – it's served me well for 28 years.

Mie to follow!

GOM Chapter 14: The menu and the crossword.

Menu approved for Saturday's dinner party.

Fishcakes (a la The Ivy) with tartare sauce to begin - Tarragon chicken with good old fashioned roast potatoes, lemon glazed carrots and snow peas for main and dessert will be Orange Tiramisu (translation for tiramisu, “pick me up”). Not only is the menu approved but my friend wishes to be a student for the fishcakes and the chicken – he isn't fond of desserts but, at the age of 72, wants to expand his culinary repertoire and includes the tiramisu too. More of this to follow nearer the time.

Now a word about crosswords. I'm not talking about the coffee break “quickie” - these are complex, high velocity full on “slowies”. For some time now I've referred to them as “Chinese crosswords” because they might as well be written in Mandarin. You get my drift.

The GOMs day begins with sudoku and other miscellany and they then move on to the big stuff. Imagine an ordinary grid – normally you're given a list of clues, down and across. With the Chinese version you're given a title, plus a set of instructions that on their own would defeat most mortals but become clear when the puzzle is successfully solved.

The GOM spend hours pouring over their quest. Did you know there is a specific crossword language, for example the initial “r” can mean “take”, “right”, “rule”, I could go on!

This particular day is an easy “go with the flow” day. I am on hide duty watching all my regular friends, the herons, the jumpin' fish, the swallows et al. There is a faint background bickering from the GOM but nothing out of the ordinary.

Moving on 2 hours and critically close to a very important sporting event – can't remember which - either golf or soccer on the widescreen – but the pressure is on, suddenly there's some colourful loud language – they had solved the puzzle but weren't too pleased – the correct reading of the instructions resulted in the completed grid being totally empty – best to keep my distance.....I'll stick with dinner party planning!

GOM Chapter 13: Edgar Allan Poe, dinner and all that

Post crossword “meeting” with the GOM this morning and we've decided to invite the neighbours for dinner this coming weekend. One quick phone call later and it's arranged for Saturday. I'm left to ponder what to serve so, back to the old drawing board – another meeting scheduled with proposed menus for approval tomorrow morning. How very business like!

Gotta run – next dance class - it was great, but I have to say it would make life a lot easier if I was twenty years younger and had any sort of coordination! Not helped by the fact that our instructor is drop dead gorgeous, a professional dancer and about 25 years old – do you detect a shade of green creeping in – absolutely!

Exercise over it's back home to relax – no cooking today, looking forward to another visit to Sullivan's Island – this time to eat.

Out early doors which suits us all – off we go back to Sullivan's Island to Poe's Tavern. As mentioned previously Sullivan's Island is just as you imagine a typical small seaside place to be – one main street – each side with small shops and restaurants. An easy, laid back atmosphere and you feel it as soon as you get out of the car. The veranda has tables and chairs and people are sat having a beer, chatting – informality is the key, together with the anticipation of good food. We were not disappointed. The restaurant's history surrounds Edgar Allan Poe. He was stationed at Fort Moultrie at the western end of the Island for thirteen months in November 1827 and his time there inspired “The Gold Bug”, a story about a mystical beetle that led to buried treasure.

I should perhaps explain that my husband is not a burger fan but, there are burgers and there are burgers – that famous name that everyone knows - this is not! All the burgers are half pounders, ground in-house and cooked to order. Everything else is freshly made too. To tempt you with a burger or two, you could have The Pit & Pendulum – with applewood bacon and cheddar cheese, or the Starving Artist, bunless with a choice of pimento, roasted garlic bleu, sweet pepper goat or jalapeno jack cheese, served with marinated bacon-bleu cheese coleslaw. I could go on, suffice it to say that the Gold Bug – a cheeseburger with either Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese was a huge hit. The fries (not chips!) were the thin variety but clearly cooked in their skins, excellent, nay outstanding.

Back home for a night-cap – have a good one.

The Leftovers – arancini and riso al salto

When I suggested what to do with leftover risotto it was greeted with “and good luck with that” - there are never any leftovers. Nowadays I make this basic risotto and leave it to cool for the next dish - arancini (Italian rice balls). Traditionally mozzarella cheese is used but, thanks to the food writer Ravinder Bhogal I discovered taleggio cheese – another Italian cheese which melts very well and so is perfect for these beauties and makes a change.

In addition to the basic risotto you'll need 200g taleggio cheese, rind removed

and cut into small cubes, 3 eggs – beaten and 150g breadcrumbs.

Preheat oven 180/160fan/Gas 4

The eggs and breadcrumbs should be in separate dishes -

I use the foil variety – it's easy to shake the arancini around in the egg first

and then the breadcrumbs without too much handling

• the technique is called “pane”

You can now make your arancini as large or small as you

like – the recipe will give you 12 large (the size of a tennis ball)

or 30 small for canapes or a starter

Roll the rice into a ball then place a piece of taleggio

inside and close up the ball. Dip in the egg then in the breadcrumbs.

Shallow fry in oil.

Serve with a salad drizzled with a rich balsamic glaze

(a quick and easy quality product)

and then there's

Riso al salto

Melt butter in a non stick pan. Press leftover risotto into pancakes, 1cm thick.

Fry until crisp, turn, repeat, serve with grated Parmesan. Worth making a risotto for!

Useless bit of culinary nonsense – al salto means “to flip”. This recipe came from “The Leftovers Handbook” by Suzy Bowler.

If you've any space left and want to serve a dessert the Lemon Tiramisu would be good.

Ps. The arancini freezes well – defrost thoroughly and warm through in a pre-heated oven 160 fan/180/Gas 4 for 15 minutes.

Pps. There are various arancini fillings, pancetta, basil and mozzarella, sun dried tomato and mushroom to name but three.

Delizioso!

Next Lucky Dip - Indonesia

Risotto or bust...

Weekend cooking is different – it's time to kick back, relax and enjoy yourself. If you love your cooking it's reflected on the plate or in this case, in the bowl. I long since gave up seating visitors in a different room when all they want to do is hang around the island where the hob is - chatting, with the obligatory glass of something, munching on crostini and watching. Plus you can always get someone to pitch in and help with the stirring. Cooking this way also encourages reluctant teenagers to taste without pressure. If this picture is appealing to you you'll find that risotto is the perfect dish for the occasion.

On that note what follows is a basic risotto recipe – you can add whatever you like – seasonal vegetables, for example broad beans, podded of course. Risotto is a rustic dish and I think perfectly acceptable to serve from the hob to the table in its pan.

1 litre vegetable or chicken stock

40g unsalted butter

1 tbsp groundnut oil

2 small onions, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves (or 3 tsps paste)

350g risotto rice

150ml dry white wine

2 tbsps flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

100g Parmesan cheese, grated

salt and black pepper

Bring the stock to a boil and simmer gently. Heat the butter and the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Season with salt. Stir in the rice and fry for 2 minutes until the edges become opaque. Add the wine. Start adding the stock, a ladle at a time – the liquid should be absorbed before you add the next. Add the parsley, black pepper and the Parmesan cheese.

It's imperative that your stock is kept hot and added a ladle at a time. If you follow these basic principles you'll be fine.

At the risk, again, of sounding like a broken record I'd strongly recommend you do your mise en place (“put in place” or ducks in a row) ahead of the game. If you're intending to serve a risotto on a weekend evening prep all your ingredients in the morning – it'll take a few minutes but you won't regret it, it's so much less faff. I'd lose the will if I had to start from scratch. I just want to get on and cook (and enjoy a glass of something too).

If you're cooking for guests/family that all have different tastes try these options on for size. Keep the risotto basic (plus any seasonal vegetables). Top the risotto with balsamic mushrooms – an easy recipe, bags of flavour and it looks really cheffy.

Mushrooms in Balsamic

4 tbsp rapeseed oil or similar

500g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

pinch of salt

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

60g grated/shaved parmesan

Heat the oil, add the mushrooms and garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook on high for 5 minutes until browned. Mix the vinegar with the sugar and pour over the mushrooms.

Stir until syrupy – 1-2 minutes, serve on toasted broad. Sprinkle with Parmesan to serve.

Would serve 6 as a bruschetta topping

or

quarter the mushrooms and serve as a topping on a risotto and add shavings of parmesan – would not recommend using grated parmesan.

Top the risotto with seared scallops. For those who aren't familiar with cooking scallops, a few pointers. Dry your scallops with kitchen roll before cooking, season with salt and black pepper. Cooking time is 1½ minutes each side, the centre should be translucent – if you prefer not then increase to 2 minutes each side but beware overcooked they are not nice, becoming rubbery. Add a little oil and butter to your frying pan and ensure it is hot before adding the seasoned scallops. To achieve the timing easily either use a kitchen timer or visualise the pan as a clock face. Place a scallop at 12 o'clock and then continue in a circle to 11 o'clock. Turn the 12 o'clock scallop and repeat round the clock – cooked. For guidance the size of the scallops used is 1-1½” thick.

Be brave!

Leftovers to follow.

Cicchetti

Cicchetti

and Ciao!

Pronounced chee-keh-tee. Cicchetti are to Venice what tapas are to Barcelona

Cicchetti are usually a bargain with most dishes going for 2-5 euros and possible to have an assorted platter and a couple of glasses of wine for the price of a single plain pizza.

The traditional home of cicchetti is the BACARO – a bar serving wine and cicchetti. Most bacaro have an extensive menu of wines by the glass along with Venice's signature cocktail, the Aperol Spritz.

Various cicchetti – small toasts covered in spreads to unadorned chunks of cheese or salami, from grilled fish to shrimp salads. There is an entire class of tiny triangular sandwiches with crusts removed called TRAMEZZINI. Cicchetti can be small portions of more traditional dishes such as risotto, stuffed mussels by the piece small plates of olives or fried items such as fritters and crunchy cheese sandwiches.

There are 3 typical cicchetti every visitor should know,

BACCALA is cod, and the most traditional preparation is a mousse or pate of dried cod spread on sliced bread found at virtually every bacaro.

SARDE IN SAOR is the signature dish of Venice also on most restaurant menus sweet and sour whole sardines usually served with the tail (but not the head) sauteed and marinated in vinegar with raisins and pine nuts.

POLPETTE are small meatballs, traditionally veal but they can be any meat or seafood, often mixed with some mashed potato filler. Be precise when ordering these because POLPETTE sounds identical to POLPETTI – or whole baby octopus, another common cicchetti.

After discovering cicchetti I went in search of a book that would do it justice – it's called, not surprisingly, “Cicchetti” by Lindy Wildsmith and Valentina Harris”. I knew of Valentina Harris, so any tome with her name attached has got to be good – truly wonderful stuff – here are two examples from the book, tried, tested, served, thoroughly enjoyed and repeated.

Stuffed mini pancakes with broad

bean cream

Serves 4

250g broad beans, fresh or frozen

30g robiola or similar cream cheese *

1 tbsp grated pecorino

4 eggs

3 tbsp milk

1 tbsp plain flour

2-3 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley

salt and black pepper

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

4 slices cooked ham (Italian if you can

get it)

Boil the broad beans until softened in lightly salted water for 5 minutes. Drain, cool and “pop”.** Place in a food processor with the cream cheese and the pecorino and blend until smooth. Season to taste.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the milk, flour, flat leaf parsley and salt and pepper.

In a lightly oiled, non-stick pan, use this mixture to make about eight small flat, thin omelettes, cooking them on each side for about four minutes. Make sure they are cooked through but soft enough to roll up. Leave to cool.***

Lay a slice of ham on top of each little pancake and spread with the broad bean and cheese mixture, then roll up and cut across into bite-size pieces, sealing each one safely closed with a wooden cocktail stick.

Chill until required.

*Robiola is very difficult to get hold of. You could use ordinary cream cheese or, for an extra tang, try Boursin – I appreciate that Boursin is French and Robiola is Italian but hey, needs must!

** and *** are elements that can and as far as the omelettes are concerned should be made ahead.

Dates wrapped in Parma ham

Makes 20 canapes

1 tsp vegetables oil

20 dried dates, pitted

20 small cubes of parmesan or other hard cheese

10 slices of Parma ham, halved

Pre-heat oven to 190c/170fan//Gas 5. Grease a baking tray large enough to fit all the dates. Place a cube of cheese inside each date. Wrap each date with half a slice of Parma ham and fix with a wooden cocktail stick. Arrange on the baking tray, bake for about 10 minutes – until the ham begins to crisp – serve hot.

Whistle Stop Tour - Culinary Lucky Dip

I hope by now you're feeling a bit more enthusiastic and back in the zone. I thought I'd give you a few ideas to use when you've more time to spend over the weekend - dipping into different cuisines, for weekend suppers (or large lunches). One or two of the recipes you may find a little more challenging than of late, others not. First stop, Italy!

On the “not” list is Crostini – literally meaning “little toast”. It's an appetizer, using small slices of toasted bread with toppings. Bruschetta is similar and originates way back - peasant food in that the toasted bread acted as the “plate”.

You can make Crostini as small or as large as you like. The smaller version is used as a canapé and part baked baguettes are perfect - larger loaves, sliced and toasted would satisfy a big appetite for lunch.

It's back to my lists again, but you'll see that it can be as easy or as complicated as you'd like to make it.

Part baked baguettes, sliced – gluten free option

works very well (and I promise you wouldn't taste any difference)

Garlic (fresh or paste)

Olive oil

Tapenade*

Pesto*

Tomato puree*

Toppings

Finely chopped chilli – red and/or green

Goat's cheese – cubed or sliced

Any Italian cheese – e.g. Dolcelatte or Gorgonzola, cubed

Parmesan, Pecorino, Grand Padano (grated), Mozzarella and Taleggio

Olives, pitted and chopped

Mediterranean vegetables, roasted and diced

Parma ham, cut into small triangles, twisted into a cone shape

Salami, as for Parma ham

Anchovies, chopped finely

If you are using garlic paste add olive oil and mix to a paste. Spread sparingly onto the bread. Top with any option marked * above. Add topping of your choice – two – three – don't overload.

Cook in a hot oven until golden and crispy – 3-4 minutes at 200/180fan/Gas 6

More options:

Make your own tapenade. You can of course buy it ready-made but it's easy to make and sooo tasty. 100g black olives, pitted, 4/5 cloves of garlic (or equivalent tsps of paste) – blitz in a small food processor. Drizzle in extra virgin olive oil, add black pepper only. Add lemon juice – try a dessert spoon – you can always add more, you can't take it away, personal taste – again. Add 4 finely chopped anchovies and 75g chopped capers. In modern parlance – boom!

Pesto again is easy to make but just as easy to buy.

Tomato paste – bit strong for my taste but, preparing some of each will cater for everyone's taste.

One might say fiddly to do, but, almost all of it can be done in advance and you can take short cuts for example, you can buy sliced pitted olives so it only takes a minute to chop them ready for use.

Coming next on our fleeting visit to Italy, the challenge of a risotto and what to do with the leftovers.

Ciao!