What the girls said …

“the food is amazing, inspiration for cooking, food for thought”

“wonderful flavours and textures”

“quick, easy, tasty”

“always a sign of good food – silence!”

“soda bread was delicious with the goats cheese, sour cherries and honey – beautiful!”

“pretend risotto with pasta, it was lovely”

“orzotto even better than risotto – much easier”

… and back to the bread

The girls loved the speed with which the loaf went into the oven. No proving, no faffing around. We deliberated as to what additions could be made – nigella seeds, chopped walnuts, olives, to name but three. Continuing with the weekend treat theme, think also of the quality issues – how virtuous can you be?!

Give some thought to the E numbers in processed bread – there's one for colouring the crust, another for extending the shelf life, another for making sure the crumb stays soft – aka an emulsifier – added enzymes to ensure your overall loaf stays soft – I could go on!

“Artisan breads” are very trendy nowadays – one thing is certain, you'll pay for the privilege – you are entitled to ask, politely of course, how your “artisan” loaf was baked and therefore to make sure it is what is says on the fancy waistband wrapper you so often see.

I realise that the rapid soda bread recipe is not an authentic “sourdough” the real McCoy (i.e. the real deal) takes at least 16 hours – but whose got that sort of time?! Personally I'd rather know what ingredients – and the fewer the better – were in my loaf, humble though it may be. In the unlikely event that you have any of your loaf left I can confirm unreservedly that it toasts brilliantly.

A memo …

… to the BBC Good Food Show Summer and to whoever is responsible for doling out the fast food concessions.

To: BBC Good Food Show Summer – Complaints and Feedback

From: Me

Re: Visit to BBC Good Food Show Summer – Birmingham 16^th June 2016

I set down below an excerpt from my post entitled A Grand Day Out … take a tip, as follows :

... with limited choices we chose a crepe from a concession near the picnic areas – sweet or savoury – we opted for the savoury @ £6 per crepe – expensive, although tasty enough. What I didn't realise until it was too late was that the two small bottles of water purchased at the same time – at £2 each – gasp - was from Costco – for those not familiar, a membership based cash and carry which bears the Kirkland name. I can't tell you yet exactly how much they cost per bottle but rest assured I'll be backing up my mouth as soon as possible – if I had to guess probably in the region of 20p per bottle – watch this space.

I was very generous with “in the region of 20p per bottle”.

I have now completed my research. The bottles of water are sold in packs of 40 – each bottle is 500ml. Cost (including VAT) is 1.6p per 100ml – 8.025p per bottle which, if my arithmetic is correct, results in a mark up of 2492%.

Everyone is entitled to make a profit and lets not forget it's hard work but there's a limit and there's a vast difference between what is reasonable and absolute daylight robbery.

I did try to pass my research to “Contact Us” “For complaints and feedback regarding the show see our CUSTOMER CHARTER”. Sadly “File or directory not found … might have been removed … name changed or is temporarily unavailable.”

So, my final effort is to email general enquiries bbcgoodfoodshow@riverstreetevents.co.uk – I'll keep you posted!

Back to work … dessert

... is based on a quick and easy recipe using a fruit that is in season – apricots.  If you're using fresh fruit then you'll need at least 8 apricots i.e. 4 halves per person, stones removed – more if you want!  Apricots have a short season and can be unreliable, so here's a recipe that uses a store cupboard ingredient i.e. the tinned alternative.

Caramelised Apricots

Serves 4

1 x 420g tin of apricots, drained

40g unsalted butter

50g soft light brown sugar

25ml Amaretto liqueur

8/10 amaretti biscuits, crushed

Pre-heat oven 180 fan/200c/Gas 6

I used my trusted frying pan that is suitable to use in the oven.

Melt the butter on a medium heat, add the apricots and then the liqueur.  Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the fruit and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or sorbet works well too.

Verdicts to follow with “what the girls said”.

Back to work – Main

Orzo

Anyone out there heard of orzo?  No, it's not some fancy swordsman, that's Zorro, nor is it a spirit drunk in Greece – that's ouzo!  Orzo is in fact a type of pasta.  It looks just like large grains of rice.

Do we like risotto – yep, I think we do.  There's only one major problem with risotto – to cook it properly you need time to give it tender loving care.  Not a quick supper dish.  Well, recently reading a copy of delicious. I came across a recipe called Summer minestrone and pancetta orzotto.  Give a recipe a fancy schmancy title and I automatically think complicated – in this case not at all!

Orzotto

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

260g orzo pasta

500ml vegetable stock (or chicken)

juice of 1 lemon

200g frozen petit pois

2 tbsp fresh pesto

bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

extra pesto and slices of lemon to serve

salt and black pepper

Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and fry the onion for 2/3 minutes.  Stir in orzo and cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the stock all at once.  Simmer and stir occasionally for 7/8 minutes until nearly cooked.  Stir in the lemon juice and the frozen peas.  Simmer for 2/3 minutes until the peas are cooked then add the pesto and the parsley.  Season to taste and serve with extra pesto and a squeeze of lemon.

This dish lends itself – serve as above as a vegetarian dish topped with grated parmesan.

Add 80g of diced chorizo or cubed pancetta with the onion at the beginning of the recipe for meat eaters.  The original recipe contains pancetta and uses chicken stock.

  

Sprinkle with bacon bits and parmesan – if you serve the bacon bits in a separate bowl then everyone can help themselves - you can serve vegetarians and meat eaters too.

I made the vegetarian version but served it with a chicken breast on the side – it vanished.  You can't say it isn't versatile!

If I've ever had risotto leftovers I've turned it into arancini (aka rice balls stuffed with cheese) but whichever way you look at it it's a lot of work especially for a quick supper.

Anyway, waffling over, I divided the orzotto leftovers into foil trays with lids and “fridged”.  I ate my portion two days later, warming it through in a 160fan/180c/Gas 4 oven for 15 minutes (only because I was warming something else) and tipped it into a warmed bowl – the orzotto was as good as the night I made it, sprinkled liberally with parmesan of course – it would be rude not to!

Note to self – next time I'm going to add chestnut mushrooms with the onion.

Orzo pasta is on my permanent pantry staple list – make it your own, whatever you fancy, you will not regret it – in addition it makes a great lunch box – cold or hot.

If by any chance you do have leftovers you can't use it will freeze, boxed or bagged for up to a month.

I make no apology to the risotto purists out there – there's plenty of room orzotto too!

P.s. You can buy gluten free orzo.

Back to work!

It's all very well gadding about all over the place but it's time to get back in the saddle.  It's a bit like waiting for a bus – you wait for hours and then two come along at once – a London trip and then Birmingham in the same month!

So lets crack on – it's Class time again

Remember the Soda bread rapido mentioned in Beautiful bread - this will be my appetiser.  I shall make a loaf late afternoon so that it is still pleasantly warm, ready for my guests to enjoy and then demonstrate another.  Just imagine the aroma when they walk into the dem room!

It would be pretty miserable just serving up slices of bread – fresh though it may be.  So I decided to have two options to taste test.  The first is lemon curd – the microwave version.  A small gift – a pot of their own to take home if they don't want to use it during the evening.  My alternative is soft goats' cheese and tart montmorency cherries chopped finely – enough to sprinkle over the cheese and finally an optional drizzle of clear honey.  You could use fresh cherries at the moment since they are in season – don't forget to stone them!  The cheese and cherries would make an excellent crostini topping.

Oh, by the way – re the soda bread - instead of dusting your baking sheet with flour, try semolina.  Likewise sprinkle semolina over the top of the loaf before baking to give a really crusty loaf – deep joy.

Freshly baked bread always makes me think of home-made lemon curd – a little strange since I don't really have a sweet tooth – I think it's the satisfaction of producing jars of it – comfort food at its best.

Here's a photo of my luscious lemon curd.

What a great weekend treat – turn the oven on to pre-heat on your way to the kettle - it only takes 30 minutes.  If you weigh out your flour, salt and bicarb the previous day you just add the buttermilk and in it goes – it'll be ready before your second mug of coffee or tea!

… and finally - Perfect Pies and the Garlic Farm

My final contributions from the Good Food Show begin with Simple Simon's Perfect Pies. I'm convinced it's a “North of Watford” thing – I've always been addicted to good pies – they don't have to be vegetarian, far from it – just good.

The best way I can illustrate the variety here is to show a couple of photographs taken on the day.

I came away with 2 x cheese & onion, a butter bean & brie and fresh & smoked haddock with leek and white wine sauce. The lady on the stand said that these pies are intended to be a meal in themselves – a weenie bit sceptical since I would always serve other stuff with a pie, if only veggies.

We ate the cheese & onion pies a day later, freezing the remaining two for a later date. They were delicious and the lady on the stand was spot on – they are a meal in themselves, or in my case, two – I saved half for the following day.

Fast forward a couple of weeks – pies defrosted according to instructions and 25 minutes later supper is ready.

The verdict for the butter bean & brie and the fish pies was not as good as the cheese & onion. The puff pastry is excellent and consistent in all them but the fillings were disappointing in the butter bean and fish. It may be of course that I was just unlucky anyway if you want more information check out their website – www.simplesimonspies.co.uk.

If you love garlic and use it regularly try the Garlic Farm, Isle of Wight www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk for lots of different varieties and sizes and other products too. Be careful though - it's a bit like buying herbs and spices but if there are enough mates then it would be worthwhile sharing an order. Don't forget that you can roast your garlic and freeze it.

Check out the photo – elephant garlic - seriously!

In conclusion, there's so much to cram into a day at the Show I'd venture to suggest a little planning is required to make the most of it – have a great time!

Goodies to go … savoury

… and the latest fashion

seems to be Himalayan Salt Blocks of all shapes and sizes. You know that old adage “you learn something every day” - well did you know that an expert in all things salt is called a Selmelier, I assume from the French for salt being sel!

I leave you to make your own mind up – here's a snapshot of what you can do with your salt block and other salt products.

If you use spices and herbs and all things ancillary thereto then check out Fox's Spices 01789 266420 email: sales@foxs-spices-ltd.co.uk and ask for their mail order catalogue – seriously comprehensive. Bear in mind the lifespan of herbs and spices is limited so don't get carried away because it's cheaper than the supermarket – it's only cheaper if you're going to use it! You could buy and share with your friends, then it really would be economical. I use star anise powder and it's difficult to get where I live so I was delighted to come away clutching my fresh supply.

Here's a couple of photos of their latest products.

Oh and just a thought – if you have a present to buy for someone who loves their food then you should have a look at Fox's Gift Selections – there are loads to choose from – Country Kitchen Herb Gift Selection – Indian Spice Gift Selection – Garlic Fiends Treasure Trove …....

Happy shopping!