My Mate …

who is English, lives in the USA – he's over here to see family and friends and has popped in a couple of times with an American friend, also visiting. Can it be that this friendship has lasted over 30 years?!

We've always hopped backwards and forwards and he has become my oldest student and a good one too!

If you feel inclined check out the USA label on the blog you'll see a series of posts “On location in South Carolina” - actions speak louder than words.

Coincidentally whilst he's been here I came across an American dessert which caught my eye - probably because of the name – Pandowdy!

We have a similar pudding in the UK – a cobbler – here it's usually made with a scone mix as opposed to the batter used in the US version.

Pandowdy

The apples

150g soft light brown sugar

25g plain flour

¼ tsp salt

250ml water

2 tsp cider vinegar

60ml black treacle

675g apples – I used Pink Lady, peeled, quartered

and cored – each quarter cut into eight pieces

½ tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of ground nutmeg

60g unsalted butter

The topping

100g plain flour

2 tsps baking powder

¾ tsp salt

45g cold unsalted butter

180ml milk

There must be something in the air!

Happy Birthday Rose!

I couldn't let the Anglesey holiday go without mentioning that, as usual, our dog Rose came too – she's a real beach baby and loves the sea too.

Whilst we were on holiday she had her fourth birthday and so we took her to her favourite spot as a birthday treat.

Here are her holiday snaps cum postcard of the day :

I just love this place!

Whee!

This is the best way to cool off!

I know this is not at all food related – I just thought it would make you smile.

A change from bread

A change is as good as a rest as they say. On that note, especially in light of the hot weather of late – try Little Gem lettuce leaves filled with your favourite bits and pieces - they always remind me of little boats – just the right size to fill and two delicious mouthfuls – okay, one if you're really hungry!

Serve a heaped plateful of “boats” and shred the poached chicken breast.

Make a dipping sauce :

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine)

you can use dry sherry

as a garnish

crushed, salted peanuts

Kecap Manis for drizzling (sweet soy sauce)

Use any fresh salad ingredient that takes your fancy - raid the fridge!

Stir fry stuff if you are in the mood - for example you could continue with the Asian theme and use bok choy – Chinese cabbage, water chestnuts and bean sprouts - the list is endless – there are no rules!

It's a San Choy Bow but not as you know it.

I've just given myself a great idea for a mid week supper – minimum effort, maximum taste.

Dare I say it … healthy too!

Remember I said …

… I'm not sure this is the end of my supper menu – I was right, it wasn't. I prepared my usual favourite sides – a slaw with sultanas and apples and baby beetroots in balsamic vinegar.

My final dish is another variation on one of my favourite themes – the whole slow cooked chicken. Place two or three whole star anise** in the cavity of the chicken. Spread the chicken with the garlic and stock paste but omit the oregano.

The result is a moist, tender chicken with an aromatic, garlicky flavour. I sliced the breast and served just as it was. It was delicious and gets a big tick. As is my usual habit I strained the stock and it's in the freezer along with the rest of the chicken for another day.

If you'd like a good idea for “another day” why not smoke chicken breasts in your aromatic stock, and no you don't have to have your own smokery. Poach them in the stock - 500ml. Bring the stock to the boil and submerge 4 medium chicken breasts and simmer for 10minutes, covered – turn the breasts over a couple of times. Turn off the pan and leave the breasts to continue cooking in the stock. Fridge when cooled.

**Star anise is a spice native to China and Vietnam. It has many culinary uses - as an ingredient in Chinese 5 spice powder - in Indian cuisine it's ground to a powder as part of garam masala and in Vietnam used in their famous soup dish Pho. It's a perfect marriage for slow cooked dishes. It's used in sweet dishes too drizzled as a syrup over fruit, and even steeped in coffee to enhance flavour.

One of my favourites but I suppose you have to like aniseed!

A dash of Italian

Speaking of piada it makes me think of Cicchetti – pronounced chee-keh-tee. For the uninitiated cicchetti are to Venice what tapas are to Barcelona. If you're interested in more check out the Italian label for chapter, verse and ideas.

Here's a little something to go with the flatbreads using broad beans.

If you can't face the thought of blanching and podding 500g of broads beans, split the difference and mix 250g of cooked petit pois.

Here goes :

Favetta

500g broad beans, blanched and

refreshed and then podded

1 roasted garlic clove

100ml olive oil

zest and juice of half a lemon

100g Pecorino cheese – grated

salt and black pepper to taste

Put the broad beans, olive oil and garlic into a food processor and whizz quickly so that you achieve a rough mixture – you do not want a pulp! Tip the mixture into a bowl and add the lemon and zest and add 50g of grated pecorino. Season - but remember that Pecorino is sharper and more tart than Parmesan so taste before you season.

Serve on bruschetta or crostini garnishing with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of grated Pecorino or serve the favetta in one bowl with piadas, ready to roll up and dip.

The ultimate finger food!

The boring stuff - the broad beans

You won't like this but it'll be worth it.

Blanch your broad beans – bring a large pan of water to the boil and then add the beans, bring back up to the boil. Drain and refresh – in other words rinse in fresh cold water. Tip onto kitchen roll and pat dry. Tip into a bowl.

Place the bowl of beans on a tray that fits into your lap along with two large food bags. Sit in your favourite chair and tune in to your favourite “guilty pleasure” tv programme. Pop your beans to reveal the bright green beauties inside. Place the discarded outer skins into one bag and the beauties in the other.

A tea towel on your lap will stop the tray slipping.

My piadas

You can leave your piadas rough around the edges if you want rustic or you can cut into circles – small is beautiful – especially if you're serving to guests and want to show off. Cutter or rustic, this is the question!

To help, the cutter I used was 10 cms in diameter – in truth 12 cms would have been better – it was the largest I had. I'm having the larger one made as we speak.

Use a timer when you're cooking your breads – if you get distracted you won't get burnt offerings. Another tip. If you intend to freeze your breads then cook for 1 minute each side only - then when you're ready to use from the freezer you've the extra minute each side before serving.

When you cooking your breads you'll get four in a large non-stick frying pan.

Here's my piada :

Happy feasting.

Perfect Piada or Piadina

You'll see that the recipe given is for the larger, piadinas. I made the smaller piadas – you will get 12/14 breads approximately – it depends how precise you want to be.

Piadina

Makes 4-6 breads (large)

500g plain flour

½ tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

300ml water

Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt and then gradually add enough water to make a dough that is soft and a little sticky. Add the olive oil then knead for 10 minutes, until smooth. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into four to six pieces and flatten each ball into a round to fit your frying pan – it should be about 3mm thick but can be quite misshapen. Prick each bread all over with a fork to prevent puffing.

Heat the frying pan until very hot, then cook each flatbread on both sides. It is fine to have patches of charred dough. Keep each flatbread warm by wrapping in a tea towel until you have cooked the remainder.

Fill, fold and get ready to feast.

P.s. I wouldn't recommend making the breads in the current heat. I made the smaller piada and it takes a while. It's worth the effort and I have them in the freezer ready to sample – hold that thought.