What to cook in hot weather …

Cast your mind back to last weekend and Sunday 19^th July in particular when, during soaring temperatures exceeding 30 degrees plus in the UK, it was the British Grand Prix and we were expecting friends to watch and then eat afterwards. Many of us don't look forward to entertaining generally but in recent times getting back into the swing of it has been hard work!

It suddenly struck me that I had to plan a menu to serve relatively quickly after the race which didn't involve me melting in the process and take into account other nightmare considerations - like serving food that is difficult to control temperature-wise in extreme heat - as an example - a prawn salad is not a good idea!

I made two decisions – a flash of inspiration me thinks – the first – definitely no salad and second it's going to be curry. You might not think it but curry is an excellent choice in hot weather – eating hot to stay cool – the heat of the spices makes you sweat - or should I say glow - and sweating cools you down. The science bit – circumin in turmeric helps promote good circulation helping to speed up your blood flow and cool your body down.

I always plan my entertaining with the dessert and then work backwards – strange I know but it works for me. The extreme hot weather actually helped my decisions. Two courses, straight into the main and then dessert. I took advantage of seasonal fresh fruit, in this case bowls of strawberries and cherries, together with a bowl of crushed Amaretti crumb, everyone helps themselves. My final element was a lemon pot – zingy, chilled and a perfect palate cleanser too after curry.

I decided on two curries – here's my final main menu :

Butter Chicken

Rendang with potato, onion and peas

Pilau rice

Naan breads

Mango chutney

Raita

I could make both the curries in advance and fridge. Each of the curries “stood alone” if preferred or together if you like a combination of flavours. The rendang catered for the veggie – me! Served in bowls at the table everyone, once again, could dive in and take whatever they fancied.

Okey dokey, lets get organised!

Chilli con pollo – photos and a tip!

Shopping is always a voyage of discovery – in this case I owe a thank you to my Editor Lucas for the following recommendation!

Mildly Spiced Taco Mixed Beans in

a tomato sauce courtesy of Aldi 55p for 395g

Here's the chilli con pollo – Sally loved it

my work here is done!

Finally, a small tip. If you're trying to tempt a person to eat don't overface and serve a thumping great bowl of chilli, whilst generous, it doesn't work, can be overwhelming and have an adverse effect. There'll always be more if their taste buds are tickled. Less is definitely more!

Next up – what to cook in hot weather

Chilli con pollo – method and optional extras

First up, the method.

Seal the diced chicken in batches in a large frying pan using a drop of rapeseed oil then set aside.

Gently fry your onion and garlic, using another drop of rapeseed oil if necessary. Add the spices and cook together so that the spices are able to release their deliciousness.

Add the passata and the chilli sauce and bring to the boil. Add back the sealed diced chicken and then simmer gently for 30 minutes. Turn off and then leave to cool. At this stage you can freeze in boxes to suit your needs – remember – you can pull out two boxes if you need to, rather than have to throw away from a larger quantity or, if you're serving the whole pan set aside in a cool place and when you are ready to serve fold in the beans and pop the frying pan, uncovered into a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 20 minutes – check and stir after 10 minutes.

If from frozen, defrost thoroughly in your fridge. Re-heat gently on the stove adding your kidney beans or any of the optional extras!

For the optional extras :

150g small dice or sliced chorizo

sweet baby peppers, de-seeded and

finely sliced

Use a large frying pan and fry the chorizo gently so that it releases its oil. Set the chorizo aside, leaving the oil in the pan.

Sauté the sliced, sweet baby peppers in the chorizo oil.

If you enjoy a spicy hit you can use mixed beans in a chilli sauce instead of ordinary red kidney beans.

Serve with rice if you like but I think it's fab in a bowl with a blob of sour cream served with some rustic bread of your choice on the side or with wraps with bowls of relish of your choice – mango would work well.

Freezing serves dishes like chilli or curry very well – the freezing process allows the spices to develop.

Then there's the photos and a tip!

A variation on a theme …

 … and back to our friend Sally's recovery.

When you're recovering from serious illness, your palate changes – food that you loved previously no longer hits the spot and doesn't taste the same. This could be due to various elements, from medication you take to not being active and not wanting the red meat you used to enjoy.

Sally loves chilli con carne which I've made for her during her recovery. Sally happened to mention that she'd “gone off” red meat. Hmm, I can do something for her – not revolutionary but an adaptation of an existing recipe, hence chilli con pollo – in other words chicken chilli.

It's the same as my original “posh chilli” recipe - a fast chilli served in a bowl, topped with a spoonful of sour cream and baked bread on the side – or fries or wedges if that's your bag!

It can be made ahead in a large frying pan on the hob, requiring re-heating only and adding any variations of your choice. If you have a frying pan that is suitable for the oven too, then so much the better.

Chilli con pollo

Serves 4

500g diced chicken fillet

A glug of rapeseed oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of roasted garlic paste or 2 cloves crushed

tsp = teaspoon

half tsp ground cumin

half tsp ground coriander

half tsp ground cinnamon

quarter to half tsp chilli powder

(to taste, depends how much of a kick you like – I used a quarter tsp)

500g jar of passata

60ml sweet chilli sauce

390g can of red kidney beans, rinsed

A word of warning – DO NOT slow cook tinned red kidney beans, they should be added at the final stage.

Method and optional extras up next

The new ice cream – the decadent optional extras!

Never let it be said that I don't try to think of everyone and cover every base.

One of my favourite additions to the standard vanilla ice cream is to add salted caramel sauce. Some may say it might be a step too far and they may be right, however I think it's personal choice and after all, it is meant to be a summer treat!

The fast option - use a jar of salted caramel sauce (260g) – easily available at most large supermarkets – fold into the mixture to give a marbled effect with your chocolate and pecan blobs.

The “fastish” option. If you'd like to make your own salted caramel sauce here's my recipe :

110g/4oz unsalted butter

225g/8oz soft dark brown sugar

275ml/10 fl oz double cream (or whipping cream)

1½ tsp salt

Heat together the butter and sugar. When dissolved add the salt and whisk in the cream.

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.

One batch of the recipe produces approximately 539g of the sauce and you can portion and freeze for convenience. Yippee – more for another time!

Finally … the sprinkles.

My favourite home-made sprinkle is praline – used largely for adding to and flavouring cream, ice cream, butter cream or whatever takes your fancy. You can use it in large pieces or shards or blitzed into a coarse powder. It keeps well so long as you transfer it into an air-tight jar. Should the mood take you it can even be blitzed into a paste.

Praline

75g/3oz almonds, unblanched

75g/3oz caster sugar

Place the sugar into a frying pan (I used a pan measuring 28cms/11” in diameter) and then the almonds on top. Heat the sugar and almonds on as low a heat as possible. Resist the urge to prod/stir/mess with! Patience is eventually rewarded the sugar begins to melt and when the almonds begin to “pop”, and your sugar is a good colour - turn it out onto a non-stick sheet (or oiled slab if you want to be posh). The melting of the sugar takes approximately 20 minutes.

Leave the praline sheet where it is until it is well and truly set. You can then break it up and blitz into a coarse powder or as you wish. It's stating the obvious I know – you'll get 150g/6oz of praline.

Please note that when blitzing you will need ear plugs and warn anyone nearby that isn't totally deaf they soon will be – it's worth the noise – the result - tiny bits of twinkling toffee – the ultimate sprinkle.

I did say they were decadent optional extras!

What did the taste testers say?

...”You've done it again – another yummylicious ice cream … it takes time to savour the vanilla ice cream before you nibble away at the pecan nut and chocolate … very moreish but not too much as it's very satisfying - a little goes a long way … no sneaking out to the garage with a teaspoon for this ice cream!”

Coming up – chilli con pollo

The new ice cream and the finishing line

As promised, here's the basic ice cream recipe :

Vanilla ice cream

Prep – 5 minutes

Total time – 5 minutes

plus freezing at least 6-8 hours

or until firm

Gives you 1.6 litres of ice cream is equal

to 18 scoops

1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk

1 x 600ml double cream

2tsp vanilla bean paste

Put the condensed milk, cream and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and using an electric hand whisk, whisk until the mixture is quite thick and stiff, like pipeable whipped cream. Fold in the chocolate dipped pecans.

At this point you need to decide on size of pots and a small individual version would be a really good idea. Here are a couple of examples :

easy peasy for serving!

the perfect treat in the perfect size pot!

Freeze for at least 6-8 hours or until firm. Remove from the freezer and allow to soften for 10 minutes before serving.

Then there's the decadent optional extras!

A new ice cream – your chocolate choices!

Here's my usual tip at this stage – to prevent your baking parchment from sliding on to the floor glue it into place using a tiny blob of the melted chocolate in each corner of the baking sheet.

When your melted chocolate has cooled slightly, add the pecans and fold in.

Using your ¼ tsp measuring spoon place tiny blobs of the mixture onto the parchment and pop the sheet into the fridge to chill. I can hear you saying, that'll take ages – I suppose it depends on your definition of “ages”.

If you'd like to see the result of the laborious task I'm recommending, take a look :

 

I think it's worth the effort!

There is a “plan B”. Instead of creating the blobs tip the mixture onto your glued parchment. If you're using this plan you may need two baking sheets. As a guide I'd suggest a size 30x30cms/12x12” approximately x 2 sheets and the parchment should be a similar size. Using a palette knife divide the mixture between the two sheets and then spread it, as thinly as you can, over the parchment. It matters not if it's irregular shapes and sizes. Fridge the sheets for at least 2 hours, to cool and set properly.

Lift the parchment from the sheet and place on a large chopping board or similar surface. I used a Chef's knife to cut random shards of the mixture, as small as possible.

Alternatively you could gather up the parchment and crumple into tiny bits and pieces.

I wouldn't recommend using your hands to break up the mixture bearing in mind that the heat from your hands will cause it to warm and bend!

Have a look at the result of plan B :

The world is your ice cream here -

you could combine the blobs and the shards

The finishing line …