flanerie.org

Source: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian

Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus a little more for greasing
250g plain chocolate (about 70% cocoa solids), broken into squares
250g caster sugar
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour (we use wholemeal self-raising)
100g broken walnuts (optional)
250g cooked and peeled beetroot*, grated or puréed

* don't bother with nasty vacuum packs from the supermarket - just top and tail some fresh beetroot, chop into chunks, cover in foil and roast for an hour. I didn't bother peeling mine, I just washed thoroughly before roasting.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/ gas mark 3. Lightly grease a baking tin that's roughly 20cm x 30cm in size and at least 2cm deep. Line the bottom with greaseproof paper and butter the paper, too.

Put the cubed butter and chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Place this on an oven tray lined with a baking sheet, and put in oven to warm up. After a few minutes, remove, stir, then return to the oven to melt completely. (Alternatively, melt the chocolate and butter in the conventional manner, in a bowl held over a pan of barely simmering water.)

In another bowl, whisk the sugar with the eggs until smooth and creamy. Stir in the chocolate mixture until well combined. Sift in the flour, stir, fold in the walnuts (if using) and beetroot. Pour into the prepared tin.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a knife or skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it - be careful not to overcook the brownies. Remove from the oven, then stand the tray on a wire rack until cool enough to cut into squares.

Verdict:
I was so intrigued when I saw this recipe that I made it the next day. I didn't bother with the walnuts, and pureed the beetroot. This made the mixture quite wet and I ended up baking for 50 minutes, skewering regularly to make sure I didn't overdo it.

The brownies were perfect, and you would never know there was beetroot in them. Sadly it doesn't count as one of my five a day.

Source: based on a recipe by Lotte Duncan on Good Food Bites, but heavily modified by me.

Ingredients:
50g Butter
1 large onion, chopped
900g chicken breasts, part-bones
1 pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper
0.5 tsp ground turmeric
0.5 tsp ground cumin
0.5 tsp ground black pepper
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
100g dried apricots, chopped
small handful sultanas
1 small preserved lemons, chopped
100g small green olives, stones in
1.5 tbsp Honey
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
50g almonds, blanched
1 dash of Olive oil, for shallow frying
0.5 tbsp Sesame seeds

Method:
1. In a large casserole dish or tagine melt the butter. Fry the onion until softened, around 3-5 minutes, then add in the chicken, salt, freshly ground pepper, turmeric, cumin and cinnamon.

2. Add enough water to cover the chicken.

3. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for an hour and a half, adding more water if necessary. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and keep warm.

4. Add the apricots, sultanas, olives and lemons to the tagine sauce and simmer for about fifteen minutes.

5. Add in the honey, stir and cook until the sauce has a honey-like consistency.

6. When the sauce is almost ready, throw the corriander on top. Then separately fry the almonds in olive oil in a wok or frying pan, stirring often to prevent them burning.

7. Drain most of the olive oil from the pan, add in the sesame seeds and cook gently, stirring, until golden.

8. Return the chicken to the casserole dish and re-heat.

9. Place the chicken in a serving dish, pour over the tagine sauce and top with almonds and sesame seeds. Serve with brown rice or couscous

Verdict:
If I made this again I wouldn't bother with the sesame seeds, but otherwise it worked a treat. Verity declared it 'delicious'

[found at Waitrose]

This recipes would work equally with rhubarb or tart apricots.

Makes 10 portions and is for a 28x18cm baking tin. Scale the ingredients for other tin sizes.

Ingredients:
200g cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp caster sugar
4 medium eggs
175g unsalted butter
175g dark muscovado sugar
200g self raising flour
400g ripe plums, stoned and roughly chopped

Method:
Preheat oven 180C. Grease and line a 28x18cm shallow baking tin with baking parchment, making sure that the paper comes higher than the rim of the tin

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft. Add the vanilla essence, caster sugar and one of the eggs, and beat using a hand blender under smooth.

In a separate bowl place the effs, butter, muscovado sugar and flour. Beat for about 2 minutes until creamy.

Spread half of the creamed flour mixture onto the base of the baking tin, the pour half the cream cheese mixture over it, spreading an uneven swirl through the base mixture. Scatter with half the plums. Spoon the remaining flour mixture on top, add the rest of the cream cheese mixture and scatter with the rest of the plums.

Bake for 45 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin before cutting. Serve warm or cold, with ice cream.

[found in the Sunday Times Style magazine]

Serves 2 as a main with couscous, or 4 as a starter

For the salsa verde:
2 small preserved lemons
2 large handfuls of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
1 big clove of garlic, crushed
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 tbsp capers, squeezed, finely chopped
1 tbsp wine vinegar (pref white, but red is okay)
150ml extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and cracked pepper

For the fish:
8-12 fresh sardines, depending on size, scaled and gutted
olive oil
sea salt and cracked pepper
squeeze of lemon

Method:
- Quarter the lemons and discard the pips. Finely chop the peel and flesh.
- Add the parsley, mint, garlic, shallot and capers and mix thoroughly
- Add the vinegar the gradually mix in the oil to create a chunky green dressing
- If you chopped finely enough, just mixing with a fork will be fine, otherwise a couple of quick bursts with a hand blender, but don't let it get too smooth.
- Put the dressing to one side and prep the fish by rubbing with olive oil and seasoning inside and out
- Grill the sardines for 2-4 minutes each side until the skin crisps
- Add lemon to the dressing to taste
- Serve the sardines on a bed of rocket or other greenery and spoon the dressing over the top.

[Found on UKTV]

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2.5 cm fresh ginger root, minced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small red chilli, chopped
grated zest and juice of 1 lime
3 mangoes, eeled and diced
225g soft light brown sugar
225ml Cider vinegar
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of ground coriander

Method:
Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add in the ginger, garlic, chilli and lime zest and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the lime juice, mango, brown sugar, vinegar, cinnamon and coriander, mixing well.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the mixture thickens and becomes jammy. Set aside to cool.

[found in Waitrose Seasons magazine]

500g fresh gnocchi
3 fresh figs
150g gorgonzola
100g taleggio
200ml half-fat creme fraiche
fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 200C, gas mark 6.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the gnocci. Cook for 2 minutes only then drain thoroughly and place in an overproof dish about 20cm sq.

Cut each fig into 6 pieces and scatter on top of the gnocchi.

Dice the cheeses and place in a bowl, add the creme fraiche and mix with a fork, mashing the cheese a little.

Spoons the sauce over the gnocchi and figs.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.

Tear plenty of basil leaves and scatter over the top just before serving. Serve with leaf salad and fresh bread.

By: Nigel Slater
Found in: The Guardian magazine

This salad is at its most interesting when made with freshly cooked beans. But I have, in a lazy moment, made it with tinned beans, drained and rinsed of their brine. The texture is softer, but it's not bad at all.

250g cannellini beans, soaked overnight in cold water

For the dressing:

a large handful of basil leaves (about 50)
a handful of parsley leaves
the juice of a lemon
2 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
olive oil

Drain the beans, put them in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil, but do not salt till later. Salt will make the beans tough. Turn down the heat and leave them at an enthusiastic simmer.

After 35 minutes, season generously with salt and continue cooking until they are tender but with some bite. They can take anything from 40 to 50 minutes, depending on the age of your beans.

Make the dressing so that it is just ready by the time the beans are ready.

Put the basil and parsley leaves into the jug of a blender or food processor, pour in the lemon juice, add the mustard and a good pinch of salt, then blitz the mixture, adding in enough olive oil to make a thick but pourable dressing. (Start with about 50ml, and then stop when you have a good consistency.)

Drain the beans, put them in a bowl and pour over the dressing. Toss them gently and set aside so that they soak up the dressing as they cool.

By: Nigel Slater
Seen in: Guardian Magazine

serves 2

French beans - 150g
broad beans - 750g (approx. 300g shelled weight)
buffalo mozzarella - 1 large ball

for the dressing:

basil leaves - about 20 large ones
white wine vinegar - 1 tbs
extra virgin olive oil - 3 tbs
garlic - 1 small clove

Top and tail the green beans and cook them in salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes till tender, then drain them and rinse under cold, running water. They should retain some crunch.
Pod the broad beans and boil them for 7-8 minutes until tender.
Drain, rinse under cold water and set them aside. If the beans are exceptionally small and the skins are thin and tender, there is no need to skin them, but if they are large then you might like to consider popping them out of their skins - it doesn't take very long and is a pleasurable enough thing to do. The result is a better salad. Whiz the basil, vinegar, olive oil and garlic together in a blender or food processor to make a smooth green dressing.
Cut the mozzarella into thick slices and divide it between two plates. Surround with green and broad beans and drizzle with the dressing.