rose petal jam

Backyard chicken

As the weather improved recently (ok, slightly improved) it was time to dust of the BBQ and get into some outdoor cooking. I am a bit of a snob about BBQs; I don’t want to eat burnt sausages (mainly because I don’t really like them) or shop bought burgers in soggy buns. I like to use the BBQ as a way of getting a different flavour onto meats, fish and veggies and to enjoy the opportunity to eat outside for a change. It is a well known fact that food always tastes better in the fresh air. Oh and that you’ll sleep better after being outdoors for a while…well, so I was told as a child and it works for me!

Many people’s experience of BBQs is in a crowd, people have them in the summer and invite a whole load of people round for a big party. Which is great and I love them and it’s a fun and relatively easy way of feeding a group. However, I am also a fan of the BBQ for two, and we often have them just the two of us, especially on a Friday evening in the summer when we can just relax and take our time.

We don’t have a garden or glamorous patio but we do have quite a sweet backyard, a tiny area really, but it isn’t overlooked, has a tree and enough room for 2-4 people to sit out on a little decked area and space for a BBQ. And as everything looks better with a couple of candles here we go.

The first thing I did was make up a sauce. Dom decided what the base of this should be and I tweaked it with a few bits and pieces to make it extra yummy. This is like the sort of BBQ sauce you get in restaurants etc, sweet, sticky, with a bit of warmth.

I’m not going to give a ‘recipe’ of how to make this, as it’s really just BBQing chicken which I am sure you know how to do. The sauce recipe is below however and just wanted to say that we used organic free-range chicken breasts. I know it’s a bit dull everyone banging on about organic etc but it really does taste better and frankly in the case of chicken if it isn’t free range I am not eating it - battery chicken is cruel and if that weren’t enough it actually doesn’t taste that good either. I try to find organic in the reduced section of supermarket chillers and squirrel it away in the freezer for an occasion such as this.

BBQ chicken sauce

1 tbsp runny honey
1 1/2 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chilli flakes

This makes enough for two but if you were having a few people round it can easily be multiplied, just don’t add so much chilli. You can also marinade the meat in a bit of balsamic vinegar and some olive oil to tenderise the flesh – as little as one hour will do it but you can also do before work and leave it all day in the fridge quite happily.

The method is simple, just cook the chicken for a few mins on each side to get I going and then start to baste it with the sauce using a pastry brush or similar. Keep basting and turning until chicken is cooked right through. Its best to have this a few inches away from the coals and cook more slowly to allow the sauce to build up and so it catches in places but doesn’t burn too much.

We then carved the chicken into slices and ate in ciabatta bread, with fresh salad leaves from the allotment, some garlic mayonnaise and a nice glass of shiraz. It felt good to be finally sat outside in the twilight eating something delicious (ethical!) and so easy to make.

I would love to hear about other people's BBQ sauces and recipes. what's the best thing you have ever cooked on a BBQ?

Guilty of simplicity

Do you have a dish that you make where the effort that goes in is inversely proportionate to how amazing it tastes? I have a couple and this one in particular makes me feel quite guilty! When I cook it for people I get embarrassed if they ask for the recipe as it’s so simple and requires so few, easily available ingredients that I feel a bit of a fraud. I really MUST do something about my belief that for something to be good or worthwhile it must be hard to do or difficult to attain. Must be my puritanical upbringing (JOKE mother).

This dish is something I created a few years ago and was one of the first things that I made up entirely from nowhere but my own head and what I thought would taste good. It was just after I discovered that coriander was actually really nice, after a childhood of disliking it. It also uses fresh chilli and has a wee kick and so went down very well with Dominic.

And as if it couldn’t get any better (see how I am learning to blow my own trumpet Janice?) it is

a. Good for you – low fat, good lean protein, contains veggies and

b. You can make it in well under 30 minutes – I’d say you could do it in 15 mins to be honest if you concentrated, didn’t have to root around for the ingredients and weren’t listening to The Archers at the same time.

I haven’t really had a name for it until now so…err….

Spicy prawn pasta with lime & coriander

serves two

Enough prawns for 2 people, defrosted
150g linguine pasta
Punnet of cherry tomatoes
Handful of coriander leaf and stalks, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
A tray of sugar snap peas
The juice and zest of a lime
1 fat red chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 big dollops of half fat crème fraiche
1 dessertspoon of olive oil

Do all of the chopping and defrosting
Put the pasta on to boil according to packets instructions
Put oil, garlic and chilli into a saute pan and gently soften. Add the tomatoes and cook out for 3 mins
Add the prawns, coriander and lime to the pan and mix together. Cook for minute the turn off the heat so the prawns don't become rubbery.
When pasta has 4 mins to go add the peas to the water.
When al dente, drain pasta and peas and add to prawn mixture.
Add the crème fraiche and combine everything together.

Serve, guiltily but defiantly!

For Rebecca

Dedication: This new soup recipe is for lovely Rebecca, who is vegetarian. As an ex vegetarian I know only too well that many food magazines, programmes and blogs have far too little on offer for those who don't eat meat. (Although now I am back on the meaty stuff I have to say I think you're all slightly bonkers but there you go, nowt worse than an ex veggie!)

Anyone who knows me knows that soup is one of my things. I tend to make it much more in autumn and winter as it makes such a great lunch to take to work etc or for weekend lunches and keeps you nice and warm inside on cold wet days. Bizarrely, I never usually make soup when having friends over for dinner. In fact I can’t remember the last time I made soup as a starter. And I never order it in restaurants as a starter, but will happily order it for lunch. Hmmm…

There is a great new café in Newcastle called Supe which does really excellent fresh soups using seasonal and local ingredients. Unfortunately they seem not to have a website but if you are in the area, it’s on Pilgrim Street, near the Tyneside Cinema and is run by two nice young chaps who have lots of energy and passion for food and for offering healthy and delicious alternatives to the usual café stuff you find.

Anyhow, I digress. I am writing today to introduce my latest soup recipe, which is a summer soup for a change. And so nice, I might even do it as a starter at my next dinner party.

We are getting a lot of courgettes at the moment from Mark & Helen's allotment – delicious and tender, they are perfect for this recipe. I’m really into mint at the moment so that had to go in too and it makes it extra summery. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present…

Courgette, Feta & Mint Soup

Serves two, generously

4 medium sized courgettes or equivalent
1/3 supermarket sized pack of feta cheese
1 medium potato
1 pint vegetable stock (fresh or cubes)
20or so mint leaves
2 small cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt

Chop the vegetables up into 2 cm chunks and dice the garlic into little bits. Fry off on a medium heat for about 5 mins until the courgettes are softened and the veggies have a little colour (golden rather than brown).

Add the stock and the salt and cook until the potato seems tender, about 15 mins. Add the feta, crumbled up and the mint leaves. Cook for a further 30 seconds then remove from the heat.

Using a hand blender whiz until smooth (or use a jug blender if you have one). It turns a really lovely light yellowish green and has a soft, silky texture.

Serve with a small sprig of fresh mint. If you were doing for a dinner party and trying to be posh, and if you knew a way of procuring them, a deep-fried courgette flower would look fantastic. (Can you tell I have been watching Jamie again?!)

I am really pleased with this soup; it is so simple, with just 5 main ingredients and takes just 20 minutes from chopping board to bowl.

It's all about the passion

I know it's unfashionable to say so these days but...I love Jamie Oliver. I cannot understand why people feel the need to knock him all the time. (oh ok, the endless Sainsbury's ads probably had a LOT to do with it!)

He is talented. He's a nice bloke. He is PASSIONATE. To me, life is about passion. You have to have some for something (and hopefully someone!) or otherwise, what's the point? Watching Jamie the other night on his new tv series was like biting into one of his home grown tomatoes, full of juice, flavour and sunshine. His enthusiasm for his tomatoes, his energy in showing us all some wonderful recipes and his passion for his little bit of England and his love of pottering about just made me want to ruffle his little head - bless him! I looked at his website today and there is an excellent video podcast of him barbequing a leg of lamb...mmmm. Go on, admit you love him too and have a look...