halloumi, fennel, asparagus and potato salad

as i mentioned recently, i’ve fallen in love with anna hansen’s lemon, fennel and halloumi bruschetta. the things which really makes this dish stand out for me are the layers aniseed flavours (fresh fennel and fennel seeds), the layers of caramelised flavours (the fennel and the strips of lemon zest both caramelise as they cook), the endlessly wonderful squeaky creaminess of the halloumi and the hit of citrus from the lemon.

so, when i saw hugh fearnley whittingstall’s recipe for potatoes, asparagus and halloumi which also uses lemon, i decided to combine the two, thinking that the potatoes could be used in place of the bruschetta bread. the result was fabulous, both eaten warm and as leftovers the following day.

to make this i cut my potatoes into bite size pieces, tossed them olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and then roasted them 180c for 10 minutes. while they were cooking i mixed together pieces of fennel (cut each bulb into 10 wedges), lemon zest (peel this off and then cut into matchsticks), lemon juice, fennel seeds and a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper. this was added to the potatoes after they’d been in the oven for ten minutes, mixed together and covered with foil. after 20 minutes roasting i added my asparagus and cubes of halloumi. another stir to mix the flavours and a final ten minutes in the oven uncovered.

i finished the dish with crispy capers (drain, dry and shallow fry in olive oil) and a squeeze of fresh lemon. i meant to add some parsley, as suggested in hfw’s recipe, but forgot and i don’t think it was missed at all.

wonderfully simple summery vegetables

blanched greens - tenderstem broccoli, green beans and asparagus in this case - mixed with a dressing of oil, (i particularly like evoo or smokey tomato oil at the moment) lemon juice and zest (the zest is where all the lemon’s perfume is hidden, don’t just use the juice), salt, pepper and a little dijon mustard. some fresh herbs too if i have them to hand.

i make the dressing in the serving bowl and add the veggies as they cook, as they pick up the flavours of the dressing much more effectively if they are still warm when dressed. so simple and an almost daily dish at the moment, while i embrace the new vegetables of the new season.

ofm top twenty: coley burger

i decided to kick off my ofm top twenty recipe challenge with nathan outlaw’s recipe for coley burgers with shallot and cider mustard relish.

coley is a less expensive white fish that is often suggested as a sustainable alternative to cod or haddock. i’ve not used it much and was interested to see how it worked in this recipe. i was also intrigued by the relish– in the recipe it looks quite sweet and includes apples, neither of which are obvious things to pair with fish; at least not for me!

so how did i get on?

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lavender martini

so, we finally tried the lavender gin that i made - it’s impressive stuff. one week for the dried lavender flowers to infuse is ample as the resulting gin has a very strong lavender flavour, which means that it needs to be “diluted” with normal gin in this drink. 

to make a lavender martini, shake with ice, 1 shot lavender gin, 1 shot gin, ½ shot of dry vermouth, ½ shot of sugar syrup and 2 dashes of orange bitters. strain into a chilled martini glass and serve garnished with a twist of orange.

observer food monthly 20 best recipes

i’m a sucker for lists of “top recipes” and enjoy working my way through them to try things i might not normally bother with, as well as see how much someone else’s top 10 aligns with my tastes.

in summer 2011 i did the moro top ten (9 out of 10 were winners) and earlier that year i worked my way through nigel slater’s top 10 (5 of which were winners for me). last weekend the observer published a top 20, to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of its observer food monthly awards, so i shall work my way through this list and let you know what i think.

the full list is below – most of these are new to me, apart from nigel slater’s roast tomatoes with thyme and crumbs, so if you’ve tried any,  please let me know what you think, including details of any recommended twists or tweaks.

• oreccheitte with turnip tops and chilli – georgio locatelli
• courgette, feta, pea and mint flatbreads – leon
• beet bourgignon – green kitchen
• roast tomatoes with crumbs & thyme – nigel slater
• broad bean, mint and ricotta bruschetta – polpo
• sea bream in fish fragrant sauce – fuschia dunlop
• halibut with chestnuts – jason atherton
• spaghetti alle vongole – angela hartnett
• turbot with mustard – pierre koffmann
• coley burger – nathan outlaw
• almond lamb curry – atul kochar
• chicken with potatoes – jill dupleix
• bacon and egg pie – margot henderson
• stir-fried minced beef with chillies and holy basil – david thompson
• chicken with morels and sherry – raymond blanc
• mascarpone rice with blueberries – nigel slater
• lemon sorbet with fruit salad – angela hartnett
• tarta de santiago – claudia roden
• istanbul orange and vanilla baklava – slivena rowe
• snow-flecked chocolate brownies – nigella lawson