Mint tabbouleh...

A wonderful summer salad which is ready in minutes...
Cook couscous, bulgur wheat or quinoa as per directions: an inch of water above the grain in a microwaveable dish, then ten - twenty minutes usually does it, leaving it to stand for another ten minutes.
Mix cooled cooked grain with huge handfuls of chives (or spring onions for a stronger flavour) and mint, finely chopped - a food processor is best - until the salad looks quite green.
Stir in a quantity of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Lemon meringue, lemon ice cream and lemon sorbet

Lemon meringue ice cream - the BEST.
Whip 570 ml double cream.
Fold in 1 tin condensed milk.
Fold in half - three quarters of a jar of lemon curd and a large handful or two of crushed meringue pieces.
Freeze.
Simply YUMMY.

Lemon ice cream

Zest 1 unwaxed lemon and place in a saucepan with the juice of 2 lemons (you need about 75ml). Add 500ml whole milk, 500ml double cream and 250g golden caster sugar and simmer over a medium heat for 15 mins. Pour into a chilled metal bowl and leave to cool. Then churn in an ice-cream maker until frozen. Spoon into a container and freeze until needed.

Lemon sorbet:

Put 100g sugar  into 300 ml orange juice.  Bring to boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Cool. Freeze, stirring every hour to break up ice crystals.

Orange or lemon polenta cake

Give your dessert an Italian flavour with this moist and fruity polenta cake

Recipe uploaded by

Good Food

Difficulty and servings

Serves 8 - 10

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 20 mins

Cook 45 mins

Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter
• 250g golden caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 140g polenta
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• zest and juice 2 oranges (less 100ml juice for the glaze)
• Glaze
  • 100ml orange juice
  • 100g golden caster sugar

• Smaller cake:
• 6oz unsalted butter
• 6oz golden caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4oz polenta
• 5oz plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• zest and juice 2 oranges (less 100ml juice for the glaze)
• Glaze
  • 100ml orange juice
  • 100g golden caster sugar

1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Line the base and sides of a round 23cm cake tin with baking parchment. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. Once the mixture is combined, add all the dry ingredients and the zest and juice after you have measured off 100ml for the glaze.
2. Transfer the mixture to the tin, spread evenly, then cook for about 45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
3. To make the glaze, put the juice and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 5 mins, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. Drizzle the orange glaze over the top of the cooled cake. Serve with creme fraiche/fromage frais/Greek yogurt/ lemon ice cream.

This is a BBC Good Food recipe: My alternative glaze: icing sugar dissolved into lemon juice, simmered for a couple of minutes in the microwave.

Baked salmon with nuts

This recipe is from LeAnn over at She Cooks:

Pistachio Crusted Salmon with Creamy Dijon Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 salmon filets, approximately 6 ounces each
• salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted but not hot (room temperature)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 lemon

Creamy Dijon Sauce

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Remove the skin from the salmon and pat with paper towels to dry the filets completely. Lightly salt and pepper the filets.

In a small bowl, combine the Dijon, butter and honey.

In a shallow dish, combine the breadcrumbs, pistachios and parsley.

Brush the Dijon mixture onto the salmon and then roll in the breadcrumb mixture to coat. Place in prepared baking dish. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the salmon. (Reserve the other half for garnishing.)

Place in the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork.

Prepare Creamy Dijon Sauce while salmon is baking.

Combine heavy cream and Dijon mustard in a saucepan and bring to a low simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, whisking frequently. Whisk in butter until melted. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, spoon a small pool of sauce onto plate and place salmon filet on top. Drizzle a little more sauce over the salmon. Garnish with a slice of the remaining lemon. You can also garnish with a sprig of parsley and a few pistachio nuts.

Brownies

Hmmm... don't seem to have a Brownie recipe. Strange. This one might do:

Mocha Brownies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces

2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (or instant coffee powder)

1 tablespoon boiling water

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13 pan. In a bowl set over, but not touching, barely simmering water in a pan, combine the butter and chocolate. Stir with a wooden spoon until melted.

In a small bowl, dissolve the coffee powder in the boiling water. Add to the cooled chocolate. Then add the granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir well. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in the chocolate mixture until just incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out slightly fudgy, 25–30 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Cut into squares and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Serve at room temperature. Store in a covered container (if they last that long!).

Simply the best lentil dahl ever...

So simple, I am still taken by surprise every time I check that I have remembered the recipe correctly. It is very quick and easy in the microwave but can be done in a pan just as well.

Melt 2 chopped onions in 25g butter until as well cooked as you like them – any stage between transparent to brown and crispy on the edges.

Stir in 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 large tablespoon curry powder and 2 teaspoons turmeric. Add 225 g rinsed red lentils, stir well to coat, then 450 ml of stock – vegetable if you want to stay vegetarian but chicken or even ham adds good flavour.

Bring to the boil, simmer until lentils are cooked – at least 20 minutes in the microwave or 30 minutes on the hob. The lentils should be soft and collapsed and the whole dahl porridgey in texture. If in doubt, keep cooking – can’t really go wrong. A stir once or twice is a good idea, especially in the microwave. (Use a large bowl or dish as it all swells up into the liquid.)

Add 4 tablespoons roughly chopped coriander – mix in or just throw on the top of the dish.

Best with naan bread, but rice will do.

Apple curd

'Making apple curd' said my friend Ruth's Facebook status.
'Ooh, lovely, recipe please!' I commented.
She turned up at breakfast a few days letter with the recipe, a sample pot and a huge bag of cooking apples. As I took the cellophane cover off, the smell of Christmas filled the room. Deliciously spicy, with the consistency of a firm lemon curd and the sweetness of jam, a little goes a long way. Cook it quickly for a soft, appley curd or slightly longer for a firmer, darker preserve. I used slightly more apples and the quantities still worked, albeit slightly less spicy...

Apple curd
1 kg cooking apples - Bramleys or similar
1/2 kg sugar
2 eggs
250g good Guernsey butter
5ml (1 teaspoon) each of ground cinnamon and ground cloves.

Peel and core the apples. Cook in a little water until pulpy. Add the other ingredients, cooking over a moderate heat until thick. Do not boil the mixture. Pot into warmed jars, cover with wax and cellophane.

I kept mine in the fridge to make sure it kept well before I could give the sweet little pots away. I don't trust myself sometimes.