cauliflower and broccoli soup

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I have kind of a sweet deal with my flatmate Peter. I do all the cooking, he does all the washing up. But this also means that, as we mostly eat our main meal together at home I have to eschew a few ingredients that Peter can’t abide: brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and cucumber. And I LOVE all of those things. Anyhow, yesterday I cooked up a whack of fabada for him to, well eat, and also freeze for future solo lunches. So that was his cosy winter lunch sussed for today and I decided to give in to two of my favourite veg: cauliflower and broccoli.

I first made this soup during lockdown and found it sooo comforting but forgot to write it down. It’s simple and with very few ingredients, but today I also forgot (because it’s been so long!) that I used to add a small diced cooked potato to the mix to give it a bit of texture, so I steamed that separately after everything else was ready to go and added it. I also used these cute mini broccoli and cauliflower as it’s just for me. I reckon it’s no more expensive than having most of a massive and cheaper cauliflower rot in the fridge. ANYHOW. To make it totally vegetarian swap chicken broth for veggie broth, for vegans just omit the yoghurt topping. The sourdough croutons add great crunchy texture.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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beer batter prawns

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I’ve made these a few times now so it’s time to share them with you. Beer batter prawns! I have to say the first time I ever saw beer batter in action was when I was working at the (in)famous Rocinante tapas bar in Bristol (early 90s). Chef Chris would bring his bowl of flour-n-stuff from the kitchen over to the beer tap and then whisk it all up for his beautifully battered calamares. Trying this out on my own – putting together a few different recipes I found online – I have come to these main conclusions. Make sure your prawns (or fish, squid, etc) are nice and dry before commencing. Make sure your beer is COLD. And always “dust” your prawns before placing them in the batter.

I first used frozen peeled prawns because… easy. But they have to be thoroughly thawed and patted dry first. Another time I used big gambones with the tail left on, which you can see below. Also I shallow fry in a large frying pan using extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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crispy af chicken drumsticks

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The “AF” stands for air fryer, btw, though you could also go with a fan oven. But yes, they do actually turn out crispy AF. It was ages ago (well, 2020) when I first made baked chicken wings using my friend Lizzie’s invaluable tip of adding a bit of baking soda to some flour and giving the wings a light dusting of that before baking to really bring out the CRISP. No frying required And goddam it worked!

A year later I got an air fryer and, well, there was no going back. Since then I’ve done almost every version of skin-on chicken pieces in the “fryer” always dusting them first with the magic flour/baking powder mix. It really makes a huge difference in terms of getting the skin to crisp up using its natural fats, not needing anything else. Why? Hecked if I know. Science?? Anyhow, these are some free-range chicken drumsticks, simply cooked in the air fryer, just to show you how easy this is. You can use drumsticks, thighs, or wings of course.

You can also finish the chicken pieces by brushing them with whatever sauce you like (bbq, hoisin, sweet chilli) and putting them back in for another minute or two. As mentioned before, if you don’t have an air fryer you can also use a fan oven. Because as we all know an air fryer doesn’t actually fry anything, it’s really just a small convection oven. It’s important not to overcrowd the pieces and remember to always flip them half-way through cooking if you want them crispy.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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cheesy artichoke & spinach bake

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I was going to make my creamy cheesey spinach srtichoke chicken stew then realised I didn’t have the right chicken in the freezer (it works best with boneless thighs, not breasts). So then I thought… what else can I do with spinach and artichokes? Found a few recipes online for artichoke & spinach dip, but I didn’t really want a dip. Then I wasn’t sure if I wanted something to serve on crusty bread, or over roasted potatoes… in the end toasted ciabatta won because I had some on hand that needed using up today. Done. I also wanted a version I could bake in the air fryer. Also… done. And so this “not a dip kinda sauce” happened and it turned out great.

The second time I made it I added some chopped toasted marcona almonds for some crunch… also great!

Ingredients and instructions below…
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Nigella’s cilantro & jalapeño salsa

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The other day I was excited to see Nigella was back on Blue Sky, giving it another go. And then I saw this recipe! A simple salsa but omg it’s good. And once I saw “roughly chop the cilantro stalks and all” I was in (for me picking cilatro leaves is right up there with peeling garlic). Anyhow, the amount of fresh cilantro in the original recipe (100 grams) was more than I had and so, as usual, I improvised a bit. I also didn’t have any fresh jalapeños so used a few slices of pickled ones. Trust me, once you try this you’re always going to want some on hand. Check out the link here for the original recipe and also for tips on storage, usage, etc…

Nigella’s Cilantro & Jalapeño Salsa

Ingredients and instructions below…

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baking pan chicken (air fryer version)

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I felt like making that baking pan chicken recipe again but didn’t want to use the oven (it’s 40º here this week!) and I also didn’t fancy cooking a whole chicken’s worth of pieces. So as I had two free range chicken thighs in the freezer it seemed like the perfect amount for the air fryer, and also for two people. You could use any chicken pieces, of course, but it’s important to have the skin still on. I changed the original recipe a bit, using a 50/50 mix of lemon/lime juices instead of just lemon, and I used cumin in the marinade too (that last change was actually an accident but a happy one as it turned out).  Also, I wilted the spinach before adding it to the garbanzos this time (used the microwave, just a couple of minutes on medium heat does the job).

And wow was it delicious. The chicken was super tender and the garbanzos so full of flavour. In the original recipe the chicken sits in the middle of the tray with the garbanzos around the sides, in this case the chicken was directly on top and so the beans soaked up more of the chicken juices. I don’t remember it being quite this fabulous last time. Anyhow, you’ll notice I didn’t have any red onions, so I used sweet onions instead. And I forgot to sprinkle the fresh cilantro/parsley on top afterwards (oops). Served here with some crispy baked garlic chiabatta, also done in the air fryer.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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pico de gallo

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Once again while scrolling through Instagram recipe reels – it’s becoming a thing! – I came across one for pan-grilled calamari topped with pico de gallo and I realised that I had never made pico de gallo before. Mostly because dicing veg is not a favourite pastime. Then I remembered how YEARS ago back in Toronto I had this a handy manual veg chopper (I think it was Braun) where you put an onion or pepper on a cutting board, placed the chopper over the veg and went BAM BAM BAM until everything was finely chopped. So I wondered if such a thing still existed and that very day found one (on sale!) at El Corte Inglés. Different brand, same simple mechanism. So I bought it!

For any of you wondering what pico de gallo is, it’s a type of fresh salsa typically used in Mexican cuisine. Main ingredients include tomato, peppers and onion, with many variations on that theme. For this one I used tomato, two types of peppers (red bell and italian green), sweet onion and a few jalepeños. For herbs I went with a mix of fresh parsley and cilantro, and dressed it with lime juice and olive oil (salt and pepper to taste). Some recipes I saw don’t use olive oil, others add this and that, or only use green peppers… but really it’s up to you! So this is kind of a non-recipe in the sense that it is up to you to choose which ingredients sound good to you. This version was fabulous and I will make it again very soon, and probably quite often. It’s an easy and simple way of adding freshness and a bit of zing to pretty much anything. And now that I have my new chopper it’s also extra easy to make.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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quick pickled red onions

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I’ve made these a few times and each time have to look up a recipe or ask a friend to remind me of their method so it’s probably time I wrote it down myself. Out of the different versions I’ve tried this one is the simplest. One required boiling the water and vinegar and pouring the hot liquid over the onions, others called for more sugar (or no sugar). And this time my friend Paul suggested using lime instead of vinegar (!!). In the end I used a 50/50 mix of vinegar and lime juice and WOW. Really fresh and zingy. Anyhow, you can obviously play around with the ingredients a bit. Have fun!

Ingredients and instructions below…
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roasted garlic & amontillado praline

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So a while back my Twitter pal Pablo posted his version of the sublime roasted garlic praline from Michelin star Restaurante Bagá in Jaén (which has been on my wish list for years) from a recipe on their Instagram and I’ve been wanting to make it ever since. As last weekend was cloudy and cool(ish) I thought I’d better do it now or else have to wait until October. The recipe calls for slow roasting for four hours and I don’t like to run the oven/air fryer and AC at the same time (it doesn’t make sense when it’s HOT outside). And so I went to work.

The recipe is quite simple, it just takes a long time due to the low & slow cooking. I have to admit that what sold me on trying this was the addition of amontillado… I mean, butter, garlic and amontillado is a hard to beat combination. I took chef Pedro Sanchez’s “chupito” measurement for the amontillado and soy sauce to literally mean a shot glass full (it worked though I used a bit less soy sauce). BUT it looked like a lot of butter to me. I started off with 100 grams and was a bit alarmed that I was supposed to add another 100 grams… so I asked Pablo as he had also made this recipe. He thought if I roasted everything with 100 grams and then added more butter later if needed that would work. But I was thinking the butter should be cooking with all the other ingredients the whole time, not just added later, and so I decided to ask chef Pedro (aka Pedrito). Whom I have never met, and who doesn’t even know who I am. BUT he is somehow following me on Twitter so I sent him a cheek DM asking for advice.

Can I tell you? Pedrito was not only helpful, but also very sweet and charming, and he really seemed to care that I get this right. We’re talking a busy Michelin starred chef who was being pestered on Twitter on a Saturday afternoon by a total stranger… and he couldn’t have been more gracious. In the end (after me shamelessly sending him various photos) he agreed that 150 grams of butter was enough and… he was right. OMG was he ever right. This stuff is potent and at the same time super smooth… it’s not an exaggeration to say that a little goes a long way. So what to do with all of this deliciousness when there are just two of us at home? Have a look below to find out.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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garlicky cream cheese and almond puff pastries

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This is a riff on my already versatile cream cheese and almond… what? Filling, spread, topping, snack?  I mean really, what can’t it do? Anyhow, I discovered this option recently when I was defrosting my freezer and had to use up some puff pastry AND THEN realised it could also be used as a pastry filling and omg. So fast, so simple, so good. The first time I just used the basic stuff that I seem to always have in the fridge now. A dollop of it on a square of puff pastry, fold it over, crimp it and… wow. I showed a photo of them to my friend Paul and he said “if you stuck spinach in it would almost be healthy”. So yes, next time I made them I added chopped wilted baby spinach and hey – Paul was right. Crispy cheesy crunchy deliciousness with virtuous green stuff inside. In fact the spinach works really well.

Then over the Christmas holidays, probably the only time I have smoked salmon at home, you guessed it. I tried a version with all of it all together. Garlicky cream cheese with toasted almonds, baby spinach and smoked salmon. Fabulous. Still working on getting my triangles to actually look like triangles but they’re so good nobody actually cares what they look like.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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