Abercrombie & Feast

I am totally feeling yellow this month.  Feeling yellow is the opposite of feeling blue!  Yellow is bright and happy and hopeful and optimistic.  Yellow is Spring and daffodils and piles of lemons and creamy butter.  If you could taste yellow it would taste tangy and sweet and rich.  Just like this cake. 

If there was ever a perfect cake for Spring, this would be it.  Made with lots of lemon zest and lemon juice and pale yellow butter, this is what Spring should taste like.  I made this cake on a grey and rainy Spring day here in southern England (are there any other kinds of Spring days in England??) and the sharp, peppy smell as it baked made our flat seem almost, almost sunny. 

I like this recipe because it’s super easy and you could adapt it almost endlessly.  Add some orange zest with the lemon zest, add a few tsps of fresh thyme or mint to the batter, substitute some of the lemon juice in the glaze with a bit of Cointreau.  The possibilities for this happy cake are wide open. 

Lemon cake
from Nigella’s Recipes

120g butter
180g caster sugar
180g self-raising flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 lemons, zest and juice
extra 2 tbs caster sugar

Preheat your oven to 180C.  Butter a loaf tin very well and set aside. 

Cream together the butter and sugar until very pale and fluffy.  Add the lemon zest, flour, eggs and milk and beat until combined and smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin.  Place in the oven for about an hour, or until the cake is pale golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, combine the lemon juice and remaining caster sugar. 

When the cake comes out of the oven, slowly pour the lemon juice mixture over the cake while it’s still warm, but not too hot.  Allow the cake to cool slightly, then remove from the loaf tin and allow to cool completely before serving. 

Today is the first day of Spring!  It’s official. There are daffodils on our table and lighter jackets by the door, waiting for us to take walks in the fine Spring mist.  Oh, it’s gorgeous!

But the things is, no one seems to have told the vegetables.  By this point in the year I’m OVER root vegetables.  I don’t want any more parsnips for a while.  I’ll skip the fennel for a bit, thanks.

When our bi-weekly organic vegetable delivery box showed up on the doorstep this Thursday, I was super excited!  I had visions of purple sprouting broccoli and the first soft spring lettuces.  Instead I got cabbage, fennel, cauliflower and potatoes.  The perfect winter line-up.  There were a few radishes, still wearing their frilly leafy tops that look like fancy hats for Sunday church, so I rejoiced in those.

What to do with a box of veg that screams WINTER! and a cook that demands SPRING!?  You make this slaw, of course.  How silly of me to assume that I would have to use those cold weather stand-bys in the same old ways… roasted, braised, stuck in a stew.  Instead, I shredded the cauliflower, cabbage and radishes very finely and tossed them together with some brightly flavoured extras to make a sharp, tangy and very girly coloured slaw. 

I just love these colours, the way that the purple of the cabbage has turned the pristine white cauliflower into a very pale lavendar shade, with the bring pink edges of the radishes peeking out.  How very Spring of you, my lovely Winter veg! 

Cabbage, Cauliflower and Radish Spring Slaw
This is very similar to a salad recipe I’ve posted here before.  I used some new veggies and I think I like this version just as much as the original. 

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

 1/2 a small head of purple cabbage, shredded
1 small head of cauliflower, shredded
5-6 radishes, sliced into very thin rounds
2 spring onions, finely chopped
10-12 green olives, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced extremely finely
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
3 tbs dijion mustard
2 tbs white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

I usually shred all these vegetables by hand, using a sharp knife, but you can certainly pop them in the food processor if you’re low on time.  It will just change the texture of the slaw a little bit.

To shred the cabbage, I cut it into quarters and use two of those quarters.  Just cut out the hard core and slice the cabbage into very thin slices. 

To shred the cauliflower, cut it into quarters.  Then cut out the hard core and slice the florets into very thin slices. 

Too easy!

Combine the shredded cabbage and cauliflower with the radishes and toss, to break up any big chunks of cabbage or cauliflower.  Then add the spring onions and the olives and toss well to combine all the ingredients. 

If you’re making the slaw to be eaten later you could put it away at this stage and just add the dressing before you serve it.

To make the dressing, combine the minced garlic with the yoghurt in a medium sized bowl and stir well to combine.  Then add in the mustard and the vinegar and stir again.  Finally, drizzle in the olive oil slowly, stirring with a fork the whole time.  When you’re done you should have a thick dressing that coats the back of a spoon. 

Taste the dressing for seasoning.  If it’s too sour, add a touch more yoghurt or olive oil.  If it’s too bland, add a bit more mustard or vinegar.  Make it taste delicious to YOU!  Then pour the dressing over the veg and toss very well to combine.  Taste for salt.  I didn’t add any salt because the olives in the slaw are very salty, but you might need some. 

Serve cold.

There seems to be a direct correlation between the slowly rising temperatures of Spring and the rapidly increasing number of appointments on my calendar. Each day is a little bit warmer, and a little bit busier than the last.

Evenings spent at home in front of the telly with slow-cooked beef and heavy red wine just don’t sound as appealing now that it stays light after 5pm. Instead, I find myself dreamily buying crispy fresh radishes and planning evenings spent with friends in front of a barbeque with cold glasses of sauvignon blanc.

My friends all seem to feel the same way, hence the increasing number of calendar entries I seem to have. Suddenly, people want to plan a drink after work, with the sunlight still streaming in the pub windows. Mid-week dinner parties have gone from a rare occurrence to a regular fixture on our social schedules. Everyone seems to be up and out earlier on weekend mornings, filling up the High Street with their arms full of daffodils from the flower shop and shopping bags full of pastel coloured spring clothes. We’ve all come out of hibernation and we have the new dresses to prove it!

If, like me, your diaries have filled up in the past few weeks, I urge you to set aside a little time to make this satay chicken. This is one of the “pernickety” recipes I was telling you about a few weeks ago. It takes a little time and a little fiddling, but it’s the perfect food for this time of year. The flavours are bright and bold, but not too spicy.

I used my griddle pan for the chicken, since it’s not quite barbeque season yet here in southern England, but if you live somewhere warmer, this chicken is ideal to throw on the barbie for your first cook-out of the season. It’s also the perfect food to share with friends as the evenings get warmer and the beverages get colder. I hope you enjoy the Spring!

*Sorry about the quality of the food photos around here lately.  Our nice camera has been sick, so I’ve been shooting with the not-so-nice one. 

Chicken Satay
adapted from Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey

If you don’t feel like making the peanut sauce, this chicken is amazing just marinated and simply grilled.  But, you should try the peanut sauce.  I made it and loved it so much I was slathering it on toast and crackers!

Serves 4 as a main or 6 as a starter

For the chicken:
500 grams boneless / skinless chicken breasts
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs sesame oil
50g shallots, finely chopped
20g garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3-4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

In a small pot, heat the oils over a medium heat.  Add the chopped shallots and fry slowly until they are golden.  Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds, then remove the pan from the heat.  Tip the oil, shallots and garlic into a bowl large enough to fit all the chicken, and allow to cool.

Once the oil is cool add the soy sauce, black pepper and lime leaves.  Add the chicken to this mixture and stir to make sure the chicken is very well coated.  Leave the chicken to marinate in this mixture for at least 10 minutes, but preferably close to an hour. 

Heat the barbeque or your griddle pan to medium high heatl.  Brush the grill / griddle with some vegetable oil before adding the chicken.  Cook the chicken for about 7-8 minutes, turning once, until it’s all cooked through.  Don’t over cook!  Serve with the peanut sauce.

For the peanut sauce:
2 dried red chillis, soaked in hot water for 30 mins and then drained and chopped
1 tbs vegetable oil
50g shallots, finely chopped
20g garlic, finely chopped
1 fresh red chilli (preferably bird’s eye), finely chopped
40g canned chopped tomato
2 tsp brown sugar
150ml coconut milk
150g peanuts, roasted
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs lime juice

Heat the oil in a small pan over low heat.  You can use the same pan you used to make the chicken marinade.  Add the shallots and garlic and fry until soft and pale golden.  Add the chopped dried chillis, fresh chilli and tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Stir in the sugar and the coconut milk.  Leave to simmer for 2 minutes until it has reduced and is slightly thicker. 

While the sauce is reducing, place the peanuts into a small food processor and process until finely chopped.  Stir the peanuts into the sauce, along with the soy sauce and the lime juice.  Season to taste with a little bit of salt. 

Andy likes his satay sauce to be very coconut-y and fairly smooth, so I added a bit extra coconut milk to mine and then blended the sauce in my mini food processor before serving it.  Gorgeous!