Thomas the Cook

Last night I had a couple of friends over for an impromptu BBQ. It was one of the easiest ones I've prepared for as normally I torture myself trying to make 101 complicated dishes. But this time I just snipped a big bowl of salad leaves from the garden, and luckily had some left over feta etc in the fridge. I made a lot of food out of a nearly bare fridge and I'm quite proud of myself for that.

One of the friends who came is a baker and brought some chilli bread along with him. I'd never tried it and was pleasantly surprised. It's not hot spicy but has a lovely warmth to it. Today I made some panzanella with it, using leftover bits of tomato and salad leaves and a big handful of basil. Here's my recipe:

Panzanella

One big handful of fresh basil leaves
Salad leaves (optional)
Chunks of stale bread
Oil
Red wine or balsamic vinegar
Sugar
Onion relish/marmalade (optional)
Salt and pepper

If your bread isn't completely stale then toss it in some oil and put it in a low oven so it cooks through and then turn the oven up quite hot to get it crispy (be careful not to burn). I like mine to be somewhere between fresh bread and croutons in texture. Chop the tomatoes and stir to get the seeds and juices out, then add some oil, a sprinkling of vinegar and sugar and seasoning. Mix so it forms a sauce around the tomatoes. Take the bread out of the oven and mix the bread into the tomatoes, then add the basil (it's better to have the bread still warm to help the basil release its oils) and other leaves. Taste it to see if you need to balance the oil/vinegar flavours a bit and enjoy.

I cooked for hours today. It made me very happy indeed. I haven't been spending as much time cooking for myself as I usually like and so having the house to myself was the perfect opportunity to cook the things I've been craving to cook every time I open the fridge door.

I'm off to the Hay Literary Festival tomorrow and promised my friend I'd prepare a salad, as we both get rather grumpy indeed if we don't eat properly. With the help of some skewers I've assembled some lovely ingredients that I think go very well together:


- Roasted butternut squash
- Leafy salad base (I used lamb's lettuce and young rocket but raw spinach is also good)
- Mozzarella pearls or grilled halloumi chunks
- Crispy/fried pancetta cubes
- Fried and crumbled sage leaves

I've crumbled the sage leaves into the pancetta and kept it separately in a tub so they don't go chewy overnight. The leaves will stay crunchy as there isn't really a dressing (the oil from the other things will serve as one) and the skewers keep everything in tact. Quite ingenious I think!

I also made my minty feta squidge again tonight. It's basically just mint, crumbled feta, olive oil and a whole load of black pepper. You can keep the feta chunky, crumbly or smooth and it doesn't affect the taste. I like to use this quite crumbly and oily to spoon over lamb, or like tonight I make it quite smooth and dip in my vegetable kebabs. Once you find your own preferred flavour balance you'll find yourself making it often and even variations with different herbs and cheeses.

One way to use dandelion leaves or any other bitter salad leaf (such as chicory or rocket) is as a base to a wonderful and simple salad of blue cheese and pear. It's a seemingly unusual combination but think of how well apple and cheese goes together, or brie and grape. Give it a go and you'll be surprised.

Blue cheese, walnut and pear salad

Quarter and core the pears, then cut each quarter into two or three slices. Arrange on top of the leaves. Break the cheese into chunks and scatter over the pears, along with the walnuts. Trickle honey over each portion, then a good trickle of olive oil. Finish with a scattering of thyme and seasoning. Serve with toasted, coarse-textured bread such as ciabatta.