Pea Pancakes with Smoked Trout

Ingredients:

400g whole smoked trout

125ml plain flour

125ml self-raising flour

1.25ml bicarbonate of soda

160ml buttermilk

80ml milk

125ml frozen baby peas, thawed and drained

15ml finely chopped fresh parsley

30ml finely chopped fresh chives

1 egg white

60ml low-fat sour cream

Pickled Cucumber:

2 short cucumbers

1 small red capsicum, chopped finely

60ml water

60ml sugar

125ml white vinegar

Method:

Remove any skin and bones from the fish and break into large pieces.

Sift flours and bicarb into a large bowl. Combine the buttermilk, milk, peas, parsley and half the chives in a jug and gradually whisk in whisk this into the flour mixture to form a batter.

Beat egg white in a small bowl with an electric beater until soft peaks form; fold the egg white into the batter. Pour 60ml of the batter for each flapjack into a large heated oiled non-stick frying pan. Cook the flapjacks in batches until browned on each side.

Combine the sour cream and remaining chives in a small bowl. Serve warm flapjacks topped with fish, pickled cucumber and sour cream mixture.

Pickled Cucumber:

Using a vegetable peeler, slice the cucumbers into ribbons. Combine the cucumber with the capsicum in a medium sized bowl. Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add vinegar to the syrup and pour hot syrup over the cucumber mixture. Cover and store in the fridge to cool.

July Fruit and Vegetables

Summer is now well entrenched and, as far as fruit and vegetables are concerned, we are in our seventh heaven; Nature truly spoils us this month with a luscious array of colourful produce. Whole ranges of tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other quintessential summer vegetables are available in copious quantities.

July sees a glut of tomatoes, which although they are not one of the UK's great crops as we don't get enough sun for them under normal conditions, those grown under' plastic' give the Mediterranean tomatoes a run for their money while the weather is good. All sorts of tomatoes are available: the beef tomato, which is great for salads and cooking, cherry tomatoes, wonderful in salads and pastas, and plum tomatoes, too tough for eating raw, but with solid flesh and good flavour that make them perfect for curries and sauces are the best to look for.

Summer is also salad season, and July is one of the peak months for salad ingredients: lettuces, cucumbers and spring onions as well as the ubiquitous tomato. To complete any salad, a dressing made with the new season garlic, which should now be available from France and Italy, puts the finishing touch.

The two other vegetable stars of July are sweetcorn and peas, a couple of vegetables that are not worth buying fresh any time other than now. I can't think of any vegetable more delicious than peas straight out of the pod or a mealie cob picked from the maize field, boiled and served with butter soon after picking! Both of these vegetables, when picked, are packed full of sugar that can make them additively sweet. But that sugar doesn't last very long. These vegetables continue to act as if they were still 'alive' after picking, using their sugar as food or converting it into starch. Sugar loss can be as high as 40% in 6 hours, which leads to a drastic drop in sweetness. The solution is to buy directly from a farm where they are picked daily, or even more frequently, or to pick them yourself and cook them immediately, where possible. If you can't cook them on the same day as picking, refrigeration storage will slow the rate of sugar loss.

Summer fruits are at their best in July, with mountains of berries and stone fruits just begging to be used. With the wonderful weather to begin the month, the English strawberries are ripening under the warm sunshine and the first raspberries are appearing with their succulent combination of acidity and sweetness. This is the time to use these berry fruits, for jam-making, baking, fruit salads or just enjoying them one berry at a time straight from the bush if you should be so lucky. July is probably the best month for making jams and preserves. The cheapest way to buy, which is important for jam makers, is by going to a 'Pick Your Own Farm', or if you don't have one in your area, is to find a farmer's market, where the quality will be good and the prices reasonable.

Cherries, peaches and nectarines should also be making a good showing this month, but choose these fruit carefully as they are picked while under-ripe to help them withstand the long journey they make to grace the shelves of our stores. sometimes they don't ripen; a trick to get them to ripen is to store them in the fridge in a paper bag. Some supermarkets sell ripe-picked stone fruit at a premium price; they may deserve the premium, but sometimes not. Less than perfect fruit can be used for puddings and preserves.

Of the fruit that is available in July, apart from our own previously mentioned berries and stone-fruit, much of the best fruit comes from more southerly climes. Melons are in good supply, succulent and sweet, making them suitable for fruit salads and for serving with cold meats, hams and spicy sausages.

A fruit that is available most of the year, but at it's best in summer is the mango, which come from Pakistan and India. If you are lucky enough to live near an Asian food store, they may have boxes of this delicious fruit from a source of their own at a more reasonable price than you may find in your local supermarket.

Spring Vegetable Risotto

If you're needing an energy boost, this vegetable risotto is just the ticket. It's bound to lift the lethargy and is incredibly filling as it's high in fibre and is crammed with long lasting energy givers. Just what the Dr ordered!

Ingredients:
1 litre vegetable stock
100g asparagus tips
100g baby carrots, halved lengthwise
200g fresh young peas, shelled
500g baby broad beans, shelled
30ml olive oil
2 baby leeks, thinly sliced
300g risotto rice
15ml pesto
freshly ground black pepper
25g toasted pine nuts

Method:
Bring the stock to the boil in a large saucepan, then reduce the heat and add the asparagus tips, carrots, peas and broad beans. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until tender.
Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside. Keep the stock simmering over gentle heat.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the leeks. Stir-fry for 2 minutes o medium heat, or until they are bright green, then stir in the rice.
Add about 50ml stock and cook gently, stirring until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock, a little at a time and stirring regularly for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is soupy and the grains of rice are tender, but still have a slight bite.
Stir in the pesto and season with freshly ground black pepper. Gently stir in the reserved vegetables and cook for a further few minutes, or until the vegetables are heated through.
Serve sprinkled with the toasted pine nuts.

Fruit and Vegetables in May

As summer approaches, long warm days tempt us outdoors for braais, barbecues and picnics. May is a good month for veggie-lover. It's the first month to provide new and welcome produce for the year. There are two undisputed May champions: asparagus and new potatoes, particularly Jersey Royals. Both asparagus and new potatoes, which rank among the worlds great delicacies, may be expensive early in the season, but they are worth every penny for their unique flavour. Later in the month as they become more abundant their price comes down.

Asparagus should be bought, if possible, from a good supplier on the day of picking and eaten on the same day for the best results. Their hard, bright spears lose some of their lustre after even a day in the fridge. If you do buy more than you can eat in one day, keep them loosely wrapped in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. any less than perfect asparagus can be used in things like soups. pies and risottos.

When buying asparagus - or 'sparrow grass' as it was originally called - look closely at the individual spears and squeeze them if you can; they should be rock hard, like any good vegetable, with no sign of wrinkles, and a spear, when held by the end and shaken, should not be flexible enough to bend. The root-ends may be white, where sunlight was kept from them as they were hidden in the soil, but if there is too much white you will loose too much when trimming. The green tops of the spears should be really green, with no hints of the yellow or brown that indicates they are less than fresh. When you get the asparagus home, wash it well to remove any sand or grit that may still be attached to it.

Jersey Royals have a creamy texture and complex flavour that are have no equal and range in size from barely more then an olive to larger than an egg. Squeeze them between thumb and forefinger to check for freshness; if they dent at all, they are far from fresh, but don't be alarmed if the skin appears to be falling off; this is normal for this type of potato. Prepare them by washing only; they do not need to be peeled as the skins have flavour and nutrients. If they are gritty, soak them in warm water to clean them. Boil them whole or slice and saute them for delicious hot accompaniments to a main course or for cold salads.

While new potatoes and asparagus are the stars of May, it is also a good month for a lot of other vegetables as it's the beginning of summer where dining is concerned. Look out for the first sweet and tender broad beans that will be appearing now; it's worth the extra work to shell and skin them before serving, but the small fresh baby broad beans may not even need to be skinned.

Other interesting vegetables this month include spring greens, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli, and towards the end of the month the first of the British grown garden peas should appear. Peas should be eaten as soon after picking as possible as their sweetness and succulence begin to wain soon after picking, so don't be persuaded to buy the Spanish imports: they have come so far and it may be days since they were picked before they grace your table. Coming into the stores should be baby leeks, which are great for steaming or stir-frying. British baby spinach will also become available this month, ideal for salads as well as cooking. Watercress will also be available to add crunch to salads and stir-frys. Spring cabbage varieties, will also be gracing the shelves this month. Radishes will begin to appear to grace your salads with bite and heat.

Apart from rhubarb, most fruits available this month are imported. May is a good month for mangoes and pineapples as well as the ubiquitous banana.

Sauce Vierge

Sauce Vierge

is a tangy, chunky warm dressing

that is great served with fish.

.

Ingredients:
50ml olive oil
1 shallot diced
15ml balsamic vinegar
6-8 coriander seeds, crushed
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 medium tomato, skinned and diced finely
15ml tarragon, coriander leaves or chives, chopped (use all three if you wish)
5ml capers 125ml baby broad beans, blanched and shelled
125ml petit poi or fresh baby peas, blanched
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season.

.

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the shallot for about a minute until translucent.
Remove from the heat and add the balsamic vinegar, crushed coriander seed and zest and juice of the lemon. Allow the flavours to infuse for 15-20 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the sauce, mix well and season.
Warm through for about a minute on a low heat and serve.

.

Posh Crushed Peas

I'm not that partial to peas,

but my husband enjoys them,

so usually I eat them under sufferance.

However,

I saw the 'Hairy Bikers' do something with peas

that looked good.

They used cremefraise;

I didn't have any so I used 'soft cheese',

or what we call creamed cheese.

I'll eat peas like this again; they were really good.

Ingredients:
250ml frozen peas
30g creamed cheese, soft cheese or 'Philadelphia'
15ml fresh chopped mint
Pinch of sea salt and a twist of freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:
Blanch the peas in boiling water for a few minutes. Drain and return to the pan.
Add the cheese and mint and crush with a potato masher.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Warm through before serving.

Pea and Gorgonzola Risotto

Risotto can be so delicious, especially when combined

with the sweet flavour of early-season peas from the garden.

Vary the flavour of this dish by adding asparagus or baby broad beans.

Instead of Gorgonzola,

use a grated strong Cheddar cheese or a crumbly Stilton or other flavoursome English cheese.

Ingredients:
225g shelled garden peas
30ml olive oil
50g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
350g Arborio rice
150ml dry white wine
1 litre vegetable stock
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to season
50g Gorgonzola cheese,crumbled or cut into small cubes
30ml chopped fresh parsley

To Garnish:
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese shavings

Method:
Blanch the peas for a minute or two in boiling water, drain through a colander and rinse with cold water.
Heat the vegetable stock in a large saucepan and keep it simmering.
Heat the oil with about a 1/4 of the butter in a large pan, add the onions and fry gently till translucent.
Add the rice to the cooked onion and stir gently till the rice grains are thoroughly coated in the oil and butter.
Turn up the heat a little and pour in the wine, Stirring through the rice till it has been taken up.
Gradually add the stock, a ladle full at a time, stirring constantly, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before adding more.
This will take about 17-20 minutes.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Remove from the heat and stir in the peas, Gorgonzola cheese and remaining butter.
Rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
Serve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Parmesan shavings.