posh and fast

Got to say, the brunch isn't a thing for me. The whole overdone and languid way we've allowed a once in a while treat to become a must do twice a week got to have eggs with Hollandaise fanfare has found this particular meal period into the why don't you just eat when you're hungry box. That aside, I bet mushrooms on toast come close behind the Benedict in the late breakfast (which we'll use as a reference now) popularity stakes.

I know when it's close to my birthday that the gathering of wild ceps are in full swing, so now's the time to take advantage of the fungi daddy of them all and elevate anything mushroom related. My birthday treat used to be gathering conkers with my Grandpa, but we're all a bit more grown up these days. This is dead fast to knock up, a bit posh and real fast food. Best eaten with a mug of hot tea, you keep your unnecessary Mimosas to yourselves. 

Ceps and shallots on toasted brioche

Serves 4

Far from everyday beans on toast, this makes for a very posh and fast weekend brunch late breakfast.

2 tblsp olive oil
400g fresh ceps, thickly sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
25g unsalted butter
2 banana shallots (or 4 regular shallots), finely sliced
1 garlic clove, skin-on
Few sprigs thyme, leaves picked
Small handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
4 thick slices of brioche, toasted

Heat a sauté pan until hot and add the oil and ceps. Fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Season well with salt and pepper. 

Add the butter, shallots, garlic and thyme. Cook for a few more minutes until the shallots have softened, then stir through the chopped parsley. 

Pile the mushrooms and shallots on to the toasted brioche slices and serve immediately.

insisting on canapés before dinner, dead posh

Canapés before dinner? Why of course, its not dinner without opening the affair with a nibble as things come together. It might just be me or the weather, or there just seems to be an abundance of avocados in perfect condition knocking around right now, but one of these in ripeness excellence on a bit of slightly chewy sourdough to snack on to start the evening is simply the thing to do.

It is hardly the toughest stretch in the kitchen, but why don't we do this more often? I reckon it has to be associated with never getting our avos at the right point where they'll mash to the touch of a fork while still yielding they're freshness and vivid colour. Pepped up with a bit of dried chilli and a few slices of tart tomatoes, and I wonder whether roasting that chicken was worth the extra effort at all.

Avocado on toast

Serves up to 4

2 avocados

2-3 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

4 slices of sour dough/rye bread

Salt and pepper

A small dried red chilli, finely chopped

Handful of sweet cherry tomatoes, sliced

Mash the avocado with a fork to a rough puree, adding the olive oil and lime juice as you go. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toast the bread, drizzle a little olive oil over each piece then spread over the avocados. Sprinkle with chilli and the sliced tomatoes.

typically, yet another pumpkin soup recipe

We might be a month or two late on this in some parts of the world, but where I am, we're only just sleeping at night without the air con blasting and instead enjoying open windows and a cooling breeze to fall asleep with. The last of the summer's corn and green beans meet the first of the autumn squashes and pumpkins here. If I am a little late in the day, save this thought for about 10 months form now, otherwise, all year round supermarkets are great places these days. This particular soup is in kind inspired by the delightful Chilean dish porotos granados, but a pumpkin soup is a pumpkin soup at the end of the day isn't it?

 

Pumpkin, sweetcorn and bean soup

 

Serves 4 with the windows open, 6 it they're shut

 

2 tblsp rapeseed or olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp sweet, smoked paprika

2 tblsp chopped oregano (or marjoram)

100g small dried beans (pinto or cannellini), soaked overnight, or a 400g tin of beans, drained and rinsed

1 litre vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

750g squash or pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks

200g green beans, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces

Kernels cut from 2 corn cobs

Sea salt and ground black pepper

 

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the paprika and a tablespoon of the oregano. Cook for a minute more.

 

The dried beans version
Drain the beans and add to the pan with the stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the beans are completely tender (cooking times for dried beans vary; this may take over an hour). Add the squash, stir and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the squash is just tender, add the green beans and corn kernels, and simmer for five minutes more.

 

The tinned beans version
Add the drained, rinsed beans, stock and bay leaf at the same time as the squash, and simmer until the squash is just tender, around 10-15 minutes. Add the green beans and corn, and simmer for a few minutes more.

 

To finish both versions, season generously, stir in the remaining oregano, leave to settle for a couple of minutes and serve.
 

daal in the lanka

Every time I attempt to make this incredibly simple and fragrant Sri Lankan dish, I make it ever so slightly differently. Not because I'm in the pursuit of fancy, it just happens like that. Every time Nalaka makes it, it's exactly the same, which is brilliant. Sometimes I put ground chilli in, sometimes green and red chillies. Occasionally some crispy fried garlic shavings, maybe some mint and coriander too. Great with rice, great as a replacement to rice, great on its own, better the way he does it.

Daal, the way Nalaka makes it, I think

Serves 2

200g yellow split peas
1 small onion
6 garlic cloves
2 small, hot green chillies

2 tsp cinnamon bits
1 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp curry powder
salt and black pepper

12 curry leaves

1 rampa leaf (pandan)

200ml thin coconut milk

200ml thick coconut milk

 

Rinse the split peas in cold water. Peel and finely slice the onion. Peel and cut the garlic in half, chop the chillies into little strips.

Put the peas, onion, chilli, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, curry powder, leaves, salt and black pepper in with the peas and cover with the thin coconut milk. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid then simmer for 15-20 minutes until the pulses are softening.

 

To finish, add the thicker coconut milk and bring back to a faster simmer with the lid off, cooking until all the milk has absorbed.

 

You can always peel and finely slice more garlic, cook till golden and lightly crisp in a shallow pan with oil, then stir into the daal with a handful of chopped coriander leaves. Nalaka doesn't, so there we have it.

 

the beetrot curry in Sri Lanka, sort of but not really at all

I can't do it nearly as authentic here as I have tasted there, so I'm not going to bother actually worrying about it. Beetroot in any way shape or form is a treat, so simply dressing it up a little makes for something really quite nice indeed

Roasted pumpkin and beetroot with goat’s cheese

Serves 4

200g pumpkin
100g beetroot
20g goats cheese
1 sprig fresh thyme
20ml olive oil
10ml red wine vinegar
10g rocket
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180c, wash the beetroot and pat dry, rub with a touch of olive oil and put in the oven roast for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven allow to cool down slightly, then peel and cut into quarters and set aside

Cut the pumpkin in half; remove the seeds and slice into 5mm pieces. Season with salt and pepper and put onto a lightly oiled griddle until golden brown on both sides

Transfer the pumpkin to a baking tray and put into the oven to roast for 8 minutes or so until tender

Mix the red vinegar olive oil, and thyme in a bowl then put the beetroot in to marinate, seasoning with salt and pepper

Place the pumpkin in the centre of the plate then top with the beetroot, sprinkle with grated goats cheese and garnish with rocket; finally drizzle with the remaining vinegar dressing

hiking in the shadows of awesomeness

If you know Hong Kong, you'll highly likely to know of the MacLehose Trail in the New Terretories. If you know the MacLehose, you're for sure going to know that stages 4 and 5 on a hot day can break you like a cheap toothpick if you're not ready and prepared.

Starting at Kei Ling Ha to Tai Lo Shan and ending up on Tai Po Road after give or take 23k of some tough climbs and unforgiving descents, days out like these are what makes living in the metropolis that HK is something to utterly respect and appreciate. 

In the same way, whether you know of a fairly straightforward looking Cha Chaan Teng at the top of Nathan Road that's pretty famous for their egg tarts, but also do killer fried noodles and Ho Fun after a six and a half hour trek through the toughest hills is there for you to discover if not. Well done you if you know where I'm talking about, quite brilliant isn't it?

No pain, no gain is what they say, but I guess I'm one of the lucky ones where the hike is what it's all about on the weekend. A fast and hostile plate of noodles with an iced lemon tea served with all the grace and style you need not to distract from what is actually a really very good offering. The challenge, the escape, the wonderment of how you can be at the foot of an incredible little mountain already stretched up and ready to attack just 45 minutes after getting on the train at the bottom of another impressive climb, The Bank of China building in Central.

The opposite end of the day, we jumped in a taxi at the end of Stage 5 on the Tai Po Road with a couple of grazing monkeys giving us the look of 'you're doing all this climbing stuff wrong getting all sweaty and the like' and literally 10 minutes later back in the hustle of Kowloon and settling into that noodle reward.

Simply because a great bowl of noodles can be had here for a small fistful of dollars, what's the point of cooking at home I hear myself ask. Let's just say that there's always a time and a place.

Fried Nathan Road noodles

Serves 2

About 100g dried egg noodles

100g bean shoots

Half a handful of chopped chives

A splash of oil, pinch of salt

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

For the sauce

1 tsp each light soy, dark soy, oyster sauces

Pinch of salt, same of sugar and 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Cook and loosen the dried noodles in a pot of boiling water until just cooked and when done, immediately drain noodles in a colander and run them under cold water. Drain and dry off any excess water

Wash the bean sprouts and mix together the ingredients for the sauce, set aside.

Heat half tablespoon of oil in wok over a medium heat, toss in the bean sprouts. Quickly turn and stir, and add the noodles and the chives. Season with the salt  and then remove to a small bowl.

Add one more tablespoon of oil to the wok and turn the heat up high, toss in noodles. Stir them constantly to minimize their lumping together or sticking. Swirl in sauce, and stir well with noodles. Then, return bean sprouts and chives, turn over a few more times and remove. Serve up, sprinkle sesame seeds on top and any other chilli sauce you might want to add for an extra oomph.

Mushrooms on toast

Serves 4

The mushrooms are out! I picked a couple of handsome puffballs tucked under the safety of a huge yew tree this morning, and I just feel there's a huge season just about to explode. This really is the time of year when nature shows off some of her more wonderous creations.

A terrific Sunday brunch number here, and with the addition of a poached egg, an awesome start to a lazy day. I love this as it is, but if you’re at the right time of the year when wild mushrooms are in season, or your farmers market has some interesting varieties, do not hold back. Otherwise, good firm all year round varieties will hold up well enough.

Remove the bread element and throw the remainder of this recipe through hot pasta and there’s another dish to add to your repertoire too. Take the same ingredients and throw over a couple of cups of hot stock, cook for another 5 minutes then liquidise and you've got soup!

12 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tblsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

Few thyme sprigs, leaves only

1 garlic clove (unpeeled)

lightly crushed sea salt and black pepper

1 tsp caster sugar

14 oz sliced mushrooms

Few knobs of butter

Splash of sherry vinegar

Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

4 thick slices of rustic white bread

Sauté the shallots in a pan over medium heat with the olive oil, thyme, garlic and seasoning for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften. Add the sugar and increase the heat to high. Stir and cook for a few more minutes until the shallots are lightly caramelised.

Add the mushrooms and butter. Fry for a couple of minutes until lightly browned, then splash in the sherry vinegar and add a little more seasoning. Cook for a minute or two until the liquid has evaporated. Toss in the parsley.

Toast the bread and place a slice on each warm plate. Spoon the shallots and mushrooms on top and drizzle with a little more olive oil to serve, if you like shave over some Parmesan too. I'm actually now pretty freezing, so the soup version gets the nod for lunch...

The tomatoes are over, but I'm not over tomatoes

With the potential glut of tomatoes now that the fabulous season we've just been through is coming to a glorious close, here’s something that’ll please almost everybody for a while to come. Early season tomatoes have their best uses in fresh, lightly cooked tomato sauces for pasta or as a bruschetta topping for example. Some shallots, garlic and oregano helps to lift the youthful and maybe fairly underdeveloped flavours a bit.


Mid season brings us plant establishment, heavier sun and mature flavour - there's a period through July and August where during which little more than a pinch of good salt and a twist of pepper is often all that's needed to dress a fully ripe tomato. Now in their final scene, with the branches withering and the fruit seeming a little tougher skinned and drained of colour, this recipe for ketchup to take us into the next season does the trick.


This yields rather a lot, but it will keep for at least a month in a covered container in the fridge.


Proper tomato ketchup


5kg ripe tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp four spice mix
1½ tsp ground ginger
1½ tsp salt
4 tblsp icing sugar
1 tblsp white wine vinegar


Core the tomatoes and reserve the stems. Place the tomatoes in a pressure cooker and add water to a depth of 1cm. Bring the cooker to full pressure for 20 minutes and then allow to cool. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, slowly cook the tomatoes over a medium-low heat for about 45 minutes. Pass the tomatoes and liquid through a sieve, discarding the leftovers.


Add all the other ingredients, except the icing sugar, the vinegar and the stems, to the tomatoes. Place in a pan and simmer slowly over a low heat until it is reduced by half - this will take about 4 hours. Pass the mixture through a sieve again. Add the icing sugar, return to the pan and continue to reduce over a low heat until it reaches a ketchup-like consistency - this will take just over an hour.


Allow to cool, and then add the vinegar. Finally, place the reserved tomato stems into the ketchup mixture for a few hours to infuse it with the fresh vine odour - it’s important to do this after the mixture has cooled, as the vine aroma is destroyed by heat. Discard the stems before serving.

Ricotta salata

The Italian ricotta which we've come to know and love is typically made from the whey of either sheep, cow, goat and even buffalo milk. I'm still coming to terms with life in America where it is pretty much only ever made with the whey of cow's milk. The shame being that in my opinion the sheep's variety is the more interesting of the set with a nutty, slightly sweet finish, while the cow's tends to be blander and wetter, and therefore more neutral in cooking.

In the absence of fresh Italian ricotta being readily available here, I've taken a shine to the pressed, salted and dried variety of the cheese known as ricotta salata. A milky white firm cheese best used for grating or shaving, and a fine challenger to a good Pecorino Sardo.

The main reason for this urge to get passionate about all things ricotta came from a heated discussion around the kitchen table at www.przman.com earlier, and I bestowed the virtues of this much overlooked cheese to the point where todays lunch for me was inspired by it, determined by it and had an outstanding starring roll in it. The sharp salty cheese sat happily alongside some super ripe avocado, pastrami and proper wholegrain mustard on fresh warm sourdough and lunchtime for me was totally complete.

I have just enough left for a couple of plates of salad for dinner later tonight, so here's what I'm going to do with it, and the prz team can start bidding now for an invite!

Ricotta, courgette and pea shoot salad

Serves 2

A pretty, fresh salad to celebrate the late summer. Pea shoots are worth hunting down for their delicious leafy-pea flavour. Find them in whole food shops and some greengrocers, growing in punnets. Failing that, use rocket or watercress.

1 yellow courgette

1 green courgette

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tblsp freshly grated ricotta salata

Small handful of pea shoots

1 dessertspoon of fresh peas, lightly cooked (or use frozen)

1 strip of lemon zest, cut into fine threads

A few sprigs of fresh mint

For the dressing

6 tblsp Greek yogurt

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp honey

6 mint leaves, chopped

Using a potato peeler, cut the courgettes lengthways into ribbons. Season with salt and pepper and toss in the olive oil. Mix the dressing ingredients and season with salt and black pepper.

Mingle the cheese with the courgettes, pea shoots, peas and lemon zest. Drizzle dressing over it and scatter with the mint sprigs. Serve without delay.

Be sure to sign up at www.przman.com to get the latest updates that will help you negotiate your next raise, make a meal that impresses your date, and keep you ahead of the game when it comes to the news men (and the women who love them) care about.

Imam Bayildi

Serves 4

This aubergine dish is said to have been named after the priest, the Imam, who first tasted it and swooned at the flavour and amount of olive oil in it. Here, I have created a much lighter effect, but it’s still bursting with spice and Middle-Eastern promise. Simple to make and great served with warm pitta bread and pre dinner drinks in the garden. Made in exactly the same way but stuffed into some little baby aubergines for a bit more fancy pants stuff is exactly how dinner began at the Embassy this evening. There's been some thunder in the air these past few days, so this tropical feeling we're experiencing made this dish work all the better.


1 aubergine
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
3 large vine tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
2 tsp cumin
Juice of half a lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g sultanas
Handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Trim the ends from the aubergine, then cut lengthways into 1cm slices. Stack the slices together and cut into long strips, then cut across the strips to create neat, even dice, about 1cm in size.

Take a large frying pan and pour in olive oil to a depth of 1cm. Heat the oil and, when hot enough to turn a small piece of bread instantly golden, add half the aubergine cubes. The aubergine will quickly absorb most of the oil. Stir with a metal spatula and continue to fry until the aubergine is golden brown.

Remove the aubergine from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Add more oil to bring the level back to 1cm and repeat with the rest of the aubergine.

Place the onion in a large bowl and add the tomatoes, cumin and lemon juice. Season well. When the aubergine has cooled, add it to the bowl along with the sultanas and basil. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavours to infuse.

Baby gem, radish and goat’s cheese salad

Serves 4

Farmer's markets, plenty of them out there, and while I'm not so sure if the love of them is waning a little, but if you want to keep in touch with your seasons, there are few better places to hang out. Presently I'm totally spoilt in that if I'm prepared to do a bit of legwork, I now have 4 days out of 7 where I can shop this way at different markets, ensuring the whole sustainable thing is being kept in check, while keeping it as fresh and local as I possibly can. Yestrday morning I wandered down to Dupont Circle market here in DC and in amongst the late apples and early rhubarb, an abundance of spring leaves and vegetables have come up for air. This is what took my fancy and made the perfect Sunday night supper with little fuss and even less effort.

1 large baby gem lettuce
40g watercress (picked weight)
20g pea shoots

6 fat radishes, sliced

5 spring onions, thinly sliced
Half a small bunch of dill
80g goat’s cheese, cut into small cubes

For the vinaigrette
50ml good quality white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
250ml groundnut oil
Salt and pepper

Pick and wash all the salad leaves and set aside.

To make the vinaigrette, mix the vinegar with the mustard, and then slowly add the oil while whisking vigorously or blending with a hand blender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Dress the salad leaves with about 2 tblsp of the vinaigrette, toss together with all the other ingredients and serve pronto.

Brussels sprout and goat’s cheese souffles

Serves 4

Sprouts aren't just for Christmas don't you know, and if you still have a few knocking around in the fridge, I strongly suggest a bash at this recipe. There may also be some reminders of vast clumps of cheese still hogging fridge space sinse the festive season, so for a bit of glam with leftovers, this is as good a place to be. This is for a twice-baked soufflé, which is a good starting point if you haven’t made many soufflés before. The sprout flavour is really nice and subtle and blends in beautifully with the goat’s cheese.
 

25g softened butter, plus extra for greasing
225ml milk
Half a small onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
4 cloves
25g plain flour
175g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
3 eggs, separated
100g soft goat’s cheese, cut into cubes
1 tblsp finely grated Parmesan
½ tblsp Worcestershire sauce
200ml double cream
50g Emmenthal or Gruyère cheese, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 170c/Gas 3. Brush the insides of four 150ml ramekins evenly with the extra softened butter, in upward strokes. Chill until ready to use. Pour 200ml milk into a pan and add the onion, bay leaf, star anise and cloves. Heat to scalding point, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse until cold. Strain into a clean pan and discard the aromatics.

Meanwhile, mix the butter and flour into a paste and chill for about 30 minutes. Cook the Brussels sprouts in a pan of boiling water for 3-4 minutes until tender, then drain and refresh in ice-cold water. Drain again, blend in a food processor with a splash of the remaining milk until smooth and set aside.

Place the pan of infused milk on the heat and gradually whisk in the butter paste, adding small pieces at a time, until you have a thick sauce. Season, then leave to cool for 3-4 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks, goat’s cheese, Parmesan and Worcestershire sauce. Fold in the sprouts and check for seasoning. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and leave to cool.

Bring a kettle to the boil and have ready a deep roasting tray. Whisk the egg whites to medium-stiff peaks, whisk a third of them into the sprout mixture to loosen, then carefully fold in the remainder. Fill the prepared ramekins with the mixture and gently level the tops with a palette knife.

Immediately stand the ramekins in the roasting tin. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up their sides and bake the soufflés for 25-30 minutes. Remove the dishes from the water and leave to cool.

Just before you are ready to serve, heat the oven to 230c/Gas 8. Run a knife round the inside of each ramekin to loosen the soufflé. Turn them out upside-down on to individual ovenproof serving dishes and drizzle the cream around. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and bake for about 8 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling. Serve immediately.

Tomato curry

Serves 4

If I found myself in a life where meat wasn't readily available, I guess vegetarianism wouldn't be the end of my world just as long as I had easy enough access to some great Indian ingredients and techniques from which some of the finest vegetarian food comes.

40g butter
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
50g fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large hot green chilli, chopped (remove the seeds if you like)
6-7 curry leaves
1 tsp ground cumin
Seeds from 5 cardamom pods
10 tomatoes, cored and split in two widthways
Salt
75g creamed coconut dissolved in 5-6 tblsp boiling water
Squeeze of lime juice, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh coriander, chopped, to garnish

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed shallow pot or frying pan. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, curry leaves (if you have them), cumin and cardamom. Allow the spices to stew gently before laying the tomatoes on top, skin side down. Lightly salt their surfaces and spoon over the coconut cream.

Loosely cover and set over an extremely low heat. Much of the juice from the tomatoes will form a sauce, helped along by the creamed coconut. When this is coming along nicely, baste the tomatoes with the sauce to amalgamate the coconut cream.

When the dish is ready – after about 30 minutes – the tomatoes should still have their shape and the sauce will be slightly separated but creamy in parts (if it seems too dry, add a little water).

Squeeze over the lime juice, grind on the pepper and sprinkle with coriander. It’s best served at room temperature as a first course, or with devilled chicken, perhaps should this vegetarian nonsense prove all to much...

Indian spiced cauliflower

This mildly spiced cauliflower makes an excellent side dish to an Indian meal, and it is ideal served with curry, basmati rice or naan bread. Panch puran is a blend of five spices: equal amounts of brown mustard seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek, cumin and fennel. If you’re mixing the spice blend yourself, it is worth making enough to set aside a small jar for future use

1 small head of cauliflower, about 600-650g, washed

2 tblsp vegetable oil

1 tsp ground turmeric

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

1 tsp ground cumin

Small pinch of dried chilli flakes

2 tsp panch puran

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

25g butter

100ml water

Remove the leaves around the cauliflower and trim off the base and most of the core. Cut into small florets and set aside.

Heat a large wok or frying pan until hot. Add the vegetable oil, turmeric, cumin, chilli flakes, panch puran and a pinch of sea salt. Stir and gently fry the spices over a low heat for less than a minute, until fragrant but just before they threaten to burn.

Add the butter to the pan and heat until melted, then quickly tip in the cauliflower florets, along with a little more seasoning. Stir-fry over a medium-to-high heat for a couple of minutes until the florets are evenly coated in the buttery spice mixture and are lightly golden.

Pour the water around the pan and cover. Steam the cauliflower for 2 minutes, then remove the lid and stir-fry for another minute until the water has mostly been absorbed. The cauliflower should be just tender when pierced with a knife.

Transfer to a warmed dish and serve while still hot.

Caerphilly cheese scones

Makes about 10 to 12 scones

Scones are best eaten straight out of the oven, but you can prepare them in advance, particularly these cheese scones. Bake them a day ahead, then top with more grated cheese and reheat in a hot oven until the cheese melts and oozes down the sides of the scones. Utterly irresistible

225g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Generous pinch of sea salt

50g cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

85g grated Caerphilly cheese (or sharp cheddar), plus extra for sprinkling

15g parmesan cheese, grated

7-8 tblsp cold milk, plus extra for brushing

1 tblsp finely chopped chives

Crème fraîche, to serve

Heat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper and salt into a large bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it in using the tips of your fingers, letting the flour drop from a height to aerate it. After all the flour has been incorporated, the mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs.

Stir in the Caerphilly and parmesan cheese, then make a well in the middle. Pour in the milk and stir quickly using a butter knife to reach a soft but not sticky dough. Add another tablespoon of cold milk if the dough is quite dry. To achieve a light and fluffy result, try not to over-mix the dough.

Tip the dough on to a lightly floured board and roll out to a 2.5cm thickness. Using a 5cm pastry cutter, stamp out as many rounds as you can, reshaping the trimmings until the dough is used up. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with milk.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown. If you like, sprinkle the tops of the scones with a little more grated cheese and reheat in the oven for a minute or two to melt the cheese. Cool on a wire rack and serve while still warm with a little crème fraîche.