eating salad with chopsticks

Isn't as difficult as all that. It is though the last few flakes of fish in the bottom of the bowl that will continue to sharpen my dexterity and keep arthritis in my chopstick fingers at bay.

 

In a salad where cold noodles appear, in my opinion, the noodles themselves need to be served really cold, and not at room temperature. Fatty fish on the other hand, is better served tepid than chilled from the fridge. This splendid pairing meet here in this salad, a good contrast to one another. I've used chives as the main seasoning here, but I sometimes add coriander leaves too, a good handful of them, roughly chopped and thrown in at the end. Great picnic fodder this, by the way, especially packed into takeaway containers.

Cold salmon noodle salad

Serves 2

125g rice noodles
2 pieces of salmon fillet approximately 200g each
Groundnut oil
3 tblsp soy and oyster sauce mixed
1 tsp caster sugar
3 limes
1 or 2 bird's eye chilli
A handful of chives, chopped
A handful coriander leaves
2 tblsp toasted sesame seeds

Bring a deep pan of water to the boil. Slide in the noodles, turn off the heat and leave for four minutes. Drain and tip into a bowl. Mix the nam pla and sugar with the juice of two of the limes in a small bowl.

Chop the chilli finely, removing the seeds if you wish (leaving them in will make it hotter) and add it to the dressing with most of the finely chopped chives (and coriander) leaves. Save a few for serving. Toss the dressing with the noodles and leave to cool. Refrigerate for at least an hour so that the noodles are well chilled.

Place the salmon in a grill pan. Rub with a little oil, season with salt and black pepper and squeeze over the remaining lime. Grill for 10 to 12 minutes or so, till the flesh is opaque and the flakes of fish can be pulled easily apart. Leave to cool to room temperature.

Divide the noodles between two plates, then break the fish into broad chunks and scatter with the toasted sesame seeds and remaining herbs.

Eat with chopsticks, naturally...

 

noodles rock

Is it this easy to be be back so quickly and so comfortably? Seriously don't bother with this recipe if you can get a piping hot bowl of noodles in soup locally, if you can't then all I can do is apologise. Food like this is what makes us

 

King prawn and scallop wonton soup

 

Serves 4

 

8 dried whole shiitake mushrooms

750ml just boiled water

2 tblsp ground nut oil

4 raw, large unpeeled king prawns

Small knob galangal or fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced

2 lemongrass stalks, bruised and cut into 5cm slices

4 kaffir lime leaves

2 banana shallots, peeled and sliced

1 red bird’s eye chilli, deseeded and sliced

2 garlic cloves peeled and sliced

Small handful fresh coriander roots, roughly chopped

500ml good vegetable or fresh chicken stock

50g glass noodles (mung bean vermicelli)

1-2 tsp nam pla (Thai fish sauce), to taste

2 small pak choi, trimmed, washed and leaves separated

Salt and ground white pepper

Fresh coriander leaves, to garnish

Wedges of fresh lime, to serve

 

For the wontons

2 fresh king scallops, shelled, washed, coral discarded and flesh finely diced

4 canned water chestnuts, drained, rinsed and finely diced

1 spring onion, trimmed and finely chopped

¼ tsp of tamari soy sauce

¼ tsp toasted sesame oil

2 tsp finely chopped fresh coriander

8 wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen

Salt and ground white pepper, to taste

A little lightly beaten egg white, to seal the wontons

 

Place the mushrooms in a large bowl and pour over the just-boiled water. Set aside for 30 minutes. Peel the prawns, leaving the tip of the tail intact, and remove the dark vein. Cut into large pieces or leave whole. Put the prawns in a bowl, cover and chill until required. Place the heads and shells in a large saucepan.

 

Pour the oil over and cook gently for 3-4 minutes until golden brown, stirring constantly. Do not allow to burn. Next, add the galangal, lemongrass, lime leaves, shallots and chilli. Cook with the prawn shells for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat before adding the garlic and coriander roots. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

 

Drain the soaked mushrooms in a sieve and add the liquid to the pan with the peeled prawns. Stir in the vegetable or chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 15 minutes to release all the flavours. Put the noodles in a bowl and cover with just-boiled water. Leave for 5 minutes, then drain and refresh in cold water. Drain once more. Slice the soaked shiitake mushrooms thickly, discarding any tough stalks.

 

To prepare the wontons, combine the scallops, chestnuts, spring onion, soy sauce, sesame oil, coriander and seasoning. Place a little of the mixture in the centre of one of the wonton wrappers and brush the edges with egg white. Bring the edges up together and pinch to seal. Put on a plate, cover with a clean, damp cloth and set aside. Continue making the wontons until all the mixture is used.

 

When the soup base is ready, strain through a fine sieve into a clean pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat slightly. Add nam pla and seasoning to taste. Stir in the shiitake mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes until tender. Next, add the pak choi, reserved noodles and prawns.

 

Carefully drop the wontons into the soup using a slotted spoon. Simmer together for about 3 minutes until the prawns are pink and cooked through and the wontons are tender and float to the surface. Ladle into four warmed bowls. Garnish with plenty of fresh coriander leaves and serve with wedges of lime for squeezing

barbecued corn, and more of that beef

Incredible. Remarkable. Outstanding.

This wonderful North Devon beef just keeps getting better, and for a weekday treat, a fillet steak given some simple seasoning and a hard pan fry is all that's needed. If anyone wants some of this incredible meat, give Siana Yewdall a call on +447817 395924 to place an order for one of her brilliant beef boxes.

With a steak of this quality, a slightly fancier something on the side is always worth the effort when the main part needs no help to be splendid. So enter some spunky barbecued corn.

Barbecued sweetcorn with lime, chilli and parmesan butter

Serves 4

This recipe is a regular barbecue number at home, incredibly simple to prepare, and fun to eat.

4 whole corn cobs, in their husks

100g unsalted butter, softened
100g parmesan cheese, freshly grated
finely grated zest of 2 large limes
1-2 bird's-eye chillies, seeded and finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, quartered

Place the corn cobs on a preheated hot grill and cook until golden brown, about 15 minutes, turning often.

Peel off the husks when cool enough to handle. While the corn is cooking, combine the butter, parmesan, zest and chilli, and beat until smooth.

Season with salt and pepper and smear each cob with the butter and serve with a wedge of lime, a crispy jacket potato and an outstanding piece of beef fillet.

A proper treat indeed.

some of the best beef I've ever had

North Devon has always been a place in between with me. Somewhere you pass on through on the way to what I used to think was all the South West had to offer in the way of Cornwall, but I'm dead happy to be labelled a convert in more areas that I'd planned for. Truly brilliant people, quite beautiful places and their beef when it is correctly reared and handled is something utterly incredible.

You know when you've stumbled upon something a little bit special, it clicks effortlessly, feels instantly right and just seems to linger for ever. With proper beef, there constantly seems to be a search and demand for the next best thing; creamy fat, rich colouring, consistent marbling, depth of flavour - and on we could go... So when you find it, you need to do something decent with it.

Now, a steak is a wonderous thing, and I may have waxed on and on many times before of my love for just an unfussed and barely cooked slab of meat. I do more often than not need coaxing away from a primal cut, but the honesty of a harder working piece of the beast cooked slowly and lovingly never disappoints, it really is always worth the effort, and I sometimes kick myself for not doing it more often. Anyway, like all things quite brilliant, this beef has a source, and you can find it all from the amazing Yewdall family at West Webbery farm near Bideford. You can get a hold of Jonnie and Siana with their contact details here and ask them about their beef boxes.

An honest to goodness beef stew

Makes enough for 6-8, with enough  left over for a splendid lunch tomorrow

1.2kg shin of beef
A decent bottle of red wine

50g flour and 50g mustard powder, seasoned with salt and pepper

Beef dripping, or oil

4 onions, sliced

500ml beef stock

50ml each of Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce and tomato puree

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs of thyme

8 big flat mushrooms

4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunky slices

4 small turnips, peeled and cut into chunks

Trim the beef of its main sinews and cut into large chunks. steep in the red wine for a few hours, then drain and reserve the wine. Toss the meat with the seasoned flour and mustard powder to coat. Heat a heavy-bottomed casserole on a medium flame and add a knob of dripping or a couple of tablespoons of oil. Brown the meat in batches, adding more fat if necessary – be careful not to overcrowd the pan, or it will boil – then transfer to an overproof pot with a tight fitting lid.

Once all the meat is browned, cook the onions until soft and slightly browned. Add them to the beef and then pour in the wine to deglaze. Add the wine, the stock, the herbs and the sauces. Bring to a simmer, then cover and pop into an oven at 140c for at least three hours.

Add the carrots and turnips, and simmer for about another hour, until the meat is tender enough to cut with a spoon. Leave to cool, overnight if possible, and then bring back to a simmer, adjusting the seasoning and finishing with freshly chopped parsley, mashed potatoes and some beans from the garden - a triumph with a story.

a couple of ways with beef

When in the mood for Meat

Only Meat will do

So, a slab of sirloin, deep, dense, ruby red and well aged, and just a little bit too much to cook off as a steak alone did indeed lend itself to a couple of courses last night, and a generous trimming resulting in thin shavings of the meat was the way to get things started. There's something utterly luxurious about raw food - oysters, sushi and caviar being exemplary versions, and a carpaccio of sorts with terrific quality beef falls easily into this category.


Carpaccio in the traditional manner is a fine thing, although more often than not the true flavour of the meat lost a little in sauces that seem to have gone too far down the mayonnaise route. Much more preferable for me is very very good quality salt, pepper and olive oil - nothing more needed to pronounce the true taste of the beef. Adding a fist of rocket leaves, thinly sliced radishes, some raw asparagus and some Parmesan shavings and true completion has been achieved, but as ever there are no fixed set rules here.


Steak in particular is the one and only food item I think about when I'm in need for a proper treat. The first meal I'd go for if I hadn't really eaten for a few days. It needs precious little more than salt and pepper, particularly in this instance - natural in every sense. This little nugget might cause a bit of debate, but honestly a great steak doesn't always need a starch sitting along side, in fact I'd go so far as to say it pretty much doesn't deserve the unnecessary distraction.


If you can fill your house with the luxurious smell of beef charring on a hot grill then going out for an expensive steak dinner very quickly loses its' charm. One joint, two courses, thank you very much.

tapas still has a long life to lead

London, the weather and the games have finally arrived. At this very moment there's honestly no city quite like it, and it is a privilege to be a part of it - so now onto championing the food of Spain...


The fad of tapas has come, gone, returned, faded and reignited more times of late than any other food stuff, but right here right now, there simply isn't anything else on offer (maybe a good barbecue aside) that ticks quite so many boxes.


London has finally stumbled upon the summer we've waited so long for, and simply anywhere with outside space to dine this week has never been so popular. Grazing the way through a delightful menu while watching the world pass you by is the way to go. If you have your own outdoor space, then there's little excuse not to have a go yourself, there really is nothing better than sharing some plates at home. Let the sun shine long!


Potato and octopus


Makes 8 plates


1 whole octopus, about 1.5kg

1 sliced onion

2 bay leaves 

1kg new potatoes, scrubbed

1 tsp salt flakes

2 tsp smoked pimenton

2 cloves garlic, chopped

100ml olive oil

Freezing octopus tenderizes it. No need to beat it. Blanch the thawed octopus in boiling water for one minute. Drain. Bring another pan of water to a boil with the slice of onion and the bay leaves. Add the octopus and let it cook at a simmer for about one hour. It should be tender, just a little chewy. Remove and let it cool slightly. 

When cool enough to handle, slide off the pinkish skin and discard. Cut the potatoes in half and add them to the same water in which the octopus cooked and cook them until tender. Cut the octopus into bite size pieces and if possible sear very quickly in a hot pan, a crispy edge to the pieces will make a difference. Arrange them on plates with the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pimenton, garlic, and drizzle with the oil.

Or a quick gazpacho

Makes another 8 neat portions

1kg really ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

4 spring onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves

½ cucumber, peeled

75ml olive oil

30ml sherry vinegar

Put the chopped tomatoes, spring onions, garlic and cucumber in a blender and whizz until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve 2 or 3 times to remove most of the pulp.

Put the mix back in the blender and slowly add the olive oil and sherry vinegar and season well. Chill in the fridge before serving. Top with anything you fancy - a crumble of toasted bread, a few slices of spring onion and cucumber, a splosh of olive oil.

sausages and mushrooms

or the full on fry up

Serves 4 very happy people

Everybody seriously must love a properly cooked breakfast. No one in the world cooks breakfast like we do - mushrooms, tomatoes, proper local sausages, fat bacon, black pudding, fried bread and potato, with lots of tea and toast. 

I've recently fallen back in love with something cooked in the morning, and as unhealthy as the whole notion of fried food first thing, it's no different to enjoying a pint or two on the weekend - everything in moderation. Timing is critical here as we greedily have a lot of components to bring together, so put the oven on a low setting to keep the plates and cooked items hot until ready to dish up.
 
3 tblsp vegetable oil, plus 2 tblsp to fry eggs
4 handmade pork or beef sausages
8 rashers of smoked back bacon
4 slices of black or white pudding
75g cooked potato (ideally leftover new potatoes)
2 slices of white bread, plus bread for toast
4 large vine tomatoes
4 large flat or field mushrooms
4 free range eggs
Butter for bread
Home made preserves or marmite
 
Preheat the oven to 125°C/gas mark 1. Place your plates in the oven.

Place a large, heavy frying pan on the stove and heat with 3 tblsp of the oil, until warm. Add the sausages, black pudding and bacon, and cook slowly for 6-8 minutes to release the fat but not brown the meat. Turn up the heat and continue to cook until the bacon begins to crisp and the sausages are brown. Transfer to the warmed plates.

There should be a surplus of fat in the pan, now heat the pan until the fat is letting off a sheen or haze, and add the bread and potato. Cook the bread quickly on one side until golden brown, and then remove and place on a piece of kitchen paper before transferring to the oven. Turn the potato over and cook for 2-3 minutes, then transfer that to the oven as well.

Lower the heat and add the tomatoes, cut-side down, and the mushrooms, stalk up. Season with pepper, then cover. Cook for 5 minutes and keep warm in the pan until required. 

Take a small omelette or frying pan and heat 2 tblsp of oil until hot but not smoking. Break the eggs into a breakfast cup and carefully tip into the pan. The egg, if fresh, should “sit up” and not spread all over the pan. Cook until the white of the egg is completely set and firm, and transfer immediately to a warmed plate. Add all the other components and serve immediately.