TOMATO & MARIGOLD

Sun-dried tomato & marigold butter

Butter

Dried marigold petals

Sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped

Salt

There was an atmosphere of a quarrel, not seious, usual, a tired summer evening quarrel.  (Iris Murdoch : The nice and the good)

BEETROOT & LIME

Golden beetroot, lime & cayenne pepper crisps

150g golden beetroot

1 lime zest & juice

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Olive oil

Sea salt

Slice the beetroot into wafer thin circles and mix with all the ingredients

Oven bake at 180°C for 15 minutes turning every 5 minutes

I was glad the bus came.  There is a certain happiness sighted when your bus comes along.  It is of course a small specialized form of happiness & will never be a great thing. 

Richard Brautigan: The old bus

MULBERRY & CARAWAY

Mulberry & caraway relish (adapted from Supper with Rosie)

1 red onion, finely sliced

2tsp caraway seeds

125g dried white mulberries

250ml white wine vinegar

100g dark muscavado sugar

Sea salt

Bring onion, caraway, mulberries & vinegar to boil.

Simmer 10mins.

Add the sugar & simmer for another 10mins.

Serve with salad, goat’s cheese & crackers

“My sidelong glance is not easily forgotten”.  The seducer’s diary; Soren Kierkagaard

NUTMEG & PAPAYA

Grilled papaya with nutmeg & lime

Sprinkle with zest & juice of a lime & grated nutmeg

Grill until slightly charred.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, familiarly known as il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest") owing to his bloom of ample red hair.  

PEACH & PRAWN

Peach & Prawn Vietnamese rolls  (Makes 8)

Adapted from Full of flavour by Maria Elia

25g medium rice noodles

8 rice paper rounds

24 large prawns

Mint, coriander, Thai basil

25g salted roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed

2 peaches (or papaya)

Chilli lime dipping sauce

Natural dyes have unique characters ... They shimmer in sunlight. Synthetically dyed cloth just looks flat in comparison. With natural dyes there's a direct connection to the source of colour and a deeper connection to the land: GUARDIAN 20.06.12

COCOA & CHILLI

Cocoa & chilli salt popcorn

50g popcorn kernels

1tsp cocoa

1tsp chilli salt

I left a tissue in the pocket of my jeans before putting them in the wash.  It’s not the first time I’ve had to sit picking tiny flecks of white from all my clothes.

FIG & FENNEL

Fig, hazelnut & fennel loaf

125g wholemeal spelt flour

125g strong white flour

7g fresh yeast

½tbsp honey

½tsp salt

1tsp fennel seeds

175ml tepid water

125g dried figs, sliced

35g hazelnuts

Put flour in a large bowl & crumble in the yeast

Add honey, fennel & salt.  Mix in the water until smooth

Knead 4mins on a floured surface

Flour a bowl, cover & leave 1 hour

Knead in the figs & hazelnuts

Shape into a ball & prove on a floured baking sheet for 45mins

Bake 220°C for 25-30mins

Serve with cheese

It was a Saturday, so she was at her choir practice & he was probably forecasting the results of that day’s football matches.  

CARROT & APRICOT

Spiced carrot, apricot & sesame dip

250g carrots.  2cm pieces

2tbsp Olive oil

1tbsp tahini

1tbsp lime juice

1tsp harrisa

½tsp cinnamon

Pinch ground ginger

1 clove garlic

6 dried apricots, chopped

Salt & pepper

Sesame oil

Black & white sesame seeds

Boil the carrots until tender along with the apricots

Drain & put back on the heat for 1min

Blend all together

Serve with sesame oil and seeds on top

Miller wrote of Monroe: ‘with all her radiance she was surrounded by a darkness’

ELDERFLOWER & LIME

Elderflower & lime baked porridge

75g porridge oats

75g barley oats

1tbsp wheat germ

40g pistachios, crushed slightly

45g honey

½ tsp salt

475ml milk

2tbsp golden lindseed

70ml elderflower cordial

1 lime, zest

½ lime, juice

Mix all together and bake for 45 minutes at 150°C

Top with brown sugar and bake a couple more minutes

Skiffle was a British novelty; all that was needed to fashion a band was a guitar, a washboard, and a bass made from a tea-chest, broom handle and a parachute cord

SAUERKRAUT & APPLE

Sauerkraut marinated with juniper berries, grated apple & caraway seeds.

Trout & rye bread

General Douglas MacArthur had a particularly prominent comb-over.  His GI Joe action figure also has a comb-over.

GOATS CHEESE & CHOCOLATE

Chocolate oatcakes with goats cheese

Sitting in his lounge, this temporary truce between the ideal & real, he dwelt on change…

He thought of black & white, … critically,

& in this instance preferred greys & silvers, sometimes hazy as a Venetian dawn & sometime crystalline … Greys that seem to annex a depth of nuances & colours, in a sense not really greys at all but greys that in their handling have become more than a mix of two extremes, rather, a new breed…

… & with so many false polarities … He thought of here & there, of this & that … (the fact that he was doing precious little, passively … )

Nts towards a preface, London ‘78

ASPARAGUS & SAMPHIRE

Asparagus & Samphire salad (serves 2)

Adapted from Ottelenghi: The cookbook

1/2 tablespoon black sesame seed; toasted lightly 

12 asparagus spears; boiled in water for 2-3 minutes

50 gram samphire; add to asparagus for 1 minute then put in cold water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

1 garlic; chopped finely

1 small handful of tarragon leaves

Sea salt and black pepper

Mix all together

It was a game they devised themselves.  No one else was allowed to play.