SESAME & MULBERRY

Sesame & mulberry flapjacks

Replace half the butter in any flapjack recipe with tahini

Add 150g dried mulberries

She makes her own playdough… and has nice nails… and doesn’t worry about the mess: THE PUNCH 2012-06-16 

BUTTERBEAN & ROSEMARY

Butterbean & rosemary hummus

(adapted from Kitchen & co. by French & Grace)

Sprig of rosemary, stalk removed

400g tin butterbeans, drained

3 tbsp tahini

½ lemon, juice & zest

1tbsp avocado oil

Sea salt & black pepper

Pound rosemary with pestle and mortar

Blend all ingredients

Frequently the very crucial stage of preparation is foregone when endeavoring to plaster for the first time, ultimately the reason to plaster is presumably to mask an unsightly surface.

RHUBARB & BEER

Rhubarb beer jam

400g rhubarb, diced

220ml wheat beer

95g sugar

1 lemon zest

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine all the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight or up to 5 days.

Strain through a sieve and into a wide, heavy-bottomed pot (save the rhubarb for later). Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat for about 12 minutes. Return the rhubarb to the pot and simmer for 15 minutes.

Funnel into sterilised jars

Nonchalant

Origin: mid 18th century: from French, literally 'not being concerned', from the verb nonchaloir

Oxford dictionary

APPLE & ROSE

Rosy Apple juice

Add a tsp of rose water to apple juice

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

Lewis Carroll

CORIANDER & BLUEBERRY

Lemon, blueberry & coriander muffins

Add ½ tsp of ground coriander seeds to any blueberry muffin mix for 12 muffins

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AVOCADO & APPLE

Chilled Avocado & apple soup (serves 1)

1 avocado

½ apple

½ cup natural yogurt

1 cup vegetable stock

Chunk of cucumber

1 spring onion

Mild green chilli

Herbs to serve

Blend all together

of holding a pen,

of smelling the pine scented breezes at dusk,

of gazing deep into a fire, a well,

the eyes of a lover,

of tasting teardrops,

of tasting avocado.

A new poem by Troy Jollimore

BLUEBERRY & CHICKEN

Blueberry & chicken rice salad  (Serves 6) 
Adapted from Diana Henry; Plenty

300g black, red and brown basmati

600ml stock

750g cooked chicken, cut into strips

60g crushed pistachios

200g rocket

4 handfuls of blueberries

1 tbsp cider vinegar

½ tbsp Dijon

1 tbsp runny honey

4 tbsp walnut oil

4 tbsp flax oil

Boil rice in the stock for 30mins

Add ½ the dressing and allow to cool
Season and mix all the ingredients together

Lunchtime visitors crowded the terrace.

COURGETTE & MARIGOLD

Courgette, avocado & marigold salad (serves 1)

1 courgette, thinly sliced length ways

½ avocado

½ lemon juice

Pistachio nuts

Marigold petals

Black pepper

A well-chosen wallpaper can bring your room bang up to date and cover a multitude of sins.

A sofa upholstered in the same print as the wallpaper creates a contemporary look that is almost like an optical illusion. Pick a motif from the patterned wallpaper and try and repeat it elsewhere in the room. Select an accent colour from the design and use it for scatter cushions or other small items.

Wise words from uktv

PISTACHIO & BASIL

Pistachio & basil meringues

3 egg whites

½ tsp cornflour

175g caster sugar

2 tsp basil, finely chopped

75g pistachios, chopped

Preheat the oven to 190°C, line a baking tray with baking paper

Whisk the egg whites till they form peaks and gradually whisk in the sugar and cornflour until stiff

Fold in the basil and most of the pistachios

Dollop onto a tray and sprinkle with remaining nuts

Turn the oven down to 140°C as soon as you put them in and bake for 1 hour.

Turn the heat off and leave in the oven with the door shut for another hour to dry out

 I couldn’t decide which evening course to enrol on, I got in a right old fluster and signed up for millinery.  I do like hats, I suppose.    

SAFFRON & COURGETTE

Saffron & courgette flower barley risotto (Serves 2)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

½ cup pearl barley

1 glass of vermouth

400ml vegetable/chicken stock

Pinch of saffron

4-6 courgette flowers

2 courgettes

Parmesan

Black pepper

Sweat the onion and garlic until soft then add the barley for 1 minute

Add the vermouth, a third of the stock and saffron, boil then simmer

Gradually add rest of stock stirring occasionally

Add the courgette flowers and courgettes 5 minutes towards the end of cooking

Stir in the parmesan

Serve with extra parmesan and season with black pepper

The salesman ended up coming over for dinner.  He was talkative, Laura was cheerful and gave him the rest of the cake to take home.