Tomato & Thyme Cod

This is just a quick post to recommend a lovely fish recipe I stumbled across recently. I found it on the BBC Good Food website which is a fantastic source of inspiration if you're looking for some new recipes to try out.

Anyway, I've been making a conscious effort to eat a bit more fish recently and this dish is a simple and healthy way to go about it. It involves nothing more strenuous than chopping an onion and, if even that is a stretch, then I recommend those bags of ready chopped onion that you can store in the freezer. Perfect for those weekday evenings when you just want something quick and easy.

You can find the recipe here.

Delia's Rhubarb & Ginger Brulee

I love rhubarb - in cakes, in puddings or just plain stewed - I'll take as much as you can throw at me. So when I came across this recipe recently I just knew it was for me, particularly as it also includes Greek yoghurt, making it an ideal candidate for my Big Fat Greek Yoghurt Experiment. Thanks again to Total for providing me with such a generous number of samples to play with.

You've probably seen the recent Waitrose campaign involving Heston & Delia on the television and in Waitrose stores. This recipe is one of the ones advertised by Delia and was a great success. The combination of slightly sharp rhubarb, the soft creamy middle and sweet, crunchy sugar on the top was just heavenly. I highly recommend you give this one a try.

You can find the recipe on the Waitrose website, here.

For a couple more of my favourite rhubarb recipes, click on the links below:

Rhubarb Meringue Pie

Rhubarb Cornmeal Cake

Restaurant Review - Jamie's Italian, Cambridge

Prior to a recent trip to Cambridge I was reminded that a new branch of Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant had opened at the end of February so I added it to my list of lunch options. As I ended up in the right place at the right time I went to investigate. My heart sank a little as I rounded the corner and was confronted by a sizeable queue as I didn't have a great deal of time on my hands. However, it turned out that they had just opened for lunch and were just taking their time getting people seated so as not to swamp the kitchen (it's worth noting that they don't take bookings for parties of less than 8). So my wait turned out to be acceptably brief and I was soon seated, menued and ready to go.

The first thing that struck me were the pretty impressive surroundings. The restaurant is situated in a grade 2 listed building and the majority of tables sit in a marvellouslly high-ceilinged room with ornate columns dotted around the edges (no doubt there are more technial terms out there but an architect I am not!). One wall is devoted to the open plan kitchens, part of which are hung with dried and cured legs of meat and sausages where they prepare the antipasti. It all adds up to pretty much what you would expect from Mr O - a big combination of classic and modern. I guess some cynics might sniff at the marketing opportunities that have been taken advantage of - a note at the foot of the menu detailing branded items available to purchase, rows of Jamie's books tucked into alcoves here and there - but I didn't find it overly intrusive.

Before I carry on, I should apologise for the lack of photos - I know that from a blogging point of view this is Just Not On. I didn't have a camera with me though and, annoyingly, it didn't occur to me to dig out my mobile and use that. If you want some pictures have a look at the Jamie's Italian website - a link to the Cambridge page is here.

Anyway, if you take a look at the menu here you'll see why it took me so long to decide. In the end though I decided to stick with two classic dishes - Bucatini Carbonara and Mozarella and Tomato salad. Both turned out to be wonderful - the carbonara wasn't drowning in cream as some restaurants tend to do and the added courgette was a nice touch. The tomatoes in the salad were obviously well sourced as they were full of flavour and, combined with the mozzarella and a light dressing, made for a lovely side dish.

I wasn't planning on having a dessert however I decided that in the interests of my blog I should really make the effort and squeeze one in - it's a hard life! Again I went for a classic - chocolate brownie and ice cream. There are two things I expect from a brownie when served as a dessert - it should be fudgy in the middle and it should be slightly warm. Luckily this one scored on both counts. It also earned a few more brownie points (sorry) thanks to the addition of raspberries and amaretto biscuits. Gorgeous.

So, all in all I had a very enjoyable lunchtime experience and have every intention of returning when I get the chance. I'd recommend it to anyone who fancies some good, reasonably priced food in vibrant, lively surroundings.

Luscious Lemon Cupcakes for Springtime

Ok, so the weather isn't exactly reliable at the moment but these little lemon cupcakes are guaranteed to brighten up your day come rain or shine. When I had spare lemon the other day this recipe seemed to be the perfect way to put it to good use and I wasn't disappointed. The recipe itself can be found in Rachel Allen's Bake - a lovely book that I've had several successes from so far.

For some reason the cakes turned out to be a bit on the heavy side - I'm not sure why - but the gorgeous lemon icing more than made up for that. If you're using regular fairy cake cases (as per the recipe) rather than muffin cases then you'll probably end up with more mix than you need for 12 cakes - I think I make about 18. I decided to try out some Mr Whippy-style icing rather than just spreading it on as suggested in the recipe and because of this, and the extra cakes I ended up with, I had to make an extra half quantity of icing to cover all of the cakes.

Lemon Cupcakes

(adapted from Bake by Rachel Allen)

125g/4 1/2 oz butter, softened

125g/4 1/2 oz caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 1/2 large lemon

2 eggs, beaten

150g/5 oz plain flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

For the lemon butter icing

75g/3 oz butter, softened

175g/6 oz icing sugar, sifted

Finely grated zest 1/2 large lemon

1-2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4. Line a 12 hole fairy cake tin with 12 paper cases (and put the rest to one side for later...!)

2) Cream the butter in a large bowl until soft then add the sugar and grated lemon zest and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, then sift in the flour and baking powder and fold into the mixture. Alternatively, whizz all the ingredients together in an electric food mixer.

3) Divide the mixture between the paper cases and bake in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes (I found mine needed a couple of minutes longer) until risen and golden. When cooked the centre of each cake should be slightly springy to the touch. Remove the cakes from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool before you ice them.

4) To make the icing, cream the butter in a bowl with a wooden spoon or electric beater until very soft. Gradually add the icing sugar and beat into the butter, along with lemon zest and enough lemon juice to soften the icing to a spreadable consistency.

5) When the cakes are cool, spread a generous heaped teaspoon of icing over the top of each one (or get to work with your icing syringe).

Makes 12 or more

Lamb Cutlets with Yoghurt & Cumin

Here's another recipe which I came across as I searched for new and interesting ways to use Greek yoghurt (kindly supplied by Total). I had been having some trouble finding savoury recipes which included yoghurt in the dish rather than just using it as an accompaniment but this was just what I was looking for.

This recipe, Lamb Cutlets Marinated in Yoghurt and Cumin, comes from Nigella's Forever Summer book and I was really pleased with how it turned out. Lamb cutlets are not something I cook very often but this recipe has encouraged me to put them on my shopping list more often. Marinating them in the yoghurt made the meat wonderfully moist and the hints of onion and cumin coming through made for a very enjoyable dinner.

Lamb Cutlets with Yoghurt and Cumin

(adapted from Forever Summer by Nigella Lawson)

1 450g-500g pot Greek yoghurt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 large onion

1 head of garlic

1 tsp Maldon salt

20 lamb cutlets

1) Empty the yoghurt pot into a large shallow dish (which will be big enough to accommodate all of the lamb cutlets) and then stir in the cumin. Peel and roughly chop the onion and mix it into the yoghurt. Break up the head of garlic, peel them and squash them slightly then stir into the yoghurt together with the salt.

2) Arrange the lamb cutlets in the dish and slowly stir them and spoon the yoghurt mix over them. Don't worry if there doesn't seem to be enough yoghurt - the lamb only needs to be lightly covered by it.

3) Cover the dish and put it in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

4) When you're ready to eat cook the lamb cutlets on a ridged griddle pan on the hob or under the grill. Wipe them gently with some kitchen towel beforehand to remove the excess yoghurt and bits of onion. Fry or grill for a few minutes each side and then serve hot, warm or cold.

Serves 6-8

Chocolate & Cranberry Biscuits

Wow, don't you just love this sunny weather? Finally, we can throw open the windows, hang out the washing and just generally get out of the house without needing to put twenty layers on first.

Anyway, here's a great recipe for anyone who still has a post-Easter chocolate surplus and wants to find an excuse to siphon some off and put it to better use. The original recipe calls for dark chocolate but it doesn't matter in the slightest - you can use whatever you have to hand.

This is a great recipe from the beautiful Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros. The biscuits are packed full of chocolate and cranberries and so you end up with little hilly, knobbly biscuits rather than the neat flat ones. Trust me, this is no bad thing.

Chocolate & Cranberry Biscuits

(adapted from Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros)

75g/2 3/4 oz butter, softened

50g/1 3/4 oz soft brown sugar

50g/1 3/4 oz caster sugar

1 egg

a few drops of vanilla essence

160g/5 3/4 oz plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

110g/3 3/4 oz chocolate, roughly chopped

50g/1 3/4 oz dried cranberries

1) Preheat the oven to 190c/375f/gas mark 5

2) Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl then beat in the egg and vanilla.

3) Beat in the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt until you have a sandy mixture, then stir in the chocolate and cranberries.

4) Spoon teaspoonfuls of mixture on to two lined baking sheets (the original recipe suggests you use your hands to roll the mix into neat balls which you then flatten slightly. I suggest that this is far too much trouble to go to and just plopping the mixture directly on to the baking sheet with a spoon means that you'll get your mitts on the finished article in much less time).

5) Bake for 12-15 minutes until the biscuits are just starting to brown round the edges. Leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Makes about 30

Rhubarb Cornmeal Cake

The recipe that follows is another great vehicle for yoghurt - something I have had a great deal of recently, thanks to the people at Total, who supplied me with a fridge-filling amount with which to experiment. My previous posts on the subject can be found here and here and there's more still to come!

This also happens to be one of my favourite fruit-based cakes. It's moist and sweet and utterly gorgeous while still warm from the oven. It keeps pretty well too, mind, and makes a great pudding with a bit of ice cream on the side.

Rhubarb Cornmeal Cake

(adapted from How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson)

500g/1 lb 2 oz rhubarb

300g/10 1/2 oz caster sugar

150g/5 1/2 oz plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

155g/5 1/2 oz fine cornmeal (polenta)

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

125g/4 1/2 oz unsalted butter, soft

250g/9 oz natural yoghurt, prefarably bio (my greek yoghurt worked just fine)

23cm springform or loose-bottomed tin, greased and lined

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4

2) Wash and dry the rhubarb if necessary, and then trim and cut into 1/2cm slices. Put in a glass or china bowl and cover with 100g of the sugar. Leave to sit for up to half an hour.

3) Mix the flour, bicarb, salt, cinnamon and cornmeal together. With a fork beat together the eggs and vanilla and a small bowl or jug.

4) In a large bowl cream the butter and the rest of the sugar, then gradually add the egg and vanilla mixture, beating while you do. Then add the flour-cornmeal mixture alternately with the yoghurt. Don't overmix.

5) Finally, add the rhubarb and any sugary juices and fold together. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until springy to touch. You may need to cover with foil after about 40 minutes so the top doesn't catch. Leave to cool in the tin for a while before unmoulding.

Serves 8-10