Just like kneading bread, shelling peas is one of those simple pleasures in life that can bring undeniable peace. One of my favourite summer activities is to sit outside shelling peas, or broad beans. The process which can sometimes seem long, and in a society where often speed is valued over experience, ‘unnecessary’ holds within it one of the greatest pleasures in life, preparing food for people we love.
What a busy week! Arriving back from France on Monday night and straight back into work, seeing people, getting stuff done and eating a lot of watermelon. Love those kind of weeks.
I think after my last blog you can probably tell I have gone a bit crazy for Watermelon. And I promised you recipes. So thought I would share my favourite recipe so far.
Watermelon and Feta Salad. Honestly I would rather eat this salad than most other food – It is so delicious. Sweet juice watermelon making love to warm crumbly tangy feta. I mean come on. It’s like the Sonny and Cher of flavour combinations. Now eating feta without watermelon seems like going to the cinema and not getting popcorn. It think this was a match made in heaven.
Watermelon… What a melon! Sweet, juicy and perfectly acceptable to cut into giant chunks.
Do melons get any sweeter?
A few weeks ago when I made the summer ratatouille salad, I thought I had found the perfect use for courgette and aubergine, I thought that would be it. Salad made, all I needed to do now was repeat over and over again.
Boy was it was hot yesterday. Like really really hot. The sort of hot that forced me to get my fan out on the bus – yes I was that girl. But let’s face it when it’s the temperature of Mediterranean Europe why not use fan? I would argue it was a sensible decision.
As promised it’s time for some pure seasonal joy and what could be better than Aubergiene, Courgette, Tomato and Basil. The problem is when I think of these ingredients, I think Ratatouille, which is hot and warming and well not particularly summery. However all of these key ingredients are at there best right now, so it seems foolish not to use them because they don’t ‘feel’ summery!
The joy of july is you don’t just get to eat the rainbow, you get to eat the alphabet. All of the really really yummy food is good right now. Apricots, Peaches, Melons, Cherries, Aubergine, Courgette, Peas, Crab, Lamb, Tomatoes. Don’t worry though, this carries on into August, so you don’t have to stuff your face with Peaches right now, but make sure you make the most of what I am pretty sure is one of the best food months in the Calendar. I certainly will be.
What is better in life than food that reminds you of being on holiday. The nostalgia almost makes it better than the original. (Ok so obviously the holiday is better, but I said almost!) As I said earlier in the week I have been living in a little Andalusian dream, so decided to put together a dish that was tipfying all my cravings – Orange, Cous Cous, Almonds. These three Ingredients in particular have such warmth and richness to them, that they can’t help but evoke the sun dappled streets lined with orange trees.
I just got back from a 10 day trip around Andalucia and my head and tastebuds are still reeling from the experience. Everything is so packed with flavour. Life there is decadent and bright. The focus on pleasure is unrivalled, it is something that seems to be built into the ground of each city. And what’s more the food is incredible, rich in flavour and uncompromisingly delicious. Oranges, dried fruit, mint tea, almond sweetened pastry’s, Iberico ham, chorizo and prawns, the list of decadent tastes is pretty much endless. In short it was pretty inspiring stuff. Want to know the best part? Well we finally have a similar climate to that of southern Spain, and seeing as I am not willing to part with my holiday memories too quickly, be prepared for some Andalucian inspired dishes. In fact, I might go and make one right now. So check back in a few days if this has whetted your appetite.
