Author: Sophie

Fragrant pilaf

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The most soothing of rice dishes. Aromatic with mild spice but no heat, buttery and delicious

  • 150g basmati rice
  • 1 tbsp salted butter
  • 1 onion, sliced finely into half moons
  • 6 cardamom pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ chicken stock cube
  • Handful of flaked almonds, toasted
  1. Heat the butter in a pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook the onion over a low heat for 5-10 mins until completely soft, tender and golden
  2. Add the cinnamon, bay and cardamom and stir in for a minute until fragrant
  3. Add the crumbled stock cube and stir into the butter so it completely dissolves
  4. Turn the heat up, tip in the rice and stir it into the spiced buttery onions until it starts to crackle
  5. Add 300ml boiling water, stir well, stick the lid on and turn it down as low as possible
  6. Cook for 10 mins then turn the heat off and leave for a further 5 mins without taking the lid off
  7. Serve sprinkled with toasted flaked almonds

If you want a simple bowlful of comforting loveliness, you can just eat this on its own with a spoonful of yogurt on the top. Or it makes a great side dish to something spicy and saucy. Or feel free to make it more substantial by stirring through chickpeas, scraps of cooked chicken or lamb, chargrilled aubergine or courgette.

Tom kha kai soup

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Thai chicken and coconut soup. Surely as good for fixing coughs and sneezes as traditional Jewish chicken soup. Pale and soothing in appearance, extremely comforting, but also aromatic and exciting to eat – the perfect balance of salt, sweet, sour and spicy.

  • 125g chicken breast, sliced into strips around 5mm thick
  • 100g cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
  • 50g little button mushrooms, halved (optional)
  • 1 stalk of lemongrass, bashed with the back of a knife then cut into 3
  • 3 cm piece of fresh ginger, cut into 6 pieces
  • 4 lime leaves, torn in half (can substitute 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 red birdseye chilli, cut in half
  • 1 tin coconut milk
  • 250ml water
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • ¼ tsp sugar
  • Fresh coriander
  1. Put the coconut milk and water in a large saucepan on a medium heat for a couple of minutes but don’t let it boil. If it shows signs of boiling, just turn it down
  2. Add the lemongrass, ginger, lime leaves, chilli, mushrooms and tomatoes, stir in and cook for another 2 mins
  3. Add the chicken strips and cook on medium heat for 5 mins until they’re cooked through. Again, turn it down if it looks as though it might boil.
  4. Add the lemon juice, fish sauce and sugar and cook for another minute. Taste for seasoning.
  5. Totally optionally, this is the stage when you would pick out the lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger and chilli
  6. Serve straight away with fresh coriander leaves sprinkled over the top

Enid’s bublanina

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A family heirloom recipe for traditional apricot or plum kuchen (cake). I remember tasting this as a child, sitting on the scratchy horsehair sofa in my Granny’s living room and thinking it was the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten. The tart fruit contrasts beautifully with the sweet, light, lemon-scented sponge.

  • 170g unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 170g flour
  • 3 eggs
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • A little milk (if needed)
  • Apricots or plums, pitted and cut in half
  • Granulated sugar to sprinkle on top
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan (180C). Grease and flour a 9″ square cake tin (although there’s no reason this cake can’t be round, for some reason it was always square in my Granny’s house)
  2. Separate the eggs
  3. Beat the yolks and sugar until pale yellow and thick
  4. Add butter and lemon zest and beat again
  5. Add flour and lemon juice a spoonful at a time, alternately between them (using a little milk if the consistency is too thick – it should be thick, dropping off only spoon reluctantly
  6. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks
  7. Fold the egg whites into the batter
  8. Spoon into the cake tin and place halved fruit, cut side upwards on top of batter
  9. Sprinkle with a little granulated sugar and bake for about 35 mins
  10. Cool thoroughly before cutting into squares to serve

Roast red pepper soup

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Delightful soup, the vibrant colour of a postbox

  • 4 red peppers, halved and de-seeded
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 1 potato, diced
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • Large pinch dried thyme
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Dash of balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Pre-heat the grill to high and place the peppers skin side up on to a baking sheet. Char under the grill until the skin is blackened
  2. Remove from the heat and place in a bowl with a plate on top to steam for 10 mins, then remove and discard the skin and slice the flesh
  3. In the meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and garlic for 4-5 mins until softened
  4. Add the potato and fry for a further minute
  5. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, red peppers, sugar, vinegar, paprika, thyme and veg stock
  6. Season, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 12-15 mins until the potatoes are tender
  7. Use a wand blender to whizz until smooth. Serve with crumbled feta or a spoonful of Greek yoghurt on top

Chicken stock in the slow cooker

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I always try to make stock after we have a roast chicken, and the slow cooker is the simplest way to do it. It’s so satisfying to make something delicious and useful (and easy!) from a thing that would otherwise be thrown away.

  • Chicken carcass, broken into a few pieces
  • 1 onion, cut into quarters (could be the onion from inside the chicken if you did that with your roast)
  • 1 carrot, cut into 4 pieces (don’t worry about peeling it)
  • 1 stick celery, cut into 4
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 6 or so black peppercorns
  • Other bits if you have them in the fridge – parsley stalks, leek tops, spring onion trimmings
  1. Stick everything into the slow cooker, cover with boiling water and set on low for 6 hours (although longer is fine if you’re out all day). Go and do something else.
  2. Sieve the now pale golden stock, ideally through muslin to catch the tiny bits

That’s it. 2 steps and you’re done. Use it in soup, risotto, orzotto, casserole, freeze it for later, whatever.

You can adjust the flavourings of the stock however you like. Instead of parsley and bay leaves, add any combination that goes with what you plan to cook – fresh herbs, garlic, fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick, star anise, chilli flakes.

Tzatziki/raita

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There are over 3000 miles between Greece and India, but it seems the combination of yoghurt, cucumber and herbs either evolved independently in both places because it’s amazing, or travelled between them. Who knows? What I do know is that it’s delicious enough that you might be tempted to eat it all on its own.

  • Half a cucumber
  • 300g Greek-style plain yoghurt
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • Pinch of salt
  • Chopped mint (or dill for tzatziki/coriander for raita)
  • Squeeze of lemon
  1. Slice the cucumber lengthways and remove the seedy core. Eat it because it’s nice!
  2. Grate the cucumber and squeeze out as much liquid as possible
  3. Mix the well-squeezed cucumber with the yoghurt, garlic, salt, lemon and herbs

If you fancy a different raita, I highly recommend the incredible smashed pineapple and turmeric raita from Meera Sodha’s Fresh India.

Carrot banana muffins

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Breakfast cake! With not only bananas but carrots too – so healthy! – and spices which give it hints of gingerbread. Just like if a carrot cake and banana bread had a beautiful fluffy child. Makes 9.

  • 1 egg
  • 50g soft light brown sugar
  • 80g plain flour
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp mixed spice
  • Couple of gratings (¼ tsp) nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • 50ml sunflower oil
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed
  • 60g carrot, peeled and grated
  • Handful of sultanas
  • Handful of sunflower seeds and flax seeds
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan (190C) and line muffin cases
  2. Whisk together the sugar and egg until well combined and thickened.
  3. Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, salt, bicarb, cinnamon, mixed spice and nutmeg
  4. Mix together thoroughly, then add the oil, bananas, grated carrot, sultanas and seeds
  5. Give it a thorough mix then spoon shaggy mounds of the happy mixture into the muffin cases
  6. Bake for 35 mins until golden and then cool on a wire rack
  7. Store in an air tight container at room temperature

These freeze really well if you can’t get through all of them before they go stale

Babovka

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Aka Kugelhopf. This cake is plain, unfussy and delicate, marbled with cocoa and lemon, another morsel of Czech family history. Ideally, use a bundt tin to create the traditional ring shape.

  • 170g butter at room temperature
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 300g plain flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 150ml milk
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  1. Grease and flour a babovka/bundt tin
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan (190C)
  3. Whisk butter till very light
  4. Add the egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest, continuing to beat well
  5. Mix the flour and baking powder together
  6. Stir the milk and flour into the butter/egg mixture a couple of tbsp at a time, alternating between them. Mix gently but thoroughly until well combined
  7. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until very stiff
  8. Fold into the batter with a metal spoon until well mixed
  9. Pour about two thirds of the mixture into the prepared cake tin
  10. Add the sieved cocoa powder and a little milk to the remaining mixture
  11. Pour evenly on top of the plain mixture
  12. Draw a clean tablespoon through the centre of the mixture (going around twice)
  13. Bake in the centre of the oven for 15 mins
  14. Reduce to 160C fan (180C) for a further 30-40 mins or until firm and leaving the sides of the tin
  15. When ready remove from oven and leave in tin for 5 mins before removing to cool on a rack
  16. Once cool, dust with icing sugar and serve with fresh raspberries

Spicy Szechuan aubergine

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Eye-wateringly spicy and incredibly more-ish. Steaming the aubergine makes it tender and soft, without the enormous amount of oil you would use if you fry them. Feeds 2

  • 1 aubergine, cut into chunky pieces
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp black vinegar
  • 1 tsp shaoxing rice wine
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 inch piece fresh ginger, minced
  • 3 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 100g minced pork (leave out or use tofu if you want a veggie version)
  • 1 tbsp chilli paste
  • 2 tsp Szechuan chilli oil (substitute fresh chilli or chilli flakes. Or don’t if you feel as though maybe it’s spicy enough already)
  • 100g green beans, cut into short lengths
  1. Line a bamboo steamer with baking parchment and pop the aubergine inside. Stick the lid on and steam over boiling water for 10 mins. Open the steamer and just put on one side
  2. In the meantime, combine soy sauce, vinegar, shaoxing wine, sugar, cornflour and 50ml cold water in a small bowl, mix well, and set aside.
  3. Heat oil in a wok, add the garlic, ginger and spring onion, and give it a stir
  4. Add the minced pork and stir fry until it begins to crisp round the edges
  5. Add the green beans, chilli paste and chilli oil and stir fry for a couple of mins, adding a splash of water if it’s too sticky
  6. Pour over the sauce mixture and stir cook for a couple of mins until glossy and thick
  7. Turn the heat off and add the aubergine and gently stir in
  8. Serve over steaming white rice with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and fresh red chilli slices over the top

Spaghetti carbonara

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Rich, luscious and seductively tasty. It’s the easiest and quickest way to make something that feels like a lovely treat. For some reason it absolutely has to be spaghetti.

  • 2 eggs
  • 250g spaghetti
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and left whole
  • 20g butter
  • 100g pancetta, cut into cubes
  • 40g parmesan, finely grated
  • Black pepper
  1. Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, add salt and, once boiling, add the spaghetti. Cook for 10 mins
  2. In the meantime, beat the eggs and season with plenty of black pepper. Stir in the wafts of grated parmesan
  3. Squash the garlic clove, keeping it whole
  4. Melt the butter and fry the pancetta and the garlic until golden
  5. When the pasta is ready, drain it but keep a cupful of the cooking water
  6. Off the heat, put the cooked pasta back in the saucepan and tip in the butter and pancetta, mixing well with tongs. You can discard the garlic or just eat it secretly
  7. Get ready for stirring action! Pour in the egg and cheese mixture and a splash of pasta water and mix through. Don’t stop moving until it’s made a lovely, glossy sauce. No scrambled egg here! I find the easiest way to do this is to use tongs to swoop the spaghetti through the egg
  8. Check the seasoning, add a bit more pasta water if it’s dry. Serve straight away – maybe with a tomato and basil salad