courgette, chickpea and feta salad

as usual, september in london is proving to be so much warmer and sunnier than august. this weekend i’ve spent some very peaceful time out in the garden, removing most of the leaves from my tomato plants in the hope that this will speed up the ripening of the many green tomatoes that remain, as well as having a leisurely outdoor lunch of crab and cherry tomato linguine with one of my favourite friends. david and i also spent a lovely sunday wandering through regent’s park, along the canal and up to marine ices for ice creams.

this courgette and chickpea salad is definitely something for these final sunny days, with its courgette ribbons and basil crème fraiche dressing. it’s from my newest cookery book, salads by peter gordon of providores. there’s a good range of cold weather salads that i’m looking forward to trying but in the meantime, this is perfect for these later summer days.

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feta and herb muffins

i love the idea of having fresh muffins with my weekend early-morning cup of tea.

for once i organised myself sufficiently to do it. i used an old favourite as the base for the recipe but flavoured them with shallots, feta and herbs (sage, rosemary and oregano from the garden). i ate them straight from the oven, tearing them open to let them cool down a little before eating, with a cup of tea. perfect.

orrechiette with asparagus, feta and chorizo

 

chorizo makes frequent appearances in my cooking but, unless there is a pizza involved, it rarely appears in its pre-sliced form. however, a pack of mildly-flavoured chorizo slices which i was sent by abel & cole got me thinking.

i spoke to various friends who had lots of great ideas for using chorizo (or salami for that matter) slices but the idea that caught my fancy simply involved dry-frying it so that the edges crisp up, much as it would on a pizza. i added the juice of a lemon to the pan when it was done, to make a dressing from the oil which the meat released, and then used this to garnish a fresh summery pasta dish of broad beans, asparagus and feta cheese.

this was a really good use of the chorizo (which i’d otherwise have nibbled on with a glass of red wine) and is a nice way to lift a gentle and mildly flavoured dish. i particularly liked the way the chorizo took on a slight lemony tang which made it particularly mouth-watering.

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green tart

for many people weekends seem to be a time to think about what exciting, exotic and time-consuming dishes they can create in the extra hours that they have. i do this too, especially if we have friends coming over as i always see guests as an opportunity to try new things.

however, things have been a little different recently – my weekend cooking currently seems to focus around the various vegetables which i have sitting in my kitchen and which need to be used up before they are past their best and beyond redemption.

later in the week i’ll fill you in on how i managed to use up the final half of a savoy cabbage which was only a few days away from the bin (exciting stuff eh?), but first a green tart which created a magnificent home for wilting spinach, yellowing leeks and softening courgettes. sorry if that sounds horrid, my intention is to reassure you that this recipe is fine for vegetables which are a little past their best!

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greek lamb with feta and mint

 

one of the most obvious types of warming food is stew, so stew is what we chose to eat as we watched the winter sun melt the final bits of snow.

as usual a traditional british dish wasn’t going to be nearly interesting enough (for me!) so i decided to take inspiration from greece. the addition of little pasta pieces at the end is typically greek (and make this an easy one-pot meal), and the final flourish of feta and mint is a great way to freshen up the rich flavours.

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