Hello Spring
Salmon, fennel cassoulet and Greek lentil soup
Happy Friday!
We eased our way back into term after a week in Cornwall with a few simple recipes, one of which I am now mad about. I interviewed author Anastasia Miari the other day about her new book Yiayia, which means ‘grandmother’ in Greek. It is packed with recipes from matriarchs dotted all over the islands and mainland. With her half-Greek heritage, Anastasia has been able to seek out these incredible women, last of a very traditional generation and keepers of amazing secrets. Some of their stories moved me to tears.
The recipe I love is called fakes (pronounced fah-kess). Greek lentil soup. It is so simple. You just soak brown or green lentils in warm water for half an hour then drain and cover with fresh cold water before bringing to the boil, adding lots of thinly sliced garlic, finely chopped onion, bay leaves and olive oil then simmer for 40 minutes. At the end she stirs through tomato puree and serves it with feta and olives. It was so so good, quick, cheap, nutritious and simple. The book is out on 25th May (you can preorder it here) and read more about Anastasia here. I share a similar recipe available online for free below.
I read in The Times today about Fran Hickox, founder of the St Endellion classical music festival in Cornwall. She was a bit of a doer. But what I liked most was the description of her forthright views. Nothing wrong with knowing yourself. These were as follows:
A person of notably direct manner, her seeming confidence concealed a certain shyness. She was complicated but also deeply kind, and though she had strong views and could be abrasive she was also vulnerable. Her strongly held dislikes included mild weather in winter, hot weather in summer, England rugby players, microwaves, overhead lighting, almost all restaurants and dishwashers, which she steadfastly refused to own.
It made me smile and has caused me to ponder anew the merits of England rugby players, dishwashers (could not live without one) and restaurants since I pretty much agree with her on all other points.
Lastly, nothing to do with food, but if you enjoy losing yourself in a good read, I’d recommend checking out Katherine May’s Substack, Katherine May’s Stray Attention. Katherine wrote Wintering and The Electricity of Every Living Thing.
Spring #4 Meal Planner
Friday: Pie at The Wheel Inn, Tresillian
Saturday: Spaghetti with asparagus in a sort of carbonara
Sunday: Butter-roasted salmon a la Diana Henry with new potatoes, spinach, broccoli and homemade pesto
Monday: Fennel & thyme cassoulet with salad
Tuesday: Fakes Greek lentil soup with feta, olives and stuffed vine leaves
Wednesday: Boiled egg and soldiers
Thursday: Quick turkey stir fry with rainbow veg and brown rice
Find tips for each one below with links to recipes where possible (click the name):
Quick carbonara - the perfect vehicle for the season’s new crop of asparagus
Butter-roasted salmon - the beauty of Diana Henry’s method (in her book From the oven to the table) is that she quickly roasts a side of salmon in melted butter and herbs in a hot oven, peeling off the skin after 5 minutes then turning it and finishing it off for a final 6-8 minutes. I replaced the herbs with a dollop of homemade pesto. There is something about the way the salmon toasts and goes all caramel on the outside and stays tender on the inside. This is a winning book by the way. Lots of great family-friendly recipes.
Fennel & thyme cassoulet - I copied this Tommi Miers recipe from Instagram and went to the trouble of sourcing Bold Bean Co beans - they are extremely tasty - although any would suffice. I would suggest making it on the weekend since this recipe seems to use a few pots and pans. I LOVE how fennel caramelises and goes all sweet. Nice with a lemony salad. Thomasina Miers suggests it would work well with roasted chicken thighs. We ate leftovers for lunch the next day. I reheated it with spare cooked new potatoes in a frying pan then topped lemony leaves, added a dollop of Pelagonia Aivar, some pesto and lots of chilli flakes (pic below). Yum.
“The quick & easy one #1” Fakes Greek soup. You could follow the basic method above or a similar online recipe like this one. The original is in Anastasia’s book.
“The quick & easy one #2” Quick turkey stir fry. I love these brown rice and green vegetable stir fry packs for an evening when I have no time. (One pack serves two.) I bought turkey breast strips, a rainbow stir fry mix and sauce although that was a disappointment. I’d have been better with one of my ginger and garlic frozen pots and a splash of soy.
The delicious hack - better feta
I borrowed this method for oven-roasting feta from Georgina Hayden, whose book Stirring Slowly is my most used/spattered. Something wonderful happens to feta when it’s oven-roasted. It mellows a little. All you need to do is place a block of feta in a little oven-proof dish and snuggle some quarters of lemon and black olives around it. Grate over lemon zest, add oregano if liked (I used thyme, below), drizzle over olive oil and roast it in a 200 degree C/Gas 6 oven for 20 minutes or until caramelised at the edges and totally delicious.
