Rooftop BBQ with G&Ts in Tea Cups

So I think the prize for fitting as many people as possible  (well...perhaps a little bit of an exaggeration) around a small table in a tiny North London flat should go to me. As Nel was down in London, we ended up having a very impromptu BBQ on our balcony. As our fellow rooftop neighbours were hogging the outside space with their loud guests and banging Ibiza tunes, we ended up hanging out inside, whilst good old Bill manned the Barby.  I did actually make my berlotti bean pate which I wrote about last week and this went down a treat with nachos.

With tea cups of Gin and Tonic and a teapot of Pimms we had a very merry night and it was great catching up with old pals. Needless to say that today I don't feel at my cooking best. And there is still a mound of dishes to wash.

However, I have managed to go for a swim at London Fields Lido which absolutely woke me up. It was pretty fresh. This was followed by tea and cake, naturally. Andrea and I went to a lovely Vegetarian cafe on Broadway Market - I've added the link to my related links. Very nice and hundreds of unusual teas to choose from.

Now off to make some sort of meal with the left overs of last night's offerings. Back next week with more recipes rather than ramblings!

Berlotti Bean Pate

This week has been a bit mental with work and I've only had today off. I've also been trying to get a bit fitter with the odd run, leaving little time to cook or relax really. However,  I made this bean Pate on Friday night. It's so easy but really tasty and packed full of protein. And...the best thing of all. It takes only 5 minutes to knock together. You could have it as a light evening meal with a salad (like we did). Or, serve it as a lovely starter with some watercress on the top perhaps for some added class.

Basically, just whizz up all of the ingredients with a hand blender. Either serve immediately (which will be a bit more like a hummus texture) or chill for an hour and serve. Delish and easy!!!


Recipe/ ingredients:

1 can of beans (of your choice)
half a clove of garlic
half a tub of cottage cheese (150-200g)
squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper to season...I put a bit of cumin too and smoked paprika
A good knob of butter and a drizzle of olive oil

Spinach and Courgette Slice with Roast Potatoes, Yorkshires and Gravy

So it's been a very busy few weeks work-wise but I have had the whole weekend off, the first free weekend we've had since we went to Paris to begin the wedding festivities. I'm sitting in the kitchen and the sun is glaring through the window and I can see that most of our rooftop neighbours are having a BBQ. My recipe that I made last week (which I will write up at some point) would have been very fitting as I made my second attempt at the perfect veggie burger for BBQ.  However today, even though it seems a little inappropriate with this lush weather, I've decided to do a roast.

Again, I've followed Delia's Yorkshire recipe and that's now chilling in the fridge. I'll leave the batter there until I'm ready to put the yorkshires in the oven later.

Prep your roast potoates: Boil them with a garlic clove for around 10 minutes, then drain them in a colander and shake. Then leave them to cool fully. I've left the skins on and when I'm ready, I'll roast them at 180 degrees for around 40 minutes. I put these in just a bit earlier than the slice.

For the Courgette and Feta slice, I chopped one courgette and roasted until golden. I'll add this to my slice filling later on- just to give a different shape and texture.

Grate your second courgette along with a garlic clove. In a pan, fry this in butter, adding your spinach so that it wilts. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to season. Once cooked, drain off all excess water (drain it into a pan so that you can use the juices for the gravy) and let it cool.

Once cooled, add your feta and two eggs and this will be your filling for the slice.

For the base of the slice, I've bought some jus' roll puff pastry (even though you could easily knock up some shortcrust if you prefer). I roll it out so that it's about 1-2mm thick and blind bake, covering it with grease proof paper and lentils so that it doesn't rise, for 15 minutes.

Then pile on your topping starting with the roasted courgette slices.

Bake this for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees. Looks a teeny bit gross here but I know it'll be great once baked.

For my gravy today, I've used the juices from the courgette and spinach along with stock, one onion, garlic and marmite. A dash of white wine. Simmer, blitz and season to taste.

Ingredients for the slice (for 4 people):

2 courgettes (one to grate and fry, one to chop and roast)
1-2 cloves of garlic
Knob of butter
1 sheet of Jus' Roll puff pastry to fit your tin
Half a packet of Feta Cheese (this is how much I used but you could use as much or little as you like)
2 large eggs
Nutmeg, Salt and Pepper to season 

Beetroot Hummus and Baba ganoush with Flatbreads

So it's not a roast but I fancied something snacky to go with our Sunday cheese board. Inspired by the delicious starter from the wedding I'm making a beetroot hummus. To go with this I thought Baba Ganoush would be great. As it's not the best weather I'm just roasting the Aubergines, otherwise I would have BBQd them to get that gorgeous smokey taste.

For the Hummus, put all of the ingredients into a mixing jug and blitz with a hand blender. Season to taste to your liking. Yes it really is that simple. Then keep in the fridge to chill and let the flavours develop.

For the Baba ganoush dish, start by quartering a large Aubergine. Place it on a baking tray and drizzle with Olive Oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes until nicely roasted. 

At the same time, I halved a whole garlic and drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I bake these at the same time as the aubergines as I love roasted garlic as an accompaniment, just to dip your bread into, and I want to use a couple of the cloves in the Baba ganoush.

Once the Aubergines are baked I put them under a hot grill to char them a little. Ideally, as I said earlier, I'd have put them on the BBQ to do this. But this still makes a great dip.

Scoop the Aubergine flesh (with maybe a little of the skin) into another dish, along with a good squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, basil and two or three of the roasted garlic cloves. Blend and let cool in the fridge.

Once both dips have cooled, Serve with a good hunk of bread, a cheese board and a nice salad. Yummy. Serious garlic breath though ;)

For the Hummus (serves abut 4):
1 can of chick peas, drained
2 tablespoons of light tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
2 small cooked beetroots
Good glug of olive oil
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
Salt and pepper to season
1 garlic clove

For the Baba Ganoush (again serves about 4):
1 large Aubergine
lemon juice
Olive oil
Fresh parsley and basil
1 clove of raw garlic, or 2 cloves of roasted garlic.
salt and pepper to season