Tomatoes

Jess has great taste so no surprise she went for tomatoes. They're healthy (good for eyes, skin, immune system). Stylish. Versatile. Slice 'em up with a bit of shallot and a sharp dressing or cook 'em up into a great salsa or soup. Use sundried in a marvellous burger. Skin and chop 'em small for an impressive retro cocktail. Buying fresh? Sniff. They want to smell peppery.

Marinating food can make all the difference to flavour and texture. Even 15 minutes can do it. Sit your mix in the fridge if leaving longer. Food marinated overnight or even for days can taste amazing.

Tasty car snacks
Well that’s it. School’s officially over. I’m on holiday so no blog. But check out the chocolate orange cookies (they're in 'Real Food Real Fast' if you want to make them). I’m taking some for the car heading down to Cornwall. A load of us are off to stay with my mate Tom. It’s going to be fresh fish all round – maybe a spider crab or two - and Cornish pasty heaven. Report back soon. Sam x
7th July 2008

End of School
Get in! I’ve finished exams. It’s such a good feeling though it hasn’t really sunk in yet that I’ll never have to go back to school again. I’ve got 15 months of freedom lined up (well, sort of) including a trip to Ireland for 3 months intensive cooking to take my skills up a notch. Also, hopefully, I’ll do a bit of travelling, writing.. the world is literally my oyster – I’ll be eating and prepping a few. I’ve got to leave now as there’s stuff to do. I’m having a bbq for my mates tonight. Vegetarians look away now. There’s so much meat in it’s amazing. I love meat. I’m doing Memphis ribs (thanks to the butcher in the market who got them in) burgers, chicken wings, shish kebabs, bangers, Barbie griddled bread (my first go at it) loads and loads of salads. Fruit salad and baby meringues. Celebration chocolate cake. Dozens of cookies using a mega box of novelty cutters my brother and I bought for mum at Christmas and she’s never used. So anyway for all of you guys still at school – keep with it. Summer’s nearly here. Sam xx
24 June 2008

Father's Day celebration roast
Six days to go before the last exam and I can’t wait. Motivation’s getting tricky. Seems like revision’s been going on forever. Just my luck that politics is the last-but-one A level. Loads of mates are already hitting the town – my turn soon though. To be honest I did take a bit of time off for Father’s day. What did you get/do for yours? I treated mine to some favourite cheeses (mmm… very nice) and a celebration roast lunch. He got to choose what he wanted to eat – but as I was working he had to go out and buy it. He and mum headed off to The Farmer’s Cart – the awesome Yorkshire farm shop. He got a sirloin roast (their own beef), broad beans (not my favourite, but he loves them), cauli, broccoli, mucky spuds. (Ok the baby jersey royals are in season and pretty gorgeous but he wanted traditional roasties). The FC has just started a loyalty card scheme – on your sixth shop you get 20% off the bill. It was the third time they'd been since it was launched, so the girl at the checkout gave them a free cabbage! Everywhere you look food prices are heading up but farm shop prices are still reasonable because the food doesn’t need to travel, and there aren’t zillions of people adding on their own profits. That and the best fresh food. You can’t beat ‘em. Other news? The fourth book has finally gone to print. Phew. The aim is to get all Uni students cooking for themselves – and saving money and energy. Huge thanks to Gordon Ramsay and Prue Leith for taking time out to look at it. Sam xx
16 June 2008

The great chicken debate ... and a chocolate cheer
Two exams down and a few more to go. It’s all getting pretty intense to be honest and the cooking’s therapeutic. This week I learned how to spatchcock a chicken. It’s so easy! Take a small bird (eg a poussin). Sit it breast down on a board. Cut along either side of the backbone with sharp kitchen scissors or shears. Chuck the bone away. Press down with the palm of your hand. I sealed it quickly on the griddle then grilled it. You can do with with a garlicky olive oil, add salt and lemon juice/herbs at the finish. I devilled it with a mix of mustard and tabasco, a bit of brown sugar then finished it off quickly with garlic breadcrumbs for a crunch. Once exams are done I’ll be cooking it on the barbie. The debate about free-range chicken goes on. Check out Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s Chicken Out! website. Hugh (Saint Chicken) is taking on the supermarket Tesco this week. He wants them to guarantee that all the birds they sell are kept in the best conditions so he’s become a share holder in the company. When they have their annual shareholders meeting he wants to put forward a proposal to that effect. Tesco wants to charge him 84 grand to send out the paperwork so he’s started a fund and an on-line auction. Check out all the issues online. He’s right. We should keep all our animals in humane conditions – preferably free-range. And not just chickens. Finally – a big cheer for Divine Chocolate. They’ve won a major ethical product award this week – plus they make the best chocolate and cocoa. Try it for these chocolate muffins – recipe on the chatboard. Divine is owned by a co-operative of cocoa farmers in Ghana and 45,000 people in 1,200 villages get a share of their profits and decide how it should be spent. Apart from that it tastes brilliant. Well, gotta go revise some more. Sam xx
9 June 2008

Spare ribs - whatever the weather
To be honest I’ve not had a lot of time for cooking this week – exams kick off big time tomorrow. So Sunday was spare ribs – something that didn’t need a lot of prepping. Usually I make up a bit of a sauce. Chuck single pork ribs in to marinade. Bake it up. I went for a different style of rib this time. I cooked these up as whole racks (keeps them tastier and tender) in a really low heat (110C) for 3 hours coated in a hot and spicy dry rub. A mix of salt, brown sugar, chilli powder, cayenne, paprika, hint of smoked paprika, cumin, coriander. The surface dries and crisps up while the meat underneath soaks up the spices while enhancing the pork flavour. Just at the end I made up a barbecue sauce (see the one in Cooking Up A Storm or make up your own mix of ketchup, mustard, orange juice, brown sugar, crushed garlic, vinegar). Increase the oven heat just a bit. Brush some of the sauce over the ribs. Leave for 5 minutes. Cut the ribs (carve from the underside so you can see to cut between them). Serve with the warmed barbecue sauce to pour/for dipping, soaking into your rice, couscous or whatever else you’re eating the ribs with. If you’ve got the Barbie out then cook these guys in the oven then finish off on the Barbie. Sadly it was raining all weekend so that wasn’t an option. Let me know your top rib/barbecue recipes and if you’re doing exams this week – good luck. Sam xx
2 June 2008