Bolivian Field Trip

Nice Things I've Eaten

Just a few delicious summery things I've had the pleasure of eating over the last week or so at various barbeques, and in a lovely cottage in Cornwall:

* Watermelon, basil, feta and pine nut salad expertly made by Ben. No dressing, just watermelon cut into ice-cube sized chunks, fresh basil, crumbled feta and toasted pine nuts. So simple and delicious.


* A salad of small pieces of grilled halloumi, watercress, little gem, baby spinach, various seeds, kiwi and cherry tomatoes, made by Max. with a Yummy honey and mustard dressing.


* A tabbouleh with lots of mint, parsley and coriander, chilli and mango, served with lamb koftes and lots of tzatziki, courtesy of James.

Phwoar

Nigella's Custard Cream Hearts

From Nige's lovely book 'Feast'...

*For the biscuits:

175g plain flour
3 tbsp custard powder
1 tsp baking powder
50g unsalted butter
50g vegetable shortening
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk (or more, to bind)

*Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180 degrees
*Mix flour, custard powder, baking powder.
*Add the butter and shortening in smallish cubes and mix to a crumbly mixture
*Add the sugar and mix again.
*In a separate bowl, mix the egg and milk, then add this to the main bowl, and mix it until it clumps into a ball. You may not need all the liquid so go slowly, (or you can always add a little more flour, or more milk if it's too dry)
*Form the dough into a ball , press it into a flat disc and wrap in clingfilm. Pop it in the fridge for 20 minutes.
*Flour a clean surface, and roll out the ball to about 4mm thickness. Use a 5cm heart shaped cutter and cut out as many as you can, putting them on a lined baking sheet as you go along, and re-rolling the scrap bits of dough until it's all used up.
*Prick the outside edge of the hearts with a fork or other such pronged device.
*Cook on lined baking sheet for 15 minutes, or until golden.
*Cool on a wire rack.

*For the custard cream:

1 tbsp custard powder
100g icing sugar
50g soft unsalted butter
1 tsp boiling water

*Mix the custard powder and the icing sugar. Add the butter and mix until you get a smooth cream. Add the teaspoon of boiling water and combine again.
*Sandwich each biscuit with about one teaspoon of the cream. Gently spread a layer of the cream on an unpricked side (once the biscuits are cool), then wiggle a matching heart shape on top of it. I found there was enough cream to be quite generous with the filling, and that it made about 20 finished biscuits altogether.

*I thought that half a teaspoon of raspberry jam on top of the custard cream filling would have made a rather delightful addition, also next time I will add a tablespoon of rosewater to the cream filling.

Soul Food

The Herbs