Rachel Allen - Recipes from My Mother

generous pinch of sugar

400ml (14fl oz) hot vegetable or chicken stock

50ml (2fl oz) regular or double cream

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

1 tbsp chopped basil or 4 tsp basil pesto

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, then add the spring onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and sweat the onions for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sugar. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Add the cream and simmer for just 1 minute.

2. Transfer to a blender and whiz really well. Pour the soup through a fine sieve into a clean pan and gently reheat but do not boil the soup.

3. To serve, stir in the chopped basil or drizzle the basil pesto over each bowl.

Warm salad of hot-smoked duck, glazed navettes and toasted hazelnuts

SERVES 4

Duck reacts so well to a bit of hot smoke – the rich flavour of the meat is enhanced by its full-bodied aroma and the lovely layer of fat under the skin ensures the meat does not dry out during smoking. The little white turnips, called navettes, end up tender and coated in a delicious glaze set against the welcome crunch of the hazelnuts.

32 hazelnuts, chopped into 2 or 3 pieces and toasted (see tip)

4 navettes (small white turnips), cut into 6 or 8 wedges

15g (½oz) butter

2 duck breasts

4 good handfuls of bitter greens (watercress, rocket, mustard leaf, frisée)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

1 tbsp good-quality sherry vinegar

3 tbsp hazelnut or walnut oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1. Place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

2. Place the navettes in a flameproof casserole or small saucepan. Add 3 tablespoons water and the butter, and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 20 minutes over a medium heat. Check the navettes while they are cooking and remove the lid for the last few minutes of cooking time if there is still a lot of liquid in the casserole. They should be glazed but not wet.

3. Meanwhile, following the instructions for the Biscuit-Tin-Smoked Fish, put your duck breasts into the biscuit-tin smoker to smoke for 20 minutes while the navettes are cooking.

4. When the duck is smoked and the navettes are cooked, slice the duck breasts. Arrange the sliced duck and navette wedges in a circle around the edge of four warm plates, leaving a space in the middle of each plate for the salad.

5. Dress the bitter greens with most of the dressing and divide among the plates. Sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve immediately.

TIP

Tip the hazelnuts into a non-stick frying pan and toast over a high heat for 1–2 minutes until golden, tossing regularly to avoid burning. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

Salad of smoked fish with lamb’s lettuce and a crispy egg

SERVES 4

A gorgeously substantial salad, this has all the elements of a summer main course that I love – delicious fresh leaves, smoky tender fish and a softly boiled egg encased in a crispy breadcrumb coating. Use really good extra-virgin olive oil here.

4 × 200g (7oz) fillets of fish – smoked haddock or coley, either hot-smoked (see Biscuit-Tin-Smoked Fish), or shop-bought cold-smoked fish

a little butter

4 handfuls of lamb’s lettuce or any other delicious salad leaves

For the dressing

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the crispy eggs

4 eggs, plus 1 beaten egg

2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

3 tbsp panko or fine white breadcrumbs

sunflower oil, for shallow-frying or deep-frying

1. To make the crispy eggs, bring a large pan of water to the boil, then add the eggs (they need to be completely submerged), set a timer and allow to boil for exactly 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs and cool under cold running water to prevent them cooking further.

2. Place the seasoned flour, beaten egg and the breadcrumbs in three separate shallow dishes. Peel the eggs carefully, as they will still be soft in the centre, roll them in the flour, then in the beaten egg and, finally, in the crumbs to give them a nice coating. Set aside.

3. Cook your fish – either follow the hot-smoked biscuit-tinrecipe, or pan-fry the cold-smoked fish in a little butter.

4. While the fish is cooking, heat a little sunflower oil for the crispy eggs in a small pan and shallow-fry the eggs, turning frequently, until they are golden and crispy all over, or deep-fry them in sunflower oil.

5. Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing. Put the lamb’s lettuce in a bowl and sprinkle with a few teaspoons of the dressing, then toss – the leaves should be lightly coated but not too much.

6. Place the cooked fish in the centre of each plate, then place a crispy egg on top. Arrange the dressed leaves around each one in a ring, drizzle the whole plate with more dressing and serve.

Roast beetroot salad with liquorice, goat’s cheese and candied pearl barley

SERVES 4

This salad is inspired by a recipe that the wonderful cookery writer Diana Henry wrote on her return from my mother’s home town of Reykjavik. Liquorice is one of my mum’s favourite flavours from growing up in Iceland and this is an intriguing method of cooking it with beetroot. It adds a subtle, spicy sweetness, but you can leave it out if you prefer.

400g (14oz) even-sized raw beetroot, whole and unpeeled

2 sticks (20g/¾oz) broken liquorice root

4 handfuls of salad leaves, including some small beetroot leaves, if possible

150g (5oz) soft goat’s cheese

For the candied pearl barley

50g (2oz) pearl barley

50g (2oz) brown sugar

pinch of sea salt

For the dressing

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

4 tbsp walnut oil

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Remove the leaves from the beetroot and cut off most of the stalk, leaving about 2cm (¾in) attached. Leave the tails intact. Wash under a cold tap – do not scrub, simply rub off any dirt with your fingers. You don’t want to damage the skin, otherwise the beetroot will ‘bleed’ while cooking, losing important nutrients.

2. Put the beets in a saucepan large enough to fit them all in a tight single layer, add the liquorice and just cover with water – do not add salt. Cover, place on the hob and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for ¾ –1 hour until cooked. The skin should peel easily and a knife slide into the centre.

3. Using a slotted spoon, remove the beetroot and set aside until cool enough to handle. Return the pot to the hob and allow the beetroot cooking water to bubble with the lid off until reduced to a quarter of its original volume. Discard the liquorice.

4. While the beets cook, toast the pearl barley in a pan over a medium heat, shaking frequently until it turns a light nutty brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.

5. Sprinkle the brown sugar into the dry pan, return to the heat and, without stirring, allow to dissolve. When the sugar has dissolved, return the pearl barley to the pan with a pinch of salt. Shake the pan or swirl gently to coat the pearl barley with caramel and then pour it out onto a piece of baking parchment. Set aside to cool.

6. Next, make the dressing. Mix the oils, honey, vinegar and mustard in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Set aside.

7. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas mark 6. When cool, peel the beets and cut into wedges. Toss in a little dressing and roast for 10 minutes.