lemon and ginger iced tea

refreshing in hot weather when served ice cold

to make 2 litres

• 2 spice tea bags (eg Pukka star anise & cinnamon)
• 2 large lemons (or about 125ml shop bought juice)
• 5 tbsp cordial (eg equal parts Bottle Green elderflower/ginger & lemongrass)
• 50g brown caster sugar (or muscovado)
• water

Note quantites are flexible: taste as you add the cordial and add more or less to taste

Place the tea bags in 1 litre boiling water for 5 minutes.

Remove bags and add sugar, stir to dissolve.

Squeeze lemons, pass juice through a sieve and add to the tea.

Add cordial and stir.

Top up to 2 litres with cold water.

Refrigerate when cold.

seared chicken salad (or courgette salad)

a light summer salad using fresh seasonal ingredients

• juice of 1 orange
• 1 tbsp wine vinegar
• 20g muscovado sugar
• 1 tsp paprika or chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• salt and pepper
• 6 skinless uncooked chicken breasts*
• 2 small fennel bulbs, or 1 leek, thinly sliced
• 15g flat parsley or coriander leaves
• 15g mint leaves
• 50g mushrooms, thinly sliced ¶

* You can use cooked breasts, in which case omit the oven cooking after they are seared.

¶ Instead of mushrooms you could use green beans or broad beans, in which case boil them for a few minutes rather than searing

1. Heat oven to 180C fan.
2. Put the orange juice, sugar and vinegar in a small pan and simmer until thickened.  This should give you about 3 tbsp of a thick syrup.
3. Heat a ridged griddle pan until very hot.
4. In a small bowl put half the olive oil and some salt and pepper, then coat the breasts and place them in the griddle pan.  Sear until they have clear char lines, about 2 minutes each side.
5. Transfer the breasts to the oven and bake until cooked, about 15-20 minutes.
6. Throw the mushrooms into the griddle pan and sear briefly, until softened.  No need to add more oil.
7. When the chicken has cooled, tear it into chunks and place in a large mixing bowl, with the mushrooms.
8. Pour over half the orange paste and mix well.  (Keep the other half for other uses - it will keep a few days).
9. Add the leaves, lemon juice, garlic and chilli and mix well.
10. Transfer to a clean bowl and top with the fennel or leek slices.

For the courgette alternative to chicken, slice the courgettes diagonally and sear for 5 minutes each side (they do not need time in the oven).  You could also add lightly baked tomatoes and walnuts to the mix instead of mushrooms.
 

croissants

lovely and light, buttery but not greasy: that's the ultimate goal!

500g strong white flour
- plus extra for dusting
1 ½ tsp salt
50g sugar
14g dried yeast
300g butter, at room temperature
vegetable oil, for greasing
1 egg

• Put the flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Measure 300ml cold water into a jug, add the yeast and stir. Make a well in the flour and pour in the liquid. Mix, then knead on your work surface for 10 mins. Shape into a ball, put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and chill for at least 2 hrs.
• Put the butter between 2 sheets of baking parchment. Using a rolling pin, bash and roll it into a rectangle about 20 x 15cm. Leave wrapped in the baking parchment and chill.
• Transfer the chilled dough to a floured surface and roll into a 40 x 20cm rectangle. Place the unwrapped slab of butter in the centre of the dough, so that it covers the middle third.
• Fold one side of the dough up and halfway over the butter.
• Fold the other side of the dough up and over the butter in the same way, so that the two edges of the dough meet in the centre of the butter.
• Fold the dough in half so that the point where the ends of the dough meet becomes the seam. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
• Repeat the rolling, folding and chilling process (steps 3-6) twice more in exactly the same way – rolling the pastry while it’s still folded – without adding more butter. Wrap and chill overnight.
• The next day, roll the dough out on a floured surface into a large rectangle, measuring about 60 x 30cm. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, trim the edges to neaten.
• Cut the dough in half lengthways so that you have 2 long strips, then cut each strip into 6 or 7 triangles with 2 equal sides.
• Take each triangle in turn and pull the two corners at the base to stretch and widen it.
• Starting at the base of each triangle, begin to gently roll into a croissant, being careful not to crush the dough.
• Continue rolling, making sure the tip of each triangle ends up tucked under the croissant to hold in place. If adding any fillings (see tips, below), place across the widest part of the triangle before rolling up.
• Bend the ends of the croissants inwards, then transfer to baking trays lined with baking parchment, spaced well apart. Cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave to rise for 2 hrs, or until doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Mix the beaten egg with a pinch of salt and use to generously glaze the croissants. Bake for 15-18 mins until risen and golden brown, then cool on wire racks.

tomato chutney

600g tomatoes, quartered (you can blanch* and remove skins if preferred)
1 dessertspoon tomato puree
150ml white wine vinegar
1 shallot, peeled, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled, finely chopped
2cm/¾in piece fresh root ginger, peeled, finely grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped or 1 tsp paprika
125g sultanas
100g light brown sugar

• To blanch, steam over boiling water for about 5 minutes.  When the skins split, you can lift them out and remove the slins easily with a knife and fork.
  Put all ingredients into a lidded pan, adding the sugar last and stirring until it dissolves in the juices, and bring the mixture to the boil. 
  Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until the chutney has thickened and you can draw a wooden spoon across the base of the pan so that it leaves a channel behind it that does not immediately fill with liquid.
• Spoon the chutney into sterilised jars.