Spicy Sweet Potato Cakes with Rainbow Chard

Rainbow chard is now a daily staple in my kitchen, the chard bed in the garden is growing wild and the more I pick, the more sprouts forth. I have been throwing it into every kind of soup, stir frying it, serving the baby leaves as salad, adding handfuls to bolognese sauce and giving it away to passers-by, but it still keeps coming. 

Fast becoming my favourite vegetable, chard (swiss or rainbow) is super healthy, full of vitamins and minerals and incredibly adaptable but almost impossible to find in the shops, the only way to get some rainbow chard is to grow it yourself. 

So every day this week I have been looking for a new way to use it. Potato cakes (or tattie scones as they are called in Scotland) are a huge favourite in our house as breakfast, after school snacks and even as canape bases, this spicy sweet potato version would make a gorgeous starter or light lunch. To use as canapes, add a little more flour and aim for a firmer mixture.

Spicy Sweet Potato Cakes with Rainbow Chard
1 tbsp olive oil
3 large handfuls rainbow chard (or spinach), chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 hot red chilli, finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped 

1kg sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
100g plain flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil 
Dipping sauce
2tbsp soy sauce
1 hot red chilli, sliced


Heat the olive oil gently in a frying pan or wok, then add the chard, garlic and chilli and cook for a few minutes until the spices are aromatic and the chard wilted. 
Remove from the heat and stir in the spring onions.
Boil the sweet potatoes until tender then drain and cool. 
Mash together the potatoes with the flour and salt then stir in the chard mixture.
Using wet hands, form the mixture into patties (around 5cm in diameter).
Heat olive oil in heavy based non-stick pan and fry the patties for a few minutes on each side until golden brown. 
Serve with dipping sauce made from soy sauce with a few red chillis floating through it.

Bruschetta with Chard, Anchovies, Garlic & Lemon

At last, I am starting to see the fruits of my labour, (if you can call scattering a packet of seeds from a height very quickly on a wet day, labour) ... the vegetable patch is a late starter this year because of all the rainy weather, but today it has come good and I picked a huge bowlful of rainbow chard. The leaves are small enough to use in a salad but I wanted to make my very favourite chard dish. Super healthy, and super tasty and can easily be made with baby spinach or even spring greens (though aren't the jewel colours of rainbow chard beautiful? Do find some if you can. )

This is not hard to make, takes only a few minutes to prepare and doesn't have a huge list of ingredients. It is simply one of those Italian-inspired recipes where the freshness of the ingredients shines through - made for eating outside in the sunshine with a glass of red for lunch.

Bruschetta with Rainbow Chard, Anchovies, Garlic & Lemon

4 thin slices of baguette or crusty bread
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 handfuls of rainbow chard (or other leafy greens: swiss chard, spinach, cavalo nero etc)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 anchovy fillets, chopped finely
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
1tsp sea salt
                                                      drizzle of olive oil

 Heat a griddle pan (or pre-heat the oven and bake till crisp) and toast the slices of bread until crisp. 
Rub the clove of garlic across the bread  and set aside.
Saute the chard in the olive oil and garlic until wilted then add the anchovies, lemon juice and lemon zest and warm through.
Serve the chard on top of the bread and sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil.
Quite lovely.

Indian Lime Chutney

I thought I loved curries best during the winter months - with frozen breath floating over icy pavements, the need to rush home for something hot and spicy, rich and filling seemed to provoke a lot of curry cooking. Then spring came and I became quite sure that I loved curries best during the spring months - mild days with cold evenings, lighter nights but still a need for food that warms your bones from the inside out. But now it is summer, and despite a dearth of hot, hazy summer nights, the urge to linger over spicy food on a warm clammy evening is definitely with me.

Like cooking a Mexican menu, Indian meals in particular benefit from a plethora of side dishes: parathas; nan; scented rice; dhal; raita; poppadoms; and the ubiquitous chutney.

Lately I have become completely addicted to the hot and sour flavours of Indian Lime pickle. It introduces a sharp note to a mild creamy curry, adds a tangy heat dabbed into a paratha with spiced mackeral or adds balance simply served on the side of barbecued chicken or fish.

Many versions abound the internet, most taking weeks to age before they can be eaten (I do have one such version sitting maturing in a cupboard but I was too impatient to stop there so needed to find a flavourful but far more speedy version.) This is based on a chutney recipe but has no sugar to sweeten the end result leaving the most perfectly sour and spicy condiment.

Indian Lime Pickle

300 g of chillies (green or red or mixed)
1 kg limes
200 g grated fresh ginger

1 large bulb fresh garlic, peeled
5 or 6 curry leaves, shredded
900ml white vinegar
2 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp mustard seed
1 Tbsp fenugreek seeds
500ml rapeseed (or veg)  oil
5 Tbsp rapeseed (or veg) oil

Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a large frying pan until hot.
Sauté the limes turning them over and over until their skins are a golden brown.
Cut the limes into about 6 thick slices and then half the slices.
Add 2 Tbsp of oil to a blender with the chillis, peeled garlic, grated ginger and curry leaves. Blend to a paste
Heat the remaining oil in a pan until hot. Add mustard and fenugreek and warm till the seeds are toasted and start to pop.
Add the chilli paste, stir and cook gently for 15 minutes.
Add the turmeric, lime and vinegar and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Cook for a further 10 minutes...  to reduce and thicken
Put the pickle into sterilised jars then cover with any remaining liquid. Seal and leave for a couple of weeks, if you can bear to - if not open immediately and serve.

Maple Syrup Granola

Ooh home-made breakfast cereal... I feel a little goddess-like, even though I went about it the speedy cheat's way. Granola recipes usually contain such a huge list of ingredients that I am put off even trying them. So, to circumvent a little of the shopping and organisation, I bought a nice high-end muesli to use as a base and then added a big bunch of whatever I had in my cupboards and oh my goodness, it is amazing. We have been eating it by the handful in place of popcorn, over vanilla yogurt as an after school snack and
covered in milk as, well, breakfast cereal.

This is a list of what I had in my cupboard but I think you can feel free to throw in any combination of dried fruit, nuts, cereals and seeds without any problems. Be careful with your oven temperature as any fruit mixed into your muesli may burn in the heat so keep it low and check it often. It should keep for a few weeks in an airtight container but in my house, there is no chance of it lasting nearly so long.

Maple Syrup Granola
200g rolled oats
300g luxury museli (I used a tropical mix)
50g wheatbran
200g mixed seeds (whatever you have - I used a mix of sesame, linseed, pumpkin, sunflower)
200g mixed nuts (whatever you have - I used hazelnuts and almonds)
2tsp ground ginger
2tsp ground cinnamon
4tbsp honey
4tbsp maple syrup
100g brown sugar
100g raisins, sultanas or dried cranberries

Mix everything together except the raisins in a very large mixing bowl. It is easiest to use your hands but you will end up very sticky!
Scatter across a large baking sheet and bake at around 130C for 20-40 minutes. Keep checking to make sure the fruit does not burn or go crispy and turn the granola over about half way through the cooking time.
When golden and aromatic, remove from the oven and allow to cool, add the raisins or other soft fruit then decant into an airtight jar or container.

Blueberry & Apple Crumble Muffins

You've gotta love America - their ability to take two lovely meals and throw them together willy nilly and create a whole new food opportunity in our day.... I love to eat brunch; the only meal where you are actively encouraged to eat bacon and eggs, cakes and muffins and cocktails and champagne all at one meal.

This is definitely a breakfast muffin, more than a cake&coffee muffin with its mix of sharp green apples and blueberries. The recipe was adapted from my favourite cookbook ever - Ottolenghi.

Scanning a table of treats, and piling on a mixture of fresh fruit, spinach & pancetta strata (recipe to follow soon), and grilled tomatoes and (hoorah) finding coffee cake, blueberry muffins and nutty bran breakfast muffins alongside is just the best way to start your day. ideally served with a glass of bucks fizz.

Blueberry & Apple Crumble Muffins
540g plain flour
4tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
350g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
140g melted butter
380ml milk
2 apples, peeled & diced
200g blueberries

for the crumble topping
150g plain flour
50g caster sugar
100g butter

Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 3 and line a muffin tin with paper cases.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, bicarbonate, salt and sugar.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter and milk, then stir in the fruit.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and mix lightly together, do not over mix or the batter becomes heavy.
Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the batter into each paper case until quite full.
Cover with lots of crumble topping, enough to form a small mound over the cake batter.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on top and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Seafood curry with coconut, lime and curry leaves

Too long a break from food writing has left me with a backlog of recipes as long as a Nigella Lawson cookbook, all needing photographed and written up. So many of my experiments this year have been influenced by a visit to Thailand earlier this year, and I am loving getting to grips with a vast array of complex curry flavours and spices.

Another spring curry, chilli-hot and lime-sour, warming against the incredibly changable weather but light and healthy. The spices are freshly ground, and richly aromatic, the sauce is incredibly moreish and the end result tastes authentic and makes your kitchen smell like a Thai street market (in a good way).

This is based on another Skye Gyngell recipe, and what sounds like a lengthy list of ingredients can actually be found in many corner shops these days, (even our wee local village store) and takes no more time to prepare than an average stir fry. Anyone you feed this to will be bowled over by the flavour: this is probably the most beautiful curry I have ever made.

Seafood Curry with Coconut, Lime and Curry Leaves

1 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 red onions, peeled and sliced
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
large bunch of coriander, stems chopped and leaves reserved
3 garlic cloves, crushed with a pinch of salt
2 red chillies, chopped (seeds kept)
10 fresh curry leaves
2 kaffir lime leaves
juice of 2 limes
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp palm sugar
2 x 340g tinned plum tomatoes
800g large prawns
400ml tin coconut milk

In a heavy based saucepan, melt the butter then add the onions.
Cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes.
In a separate small frying pan, dry roast the mustard, fennel and coriander seeds gently till they become aromatic. Check to make sure that you do not over roast otherwise this will give the curry a bitter taste. Remove from heat, and while still warm, grind to a rough powder in a mortar and pestle.

Add the spices to the onions along with most of the chopped coriander, garlic, chillies and curry leaves.
Tear the kaffir lime leaves into pieces and add to the pan.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Add the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar, stir and turn up the heat a little. Add the tomatoes and cook for around 15 minutes.
Taste the sauce, add more lime, sugar or fish sauce if needed to adjust to taste. To finish, stir in the coconut milk and then add the prawns. Bring to the boil, cook for 3-4 minutes until the prawns are pink. Sprinkle with reserved coriander and serve with flatbreads or over rice. 

Squash and Tomato Curry with Lime and Coconut

I first ate this gorgeous curry at a friend's house and for weeks could not get the flavours out of my mind... hot, sour and sweet with depth and layers of flavour. Every curry I ate, I compared unfavourably to this one, too bland, too hot, too uniformly flavoured.

Based on a recipe from Skye Gyngell's "My Favourite Ingredients" this is a family favourite, full of zing and reasonably easy to prepare with half an hour on your hands. It feels like a spring dish - light and healthy but rich enough to keep out the chill that still hangs in the air.

Squash and Tomato Curry with Lime and Coconut

1 medium butternut (or other variety) squash
1tbsp vegetable oil
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 small hot green chillis, chopped (seeds left in)
10 curry leaves
1tsp mustard seeds
1tsp fennel seeds
2tbsp caster sugar
2tbsp fish sauce
Juice of 2 limes
15-20 little ripe tomatoes
340g tin peeled plum tomatoes
250ml coconut milk
A handful of fresh spinach leaves

Peel the squash, scoop out the seeds using a spoon, then slice into 5cm chunks and set aside.
Place a heavy-based pan over a medium heat.
Add the oil and the onion.
Lower the heat and saute for 10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, chilli and curry leaves and continue to cook gently.
Next, warm a frying pan over a low heat, add the mustard and fennel seeds and cook until they begin to pop.
Remove from the heat and pound to a powder, using a pestle and mortar. Add to the onion, stir to combine and cook gently for a further five minutes.
Add the squash, stir again and cook for 10 minutes, then add the sugar, fish sauce and lime juice.

Taste and then once you feel the flavours are right (hot, sweet and sour - add a little more sugar and fish sauce if the flavour is too mild) add the little ripe tomatoes – squishing them slightly between your fingers as you do so, to help them release their flavour.
Add the tin of plum tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork. Pour in the coconut milk and cook for a final five minutes.
Throw in a large handful of spinach leaves just before serving to wilt gently in the sauce.
Serve with flatbreads.

This is ready to serve immediately but if allowed to cool down, it reheats beautifully as the sweetness and spices permeate the squash even more after resting.