In The Royal Manner (7 page)
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 15 minutes plus chilling
No cooking
1 small ripe avocado
Juice of 1 small lemon
4 ripe plum tomatoes
175g/6oz piece mozzarella cheese
50g/2oz pitted black olives
1 tbsp pesto sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A few fresh basil leaves
1.
Halve the avocado and remove the stone. Peel off the skin and slice the flesh thinly. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice.
2.
Thinly slice the tomatoes and mozzarella. Gently toss into the avocado along with the olives. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
3.
Just before serving, drain the avocado, tomatoes, mozzarella and olives, reserving the juices, and pile on to serving plates.
4.
Mix the reserved juices with the pesto sauce and olive oil and drizzle a little over each portion. Season and sprinkle with the basil leaves. Serve with the remaining dressing on the side.
BAKED SEA BASS
IN
FILO
WITH
JULIENNE VEGETABLES
These beautifully packaged fillets of sea bass served on a bed of ‘just-cooked’ shredded vegetables are simple to prepare and look stunning. It's a meal in itself so you won't need to serve anything else with this course.
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 20 minutes plus cooling
Cooking time: approx. 30 minutes
65g/2½oz butter
75g/3oz button mushrooms, wiped and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 x 25g/1oz sheets filo pastry
2 x 150g/5oz skinless sea bass fillet steaks
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
175g/6oz carrot
175g/6oz courgette (zucchini)
1 small leek
Preheat the oven to 200° C/400°F/Gas 6
1.
Melt 15g/loz butter in a frying pan and gently fry the mushrooms for 2 – 3 minutes until just softened. Remove from the heat and season. Set aside to cool.
2.
Melt half the remaining butter in a small saucepan. Lay the filo sheets out on the work surface and brush with melted butter. Fold each sheet over and brush again.
3.
Lay a fish fillet in the centre of each, season and top each with some of the mushrooms and chopped parsley. Fold over two opposite corners of pastry and then bring up the other two to farm a parcel, scrunching and twisting them together as they meet in the middle.
4.
Press gently to seal and then transfer to a baking sheet. Brush with butter and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until crisp, golden and cooked through.
5.
Meanwhile, peel the carrot and cut into very thin sticks, or coarsely
grate. Trim the courgette (zucchini) and cut or grate in the same way. Trim the leek, slice in half lengthwise, and run under water to flush out any trapped earth. Shake well to remove excess water and then shred finely. Set aside.
6.
Five minutes before the sea bass is cooked, melt the remaining butter and stir-fry the prepared vegetables for 2 – 3 minutes until just tender.
7.
To serve, divide the shredded vegetables between two warmed serving plates and season. Top each pile of vegetables with a parcel of fish and serve with wedges of lemon to squeeze over.
Cook's note:
to save even more time, look out for packs of ready-cut courgette and carrot ‘en julienne’ in your local supermarket.
TIRAMISU HEARTS
This traditional Italian dish was introduced to the Princess by an Italian chef who came to Kensington Palace from the world-famous Cipriani Hotel in Venice. It immediately became a favourite and for a while it seemed that everyone who came to lunch had tiramisu for pudding, long before this dessert became widely known outside Italy.
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 20 minutes plus chilling
No cooking
200g/7oz piece chocolate marble cake
1 tbsp cold, strong black coffee
4 tbsp brandy
200g/7oz tub medium-fat soft cheese
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 ripe mini mango
2 tsp cocoa powder
While chocolate shavings and cape gooseberries to decorate
1.
Line a 19 cm/7in square tin with clear wrap so that it overhangs the sides of the tin. Thinly slice the marble cake to fit the tin and press the slices side by side into the base of the tin. Mix the coffee with 2 tbsp brandy and sprinkle all over the cake.
2.
In a mixing bowl, beat the soft cheese with the vanilla essence. Sift the icing sugar into the bowl and carefully mix.
3.
Pile the cheese mixture on top of the soaked cake and spread evenly. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
4.
Meanwhile, peel the mango and slice down either side of the smooth, flat central stone. Chop the flesh and then place in a food processor or blender with the remaining brandy. Blend until smooth. Transfer to small bowl, cover and chill until required.
5.
Carefully remove the cheese-covered coke from the tin by pulling up the clear wrap. Using a 7cm/3in heart-shaped cutter, stamp out four shapes from the cake.
6.
Using a palette knife, lift each heart off the clear wrap and then slack one heart on top of another to make two thicker hearts. Dust the tops with a little cocoa.
7.
Transfer each to o serving plate, decorate with white chocolate shavings, dust with more cocoa and serve with the mango coulis spooned around and cape gooseberries on the side.
Cook's note:
don't waste the trimmings, they'll make a treat for the next day! To make chocolate shavings, melt the chocolate of your choice and spread it thickly on a board. Allow to set in the fridge and then remove and allow to reach room temperature. Using a cheese slicer, ‘shave’ off pieces of chocolate and place in the fridge until required.
APHRODISIAC FOODS
If you're planning a romantic meal for your loved one, then you might just be interested in choosing foods which are regarded as having aphrodisiac qualities. I am including a few suggestions for you to try:
SHELLFISH
—the most commonly known aphrodisiac, with oysters and lobsters being top of the shellfish hot list.
CAVIAR
—it is easy to eat and digest, and is perfect served with champagne.
SPICES
—especially vanilla and cardamom.
TRUFFLES, FIGS AND POMEGRANATES
—the latter reputedly being a fertility symbol.
CHOCOLATE
—Casanova recommended this as an aphrodisiac!
NUTS
—The Queen of Sheba favoured pistachio nuts as an aphrodisiac. And the Greeks and Romans scattered walnuts at marriage ceremonies and burned hazel torches as symbols of the newlyweds’ fertility and future happiness together.
This is an excellent way to guarantee Mum a lazy morning in bed. Some of the recipes here are simple enough for children to prepare (with a little help perhaps). Make it special by picking a few spring flowers from the garden for a surprise breakfast tray. A tasty treat for Mother's Day
FRESH FRUIT PLATTER
WITH
FRUITS
OF THE
FOREST DIP
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
No cooking
1 baby pineapple
¼ small watermelon
l small orange-flesh melon such as Charantais
1 small papaya
Juice of 1 lime
100g/4oz small strawberries, washed
200g/7oz tub of natural fromage frais
2 tbsp blackcurrant jam, softened
1 tbsp blackcurrant cordial or Cassis
1.
Trim the pineapple and cut in half lengthwise, then cut into thin wedges and place on a platter. Cut the melons into thin wedges, remove any seeds and arrange on the platter.
2.
Peel the papaya, cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut into wedges and place on the platter. Sprinkle the fruits with the lime juice, place the strawberries on top, then cover and chill until required.
3.
For the dip, mix the fromage frais and jam together and swirl in the blackcurrant cordial or Cassis.
4.
Serve the platter of fruits with the dip, with extra lime wedges for squeezing over.
BLUEBERRY
AND
BANANA MUFFINS
Children love muffins. They are a delicious treat and can be easily prepared with a little help from Mum or Dad.
