Honeyed Pigeon and Beetroot Salad

The weather has much improved, and though it's not exactly hot out I decided this week it was time for salad. Really wanted that fabulous melange of flavours and textures that a good salad delivers. Too cold yet for great tomatoes or cucumber I wondered about a warm salad, using tiny potatoes and earthy beetroot. Nuts of course, and garlic crumbs as I seem to have accumulated bits and pieces and ends of loaves and do love the way they fry up to gorgeous. Thought about it for a bit longer then set my heart on pigeon. No idea why - the challenge of cooking something new perhaps, and the swiftness with which they're done has a definite appeal. Robust rather than delicate I figured they would be a good match for the rest of the plate.

I had a jar of Sarah's Wonderful Blueberry Honey, a new Irish product kindly sent to me by Bord Bia. I had a hankering to use that too for St Patrick's Day, to go with potatoes and pigeon and lots of green salad - just seemed right. I made a simple walnut vinaigrette to toss the leaves then made a spectacularly wonderful dressing with the honey and coriander - seeds and root - and a touch of shallot to tease out the sweet earthiness of the beetroot and the pigeon.

Seriously good.

Warm Pigeon and Beetroot Salad

Serves 2

Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients - it really is very quick to make and assemble and you can do pretty much all of it in advance except cook the pigeon

1 or 2 small beetroots
sprig of thyme
1 tbspn cider vinegar
1 tablespoon butter

8-10 new potatoes

50g hazelnuts, lightly toasted and roughly crushed

Small head of oakleaf lettuce
Generous handful of rocket
2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves, washed and left whole
2 tablespoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 rashers smoked bacon, cut into 2cm pieces
4 pigeon breasts
2 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 shallot, finely chopped
2cm piece of fresh coriander root, washed
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon blueberry honey
1 tablespoon olive oil

50g hazelnuts

2 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs,
1 clove of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
A grind of black pepper

Put the beetroot into a large square of foil along with a sprig of thyme, the vinegar and butter and season generously before sealing up the foil. Steam or roast for about 90 minutes until the beetroot is tender. Allow to cool a little then slip the skins off and cut into large dice and put the still warm pieces into a bowl and seal with clingfilm to keep them moist.

Wash and halve the potatoes then bring to the boil in a pan of salted water and cook till tender, 10-15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

Put the pigeon in a shallow dish with the thyme sprigs and the oil and allow to sit for a few minutes while you make the salad dressings.

For the green leaves, mix the walnut and olive oils with the lemon juice and season.

For the main dressing, crush the shallot, coriander seeds and root and salt with a pestle and mortar till a smooth aromatic paste is formed. Add the honey and mix well then add enough olive oil to give a slightly runny consistency. Season.


Peel and crush the clove of garlic then fry it in a small pan in the olive oil for a minute. Add the breadcrumbs and continue to fry till they are golden and fragrant, then season with pepper and remove from the heat. Drain on kitchen towel.

Gently toast the hazelnuts until they turn golden, remove from the pan and crush them slightly.

In a small pan fry the bacon on a low heat till the fat starts to rend and goes crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Turn the heat up under the same pan add the thyme sprigs for a moment then add the pigeon breasts. Cook for about 2 minutes till well seared on one side then turn them over and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the meat in the pan to rest while you assemble the salad.

Toss the leaves with the walnut vinaigrette and strew artfully across a couple of plates. Add the potatoes and drizzle with the remains of the vinaigrette. Add half the blueberry honey dressing to the beetroot, mix well and then add them to the salad. Slice the pigeon into bite size pieces. Scatter the bacon and pigeon across the bed of leaves and drizzle the rest of the honey dressing over the top.

Add the nuts and garlic crumbs and dinner is served!


Thoroughly wonderful meal for us, and I hope you all had a brilliantly enjoyable St Patrick's Day too!

Lentils with curly kale, garlic and pork

Kale is an interesting vegetable. I had never come across it before I came to London - the most exotic green we had in Oz in my day was chard and we called that spinach. There is spinach there now but it is always prefixed 'english' and commands a premium. (Chard is of course still the one that locals go to for real spinach.) I brought my confused ignorance with me. I had no idea what kale was for a long time - and given that absolutely everything was new it took me some time to even notice it. Eventually I took in the big mounds of dark leaves, thick and frilled and totally alien. It looked so incredibly chewy, like it will never soften down, more like the outside leaves of cabbage you discard before cooking. Can't recall seeing it much on menus or even used widely on recipe sites, local or otherwise.

It demanded no attention so I paid it none.

More fool me. The trouble with ignorance is that it is so easy continue unenlightened through the simple failure of curiosity, the omission of enquiry, an unintentional blinkering - and this is probably the source of the definition of its blissful state. But to stand before a pile of unknown veg and wilfully persist in unknowing each time you catch sight of it? That is when ignorance turns to stupidity. To be ignorant is an acceptable thing - it holds within its very definition the possibility of learning something new, and knowledge dispels ignorance. To choose to not know knowing that you don't know but that you might? That's just plain wrong. And I do hate being wrong.

Baby steps - shredded and steamed some and served it with butter and pepper with roast pork and it was good. Braver, I made a kale salad with spiced sweet potato and almonds and loved every mouthful. Then last weekend I found a new Ted's Veg at Venn Street Market in Clapham and they had mountains of fabulous veg, including purple curly kale. Its deep rich colour was beautiful.

I could not resist the frill of those pretty leaves and brought it home without a plan, it's true, but with high expectations. Was a bit chill still in the evening and I had a small piece of cold roast pork and a new packet of green lentils. With the last of a head of celery and lots of garlic I could see what dinner might be.

Lentils with curly kale, garlic and pork

I used the last of the roast pork from earlier in the week but you could use 100g of fresh minced pork or omit it entirely if there's no meat in the house. Most important of all - be generous with the garlic, it is the secret.

Generous serving for 2 with a little left for one lunch next day

4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
2 tbspns olive oil
2 sticks celery, cut into 1/2cm slices
If there are some celery leaves, chop them separately and leave to one side
About 100g cooked pork, finely diced or 100g fresh pork mince (optional)
250g green or brown lentils, sometimes called Egyptian lentils, rinsed
1 bay leaf
250g curly kale, very thick stem removed but leave the rest, shred the leaves into 2cm strips
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a wide pan and gently fry the garlic and chopped celery for a couple of minutes till fragrant and slightly softened. Add the pork and stir to coat, and cook through if using mince, for about 5 minutes.

Add the lentils, bay leaf and enough cold water to cover by about half a centimetre and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to simmer, cover the pan, and leave to cook for 20-30 minutes till the lentils are almost tender. Season with salt and pepper.


Rinse the chopped kale well then tip into the lentil pan and stir to incorporate. Put the lid back on the pan and let the kale wilt for 3 or 4 minutes. Stir again and add the celery leaves for garnish, if you have some.


Serve in big deep bowls with some bread if you have it.

Blissfully good. Just so many textures and flavours in one bowl.

The meat is optional, it adds more dimension but I have cooked lentils in versions like this for years with and without it and all are good, especially if you drape a gently poached egg on top for extra unctuousness.

All in all, this is a meal worth knowing!

Spicy Parsnip Soup with Onion Bhajis

It has been a while.

For the past month while the temperature has been largely below zero the kitchen has been a building site. We have lived on coffee from the local deli Di Lieto's in the morning and various combinations of bread, cheese, salami, olives and rocket in the evenings. Throw in the odd glass of wine and, at the beginning, there were seemingly infinite permutations of this most elegant repast. The plan had been to break up the pattern with dinner out occasionally but it was way too cold to head out after dark. Instead I have tried all the salami's on offer round the corner, revisted all my favourites from Gastronomica and bought a few new ones, made the journey to Maltby Street and sampled some of the exquisite ones on offer. Gianni is now selling cheese in Lower Marsh on Fridays which differ from the cheese at Gastronomica, and Rippon Cheese in Pimlico have a brilliant selection. I love bread from St John, The Old Post Office bakery do some lovely loaves and I discovered the sourdough baked by Franca Manca being sold at Wild Caper in Brixton and it is sublime. Bought a lot of rocket and the occasional peashoot when I found some. The man loved it, cold collation is his absolute favourite.

However there came a time when even he needed respite. The good news is the new kitchen is very nearly installed. And it's beautiful. There are benchtops (yay!) and a sink (possibly the thing I missed most) but still no table and chairs or new lighting or freshly painted surfaces. So I duck in and out, unable to resist making something at the end of every day just keeping it simple. I poached a whole chicken and had it hot with leeks and creamy mash then cold with salad and roasted garlic mayonnaise. There has of course been steak, thick cut rump with mushrooms and salad and crusty bread. On the weekend a feather steak from Nathan, who used to butcher at the Ginger Pig but now has set up in Maltby Street. He advised simply show it the pan and eat it rare and he was right.

Yesterday was a bleak old day in London, wind then rain then drizzle then more rain. Bleuuugh. A most perfect day for soup, conveniently fitting the bill of quick and easy. I had seen a recipe by Angela Hartnett for parsnip soup in The Guardian the other day but what really snagged my attention was serving it with onion bhaji. What a great counterpoint to a bowl of soup - hot and crisp and sweet and salt. Genius.

Spicy Parsnip Soup with Onion Bhajis

This serves two very well for a tasty supper

25g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely sliced
4 medium parsnips and 1 floury potato, peeled and finely sliced
2 tsp curry powder
300ml chicken or vegetable stock or water
150ml double cream

Put the butter and olive oil into a pan. When it warms, add the onion and saute for two minutes. Before the colour changes, add the parsnips and curry powder and continue to fry for five minutes.

Cover with the stock or water, simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Blend the contents into a smooth soup and return to the pan. Then add the cream, bring to the boil and season. If it's too thick, add some stock or milk.

1 medium onion, finely sliced
30g plain flour
Pinch coriander powder
Pinch cumin powder
1 egg, beaten
200ml vegetable or groundnut oil

Put the sliced onion in a bowl with the flour and spices and mix together. Add the egg, season, and mix well.

Heat the oil in a deep pan and add a large spoonful of the bhaji mix. Fry for one minute, turning occasionally until golden brown.

Drain on to kitchen paper and serve with the soup.

The soup was very fine indeed but it was the bhajis that made it into a great supper.

Black Garlic Siew Mai

Surprise! Here's a new post on Feast with Bron. Has to be said we've been eating well and variously in the intervening time but the actual writing about it has not happened of late. With the new year on its way that is set to change - probably! I have come close to posting - particularly for a recipe with spiced lamb balls and chickpeas, and another of lentils with minced pork and chopped kale. I especially liked autumn vegetables braised in stock and herbs and daube with tagliatelle - a trick I learned from eating more than occasionally at our fabulous local, The Canton Arms. And yet, somehow, though I thought about the elements and took some lovely pictures, the posts didn't come. Apologies.

What tipped me over into finally starting again was being sent some black garlic to try. It's amazing looking stuff - garlic cloves black as pitch, as though remade with molasses. They are gorgeous things, fragrant and sticky and chewy and vaguely shiny. I do love shiny. Best of all there is a delicate garlic undertow when sink your teeth in. It is made using regular garlic that is gently heated over a few weeks till the heads are a rich sweet black. There's none of the harshness of raw garlic in taste or perfume - when I showed the man what I was using he tried a clove. Tentative at first he soon declared they would be a great addition to a plate of nibbles with drinks - and he's absolutely right. Match them with some marinated olives, a little cheese and a few oatcakes and you have fabulous with Christmas drinks ready on a plate.

I googled to find things to cook - found an interesting Singapore site with lots of interesting ideas. I really fancied steamed wantons, so made a version of the siew mai and served them up atop jasmine rice and greens stir fried with garlic, chilli and oyster sauce. Total delight.

Black Garlic Siew Mai

Though you can make your own wanton skins they are readily available in Chinese grocers, sometimes fresh but always frozen. They don't take long to defrost. The pork comes from the Ginger Pig and you can buy black garlic at some supermarkets and good deliscatessans.

4 dried shitake mushrooms
3 cloves black garlic, thinly sliced
150gm minced pork
1 small egg, lightly beaten
1 tbspn cornflour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
25ml vegetable oil
25ml water
20 wanton skins

Soak the mushrooms in boiling water, stalk side down, for 15 minutes or until they are softened. If they are quite old they may need a second covering in boiling water before they are good to use. When properly softened, cut away and discard the stems and finely chop the caps.

Mix the mushrooms with the black garlic, pork, egg and cornflour and stir in one direction only until sticky. Add the salt, sugar, oil and water and mix well.

Dollop a teaspoon of mixture into the centre of each wanton wrapper and gently fold up the sides around it. Trim off any excess skin.

Put the siew mai into a bamboo steamer over boiling water or into a perforated tray for a steam oven. Steam for 8-10 minutes till cooked through.


Don't know why you are instructed to stir only one way - I did it, and included it here, just in case it has some mysterious effect!

It produced a fabulous tray of siew mai with lovely textures and flavours. It worked a treat as dinner but would be just as good as hot nibbles dipped in a little Japanese soy with cocktails.

New treats for Christmas!

Hope you have a good one, full of joy, happiness and lots of great food.

Pumpkin Soup

According to the BBC's Wheel of Hunger Pumpkin Soup is the most searched for recipe this week. Look no further, this is a sublime soup and ethereally beautiful to boot. I heard Heston Blumenthal on Women's Hour last week - yes I'm obsessed but it was actually by chance. He was talking about the delights of this soup and its relative simplicity to make and its resulting complexity when you taste it. With the recipe posted on the BBC site (I seem to be getting my licence fee's worth this week) I couldn't resist.

I love pumpkin, always have. It's a wonderful veg to roast or mash with cream, its vibrant colour brings joy to curries and soups, particularly this time of year as the days get shorter and colder and wetter. We ate it a lot when I was a kid, my mother was a huge fan, with a particular fondness for a type called Queensland Blue. It's a huge beast with steel blue skin and riotously orange flesh, with a good texture and not too sweet. It's only negative is the skin is spectacularly difficult to cut through - I was endlessly trapping a big knife halfway through cutting unable to take it further or get it out again.

Friday I set out to hunt me a piece of pumpkin, a proper tasty thing like we used to eat. I knew Brixton Market would have a good selection and would cut me a hunk to match my specifications. Though there was no chance of the Aussie favourite I was looking for similar - and found a lovely steel blue specimen that turns out is called Crown Prince. Smaller and neater it still has a wonderfully ridged exterior and a smooth orange interior. Perfect. For some reason I assumed it would be easier to peel than the ones of my youth but no, just as infuriatingly difficult as I remember. But worth it.

I was faithful to the Heston version Friday night, coating the inside of the bowls with a nubbly aromatic mix of rosemary, breadcrumbs and hazelnuts but for lunch next day I simply toasted some nuts and crushed them before scattering them over the soup with dots of pepper oil and a light sprinkle of salt chrystals.

This is a wonderfully complex soup with incredible depth of flavour. I must warn you to start early - it takes a while to put it all together but you will be richly rewarded. I can imagine it served in tiny bowls at the start of a long meal, perfect for Christmas Day perhaps at the end of a long bracing walk.

Pumpkin Soup by Heston

It seems odd to weigh liquids but it's actually quick and easy

850g Pumpkin flesh

Olive oil

250g Unsalted butter

3 Onions, peeled and finely sliced

400g Whole milk

4 sprigs of rosemary

Pinch of cayenne pepper

40g Sesame oil (or to taste)

40g Balsamic vinegar (or to taste)

Salt

20g Hazelnuts, toasted until golden brown

½ sprig of rosemary

20g coarse dry breadcrumbs

1 tbsp melted brown butter (see tip below)

1 Red pepper, de-seeded, roasted and peeled, then cut into diamonds

Pumpkin seeds

Red pepper oil (see tip below)

Thinly slice half of the pumpkin on a mandolin and cut the other half into large cubes. Roast the large cubes of pumpkin drizzled with a little olive oil at 180 for 40 minutes.

Melt 200g of the butter in the saucepan and sweat the onions and pumpkin slices for approximately 10 minutes.

In the meantime, in a second pan, heat the milk until almost simmering. Turn off the heat, add the rosemary, allow to infuse for 20 minutes. Strain the liquid and discard the rosemary.

When the onions are translucent, add the rosemary milk, 600g cold tap water and the roasted pumpkin, bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes until the sliced pumpkin is soft. Remove from the heat, liquidize and pass through a fine sieve. Season with cayenne, sesame oil, balsamic vinegar and salt.

When ready to serve, combine the toasted hazelnuts with the rosemary and blitz to a coarse powder. Combine with the breadcrumbs. Brush the inside rim of the soup bowls with the brown butter and coat with the hazelnut and rosemary mixture.

Place some red pepper diamonds and pumpkin seeds in the bottom of each bowl.

Warm the soup, add the remaining 50g of butter and aerate with a hand blender. Ladle into the nut-encrusted bowls and garnish with drops of red pepper oil.

Brown Butter

Melt unsalted butter in a medium pan over a gentle heat, whisking continuously, until the solids turn golden brown and give off a nutty aroma. Take the pan off the heat immediately, strain the butter through a coffee filter and store in the fridge.

Red pepper oil

1 Red pepper, de-seeded, roasted and peeled

100g Groundnut or grapeseed oil

Put the pepper and oil in a liquidizer and blitz until fine.

Strain through a fine sieve and pour into a bottle. Keep in the fridge for 4-5 days only.