This month I thought it would be nice to share one of my favorite salads with you. What I love most about salad is the simplicity of putting together fresh quality ingredients. The Summer is when salad leaves are at their best and the herbs are so fragrant. Try this delicious salmon recipe perfect for a summer lunch or light summer dinner

Enjoy the sunshine and long summer evenings. Happy Cooking!

Zoe :)

Slow-Cooked Salmon With Fresh Basil Mayonnaise

• 500g mixed tomatoes, differentshapes and colours
• 3 garlic cloves
• unpeeled and bruised with the side of a knife
• 60 ml olive oil
• 4 x Salmon fillet skin removed
• 2 tbsp of extra olive oil
• sea salt
• 300 g green beans topped but not tailed, blanched (this means to place in boiling water and refresh in cold to stop the cooking process as you want your beans to have a slight crunch).
• 30 g rocket leaves 175 g black olives
• 25 g basil leaves

Serves 4

Preheattheovento160°C/Gasmark2. Chop the tomatoes so they are of similar size leave thec herry favorite whole. Place the tomatoes and garlic in a small ovenproof dish and pour over the olive oil, sprinkle with a little sea salt (the salt helps bring out the flavour of the tomatoes). Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, set aside, and reduce the oven temperature to 120°C / Gas mark 1.

Place the fish in an ovenproof dish and pour over the extra olive oil rub the fish so it is coated evenly. Sprinkle with salt and place in the oven and cook for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave torest for 10 minutes.

While the salmon is resting place the beans in the bottom of a serving dish topped with the rocket, tomatoes and olives and fresh basil leaves. Then break the salmon into pieces and place on top. You could plate this individually if you prefer.
Serve with the basil mayonnaise on the side.

• Fresh basil mayonnaise
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 250 ml sunflower oil
• 15 g shredded basil

Place the egg yolks, lemon juice and salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk until combined. Add the oil drop by drop,whisking constantly. When the mayonnaise starts to thicken, add the oil in a steady stream until it is fully incorporated. Stirin the basil leaves.
Tip

To fix curdled mayonnaise, beat one egg yolk separately. Add one drop at a time to curdled mayonnaise while beating constantly until mayo is once again smooth. Or, slowly drizzle in about 1 tablespoon boiling hot water. Add only enough to re-emulsify the mayo.

Sometimes if I don’t have enough time to make my own mayonnaise I cheat a little and use a really good quality mayonnaise and mix through shredded basil leaves, sea salt and black pepper and a little extra lemon juice.

Hidden amongst a string of town houses along Mayfair row, Tempo; like all of those best places; has been a hidden treat.

Whisk yourself up stairs for an evening cocktail set within a sheik rococo revived drawing room – with elegant textures the space entraps the high design of a modern British heritage. The kind that feels cosy to sit in whilst watching the world bustle by on the streets below.

Downstairs follows the same strain; serving superb Italian food with a homely Italian attitude.
A wine list to soften the cocktails; the menu offers simple and precise dishes to cater for all occasions. Selections of Ciccetti and Carpaccio – of which the Crostino di Gamberetti and Manzo of Scottish beef, hazelnuts and parmesan are still on my mind most days. For the ultimate trigger of happiness the spinach, ricotta and nutmeg tortelli – perfect.

A chat with Chef Carlo exposed his secret; finely sauced produce from all corners of Italy measured up with quality as to avoid the need to stress the food.

Tempo comes highly recommended. For drinks with friends to night owls looking for a hearty meal its definitely a crowd pleaser. Italian roots in British digs and a chocolate fondant to die for! – spread the word.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium sized whole Guinea Fowl
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 lemon
• 50g diced butter
• 150g soft butter
• 10 springs of marjoram leaves picked and roughly chopped (keep the stalks}
• 4 large swiss chard leaves with plenty of white stem attached
• 250g new potatoes
• A bottle of good olive oil
• ½ bunch of chopped chives
• A few pinches of chopped parsley
• Good sea salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

Start by turning your oven to 175 c to pre heat while we prepare the bird for roasting. Take your Guinea fowl ensure all the innards have been removed from the cavity with your fingers and wipe out with a piece of kitchen towel. Now cut the whole lemon and bulb of garlic into quarters and mix with the marjoram stalks and stuff in the cavity. Next mix the soft butter with the chopped marjoram a few pinches of sea salt and four or five turns of fresh black pepper. Now gently work your fingers between the skin and breast meat starting at the cavity and working towards the head end careful not to break the skin spoon the butter mix between the skin and breast meat evenly and pull skin back in to original position. Simply place the bird on a roasting tray and slide in to the oven for 35 mins check every 8 mins there after till ready. The see if the Guinea fowl is cooked pierce the meat close to a bone and check for clear juices with no blood check around the thick part of the breast near the head end and inside of the thigh bone area. For ease of carving and better end result leave the bird to rest under tin foil for 10 mins this can be used as time to finish heating the vegetables and pouring wine before carving the bird.

Once the guinea fowl is in the oven you need to get the new potatoes cooking straight away, give the new potatoes a good wash removing any soil or dirt halve if large and place in a pan of water to boil with a few pinches of salt, once the potatoes come to a boil set to a light simmer until soft. While the potatoes are cooking take the Swiss chard remove the stems from the leaf and give both a good wash. Set a medium sized frying pan on the stove to heat and slice the stems across in ½ cm slices and the green leaf in half and then 1cm wide strips. Now add the white stem to the frying pan with a spoon of vegetable oil, small knob of butter and pinch of salt gently fry until soft. Once soft add the greens and a spoon of water this will help wilt the greens a little, cook until soft by now the potatoes should be cooked and drained, cut the potatoes into quarters and return to the sauce pan with a few spoons of olive oil the chopped parsley and chives a pinch of salt and few grinds of black pepper, over a gentle heat crush the potatoes with a fork adding a little more salt or olive oil if required. Now simply carve your guinea fowl, spoon the potatoes and Swiss chard on to warm plates and lay the guinea fowl on top and serve.

INGREDIENTS:

Rum sauce

• 1.5 cups of sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1/3 cup of brown rum

Baba

• 1.5 cups of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tlb spoons double cream
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla pod scraped
• 1 cup and 2 tlb spoons of flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• ½ cup hot milk

Almond Chantilly

• ½ pint whipping cream
• 1/3 cup of icing sugar
• 1 tsp almond flavouring

For the rum sauce place the sugar and water in to a clean saucepan place on the stove and boil for 3 minutes to make syrup. Let the syrup stand for a few minutes then add in the rum.

Now for the Baba set your oven at 200c and have small cake tins greased with butter. Put the sugar, eggs, cream, salt and scraped vanilla pod in to a bowl and mix until smooth. Now add the flour and baking powder again mix until smooth, finally mix the hot but not boiling milk to the batter you must put the mix into the cake moulds immediately and bake they should take around 17 mins depending on what sized moulds you are using so check regularly through the oven window. Once cooked through and brown all over remove from the moulds and leave to stand until warm then place in a plastic container and pour the rum sauce all over the Baba’ to soak leave overnight to soak. On the day of serving take the whipping cream icing sugar and almond essence pour into a medium bowl and whisk until soft peak just stiff but still creamy. Slice the Baba’s into pieces lay in a bowl with a spoon of the cream a truly simple delight!

Well Macs people February is upon us and this short month brings us just one calendar day valentines!  A time for romance, intimacy and sharing with that special person so here’s a few of my suggestions for sharing on your special evening hope you enjoy!

Champagne is always popular on valentines and is a symbol of celebration and romance with its fizzy evanescent bubbles, but with prices for a good bottle climbing each year the demand for bubbly alternatives is growing.  These demands are being meet with quality cava and prosecco wines at very reasonable prices for their quality.

Cava is Spain’s answer to champagne made with a slightly different grape but very similar finish indeed, good varieties to look for include Godomiu and Freixent.

Prosecco is Italy’s answer to champagne from the Vento region of Italy. Prosecco is also the name of the grape variety used to make the sparkling wine, popular varieties include valdobbiadene and Conegliano.

Bellini cocktail makes 2

• 3oz peach nectar or 2oz fresh peach puree
• 12oz Prosecco or Cava
• 1 pinch of sugar

Mix with 4 cubes of ice in a cocktail shaker strain and serve in chilled champagne flutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kilo fresh clean mussels (I would suggest you ask your fish monger to clean the beards away and give a good wash for you}
• 1 nice sized shallot peeled halved and then sliced thinly
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped small
• 1 glass dry white wine
• 50g butter cubed
• Vegetable/sunflower oil for cooking
• 100ml of double cream
• 100g chorizo sausage diced small or in thin strips if you can only get the pre sliced stuff
• 2 good pinches of chopped parsley
• 1 small crusty baguette to finish the sauce is a must!

Once you have all the ingredients on your list ready and to hand you are ready to start cooking. This dish only takes about 8 mins cooking time but must be served as soon as you have cooked it. So the rest of your meal must be almost ready to go before you start.

To start cooking place a large heavy based sauce pan big enough to hold all your mussels over a medium heat, add 2 tlb spoons of veg oil and slowly sweat the shallot, garlic and chorizo. Once the shallot and garlic are translucent and soft and the chorizo has started to release its vibrant spicy oil turn the heat up and add the mussels and fry for a min or so then add the white wine and cover with a fitted lid or tin foil, this will steam the mussels and should take 3 or 4 minutes for the mussels to open this is a sign they are ready. Once the mussels are all open remove from the pan into your chosen serving bowl a few  may not open and any mussels that do not open should be picked out and discarded as they are not fit for eating. Now return the pan containing the shallot, garlic, chorizo and wine to the heat bring the liquid back to the boil on a high heat, once boiling rapidly add in the double cream and a few knobs of butter and the chopped parsley, once the butter has melted and the sauce has come together pour over the mussels and serve immediately with a warm crusty baguette.