Creamy Roast Tomato Sauce

When you think of roasted tomatoes, you probably also think of olive oil as the logical fat to use to cook them.  But adding a little butter and cream raises the sweet roasted flavour to a different dimension, as well as mellowing the acidity.  For 2 people, I simply halve 5 large ripe tomatoes, cover with a clove or two of chopped garlic, some salt and pepper and a couple of teaspoons of olive oil drizzled over.  Roast for 30 minutes until starting to go golden and juicy.  Blend in a processor or with a hand blender, then stir in around 25g of butter and a tablespoon of cream, creme fraiche or mascarpone.  Add basil if liked, and stir through 200g of freshly cooked pasta with some freshly-grated Parmesan or veggie equivalent.  Simple, cheap and delicious for a summer supper.  Double up to serve four, and it will still cost less than a fiver, especially as we move into the UK tomato season.

Sweetcorn with Chilli and Coriander Butter

We have a bit of a veg glut in the house at the moment, so lots of veggie dishes recently, which is no bad thing.  After starting with a big bowl of my favourite beetroot soup, served with crisp bread croutes and melting goats' cheese with fresh thyme, we had chunks of corn-on-the-cob slathered with chilli and coriander butter.  Very simple to make - take about 4 oz or 100g of butter and allow to soften to room temperature.  In a pestle and mortar, crush a clove of garlic with a little salt, then add the grated zest of a lime and a finely chopped red chilli - I used a teaspoon of Lazy Chilli.  Mix a little then add the softened butter, and mash all together.  When amalgamated, add a couple of tablespoons of chopped coriander and a squeeze of lime juice.  Mix well, and either shape into a log, wrapped in clingfilm (it freezes well this way) or just dollop on the freshly cooked or barbecued corn.  Delicious!

Scones

If I do say so myself, I make a pretty good scone. As with all things simple, there are rules to follow:
1) always use Marry Berry's recipe! (see below)
2) Substitute buttermilk for ordinary milk in Mary's recipe (see - broken a rule already)
3) keep the mixture moist and sticky
4) handle the dough as little as possible
5) don't roll the dough, rather, pat it out with your hand, which doesn't compress it and force out that lovely air

This recipe makes loads of scones - I got 26 out of today's batch, and they are all in the freezer for next weekend.

675g SR flour plus 3 rounded teaspoons baking powder
120g butter, diced
75g caster sugar
3 eggs
300ml buttermilk (or ordinary milk)

I blitz the flour and butter in a food processor, then add the sugar and the eggs, beaten with the buttermilk. Hold back a couple of tablespoons of the eggy buttermilk to brush on the top. Blend again then tip onto a floured worksurface. Pat out with floured hands to about an inch thickness. Stamp out rounds (don't twist the cutter) then place on floured baking sheets, brush with the left-over egg mix, and bake in a HOT (200 degrees) oven for 10-12 minutes. Eat the same day, or freeze. Perfect!
Post script: a week later, Sunday, and these have gone down a storm at a Charity Coffee Morning, with clotted cream and jams - see picture at top

Grilled Plaice with Caper, Lemon and Parsley Butter [#240]

Lovely fresh plaice available today, so we adapted a Mitch Tonks' recipe for grilled Dover Sole. Sadly, the budget can't quite run to Dover Sole, and plaice made a very pleasant substitute. Incredibly easy - butter a baking sheet and season, put the fish on the sheet and brush it with melted butter, and season again. Grill under a really hot element for about 5 to 6 minutes until golden brown and the flesh flakes easily. Serve on a hot plate, and spoon over a simple sauce of a little melted butter seasoned with the zest and juice of half a lemon, a dessertspoon of salted capers (rinsed), black pepper and lots of finely chopped parsley. Fluffy mash is essential with this, to soak up all the buttery, lemony juices, and some lovely, seasonal, purple sprouting broccoli added colour and a lovely bitter note to proceedings. I wish we lived by the sea, so we could eat fresh fish every day. Fish is good for the brain too, so I am virtually force-feeding poor old Hubby with the stuff.

Baked Mushrooms with Tarragon Mustard Butter [#149]

I used little portabellini mushrooms for this delicious dish - although I am afraid I radically trimmed the amount of butter and mustard - 50g of butter instead of the suggested 125g and 1 heaped teaspoon of Dijon mustard instead of....wait for it....2 tablespoons. Just excessive, sorry Nigel! Lovely served with crostini as a starter, and we have leftovers too. I imagine this would work as a sauce for pasta as well. This was the first in a triple bill of wonderful, fragrant Nigel dishes this evening - it is on nights like this that I am so glad I am doing this challenge - I wish all of you could have smelled my house today!

Grilled Chicken with Garlic and Lemon Butter [#127]

Despite the title, Nigel uses Poussin in his recipe. I took the title literally and used a big free-range chicken, which I spatchcocked (ignoring the fact that the bird looked faintly pornographic in this position) and marinated it in lemon, garlic and chilli. I then grilled it long and slow although the legs could have done with a wee while longer. However, I just couldn't bring myself to daub the chicken before eating with the garlic and lemon butter! Daft I know, but the chicken was perfectly succulent in its own right, and it seemed an unnecessary addition of fat to the meal. So, I have frozen the butter and will use it to saute some sole or plaice another time with fresh parsley.