Raosted Carrot Soup with Rosemary and Smoked Paprika

The smoked paprika gives this quite a 'poke', especially if you use the piccante version, so if you think carrot soup is a little bland, try this recipe - the rosemary and paprika make it quite special and roasting the carrots first adds some depth of flavour.  Make sure there is some browning and caramelisation on the carrots to intensify the sweetness.  This recipe comes courtesy of the marvellous Riverford Organics and their fabulous website, so I shall simply link to it here.  The only change I made was to leave out the creme fraiche as I think it only needs a spoonful in the bowl when it is served.  While you are on their site, check out their fantastic veg boxes.  This would qualify as an 'under a fiver' easily - big bowlsful with wholemeal bread, followed by cheese and fruit, would make a hearty, healthy and frugal spring supper.

Spatchcock Chicken with Rosemary, Lemon and Garlic

I do like to spatchcock a chicken!  Ahem.....it does look faintly rude when you take out the backbone and open it flat, with a sort of 'come hither' pose, but it cooks much more evenly and seems to get more flavour in.  I annointed our chook with olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper and then roasted it at 200C for an hour, and it emerged crisp and golden with delicious pan juices.  So much easier to carve too.

Cannellini Bean Dip with Rosemary and Lemon

I appear to be on a bit of a cannellini bean trip at the moment - perhaps because my favourite brand of tinned beans, Cirio, have just become available again through Ocado.  I will never be able to convince you that this is delicious by a photo, as it looks, well, like mushed up beans.  But it DOES taste wonderful, and is a doddle to make.  Nicer than bought hummus, and cheaper too.  Drain and rinse a 400g tin of cannellini beans and tip into a food processor bowl.  Ad a clove of garlic, crushed, the zest of a lemon, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a good grinding of pepper, a teaspoon of ground cumin, a teaspoon or so of fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped, and 2 tablespoons of good olive oil.  Blend until smooth.  Taste and add some salt and more lemon juice or olive oil if needed.  Scrape into a bowl and serve as a dip or spread on toasted sourdough.

Herby Parsnip Wedges with Chilli Tomato Dipping Sauce

These were addictive, and possibly a great way to get kids to eat vegetables.  Another way would be to strap them to a chair and force-feed them.  It is probably just as well I am not a mother..........Anyway, this is adapted from a Riverford recipe.  You steam wedges of parsnip, cool, then egg and breadcrumb them.  A bit fiddly I know, but I just bunged the breadcrumbs in a plastic bag and tossed the egged wedges all together.  I also added finely-chopped rosemary to the breadcrumbs.  Roast in a high oven, sprayed or drizzled with some olive oil, until light brown and crisp - about 20 minutes.  Best place them on baking parchment.  Serve with a thick tomato sauce - onion, garlic, a tin of tomatoes, a pinch of sugar, and quite a bit of finely-chopped red chilli, all cooked with a little olive oil until thick and reduced.  Dunk the parsnips in and chomp away!

Borlotti Bean, Prosciutto and Rosemary Risotto

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe from his very first book (The Naked Chef), and one I've cooked fairly regularly.  I have several of Jamie's books but don't really use them much - I can't think why, other than that his recipes seem to use vast quantities of oil, and can be a bit slap-dash.  Perhaps I should give him another chance?  Anyway, this is a fairly classic risotto recipe, and although it isn't terribly pretty, the texture and deep savoury notes are wonderful.  I added some cubes of roasted butternut squash before serving, to boost our veggie intake and to find yet another use for the endless stores of the stuff we have in the house!  It consists of the usual sauteed onion in a little oil and butter, a couple of slices of Parma Ham, chopped, and a good sprig of fresh rosemary needles, finely chopped.  After turning the rice in the buttery juices, a good glug of Noilly Prat vermouth is added (you could use white wine also) and then veg or chicken stock is added bit by bit in the usual way.  At the last addition of stock, stir in a tin of drained and rinsed borlotti beans - I use Cirio brand.  'Mount' the rice at the end with a little extra butter and some grated parmesan, and then add some cooked butternut, if liked - entirely optional - or maybe some frozen peas at the same time as the beans.  If you have leftovers, cool, refrigerate, and then squidge into little patties, dip in flour, and saute for a few minutes until crisp and heated through.  Almost as delish as the orignal dish.

Rosemary Saddleback Potatoes

This recipe comes from Sarah Raven's magisterial work, 'The Garden Cookbook' and is her version of the perhaps better known Hasselback Potatoes.  You take a medium potato, King Edward's in our case, and cut it through almost to the bottom at regular intervals.  Stuff chopped rosemary into as many of the slices you can (easier said than done!), sprinkle with salt and pepper and spoon over a couple of teaspoons of olive oil.  Repeat for as many as you want/need/think you can scoff.  Roast for an hour in a medium oven - around 170, ours sat happily next to a roasting chicken.  Simple and delicious.  You could vary the herbs, with thyme perhaps, and also garlic, which I might use next time.

Bream Baked 'En Papillotte' with Garlic and Rosemary [#251]

This was the centrepiece of a marvellous Sunday dinner, which started with bruschetta and home-made tapenade, and finished with blueberry and peach cobbler. The bream were wonderfully fresh whole specimens, wrapped in baking parchment and foil with roasted garlic, rosemary, red chilli and a little white wine (a fine Sancerre which we drank with the fish). Twenty minutes in a very hot oven and they cooked to perfection. Here is a little video from Mitch Tonks himself, telling you how to make this dish - note he uses fillets, but his book says the whole fish, which is better, I think. The recipe is from Mitch's book 'Fish'. The bruschetta, by the way, were washed down with a cocktail called 'El Presidente' - Bacardi rum, pineapple juice, lime juice and Grenadine, shaken on ice and served in a Martini glass - ooh, we are lushes.

Potato and Rosemary Fritatta [#237]

So, we had a bit of a drama over Easter, with Hubby being proper poorly on Good Friday. BUT - it takes more than that to get in the way of our food! Before he fell ill, we had a lovely lunch of this simple and wholesome omelette from Marcella Hazan. Being Italian, she calls it a fritatta, but it was perhaps more like a Spanish tortilla. A thinly sliced potato and onion are sauteed gently in olive oil until soft and golden, and stirred into beaten eggs with a fair bit of finely chopped fresh rosemary - about a dessertspoonful. All is gently cooked in a non-stick omelette pan and browned under the grill. Simple and delicious. However, I shall never cook it again, as it is jinxed, as is 'The Sound of Music', but that's another story..............

Grilled Pork Chop with Vermouth and Fennel [#184]

Very nice way with a pork chop, marinated in rosemary, garlic and lemon juice and then (in my case) fried until still succulent and served with a pan gravy of vermouth and caramelised braised fennel. Nigel recommends grilling, but I felt I needed the sauce you get with a sauteeing. We drank a delicious Pinot Gris d'Alsace, not too sweet, with this and it set it off beautifully.

Roast Pork Belly Sandwiches [#150]

Didn't make sandwiches! We had the marvellous burnished belly of pork with pan juices and roast potatoes. I have never been a fan of pork belly, worrying that it was too fatty - but after 2 and a half hours of slow roasting, the fat had virtually all but rendered. (Nigel only cooked his for an hour, which isn't really enough). The fragrant rub of very finely chopped fresh bay leaves and rosemary, with fennel seed and crushed garlic was pure Italy and the finished result tasted of that cuisine's classic porchetta. I picked the pork belly up for three quid in M&S so this is credit-crunchtastic gastronomy at its finest. Leftovers for a stir-fry tomorrow too. Drank a Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages 2007 with it, picked up cheap from Waitrose, so feeling very virtuous. Again, the smells as this dish cooked were incredible. Tasting note: the leftover pork, cut into 'lardons' for want of a better term, made the most glorious stir-fry - sauteed until crisp and doused in hoisin sauce and soy, stirred through egg noodles with stir-fry pepper, courgettes and spring onions. Nom-nom!

Baked Lamb with Tomato and Rosemary [#135]

If you want a roast for a summer Sunday, this is a great choice. We chose a small half-leg of organic Welsh lamb, rather than the fattier neck chops suggested by Nigel, and have left-overs for tomorrow. You must keep the vegetables chunky so they don't break down in an hour-and-a-half in the oven. I also added some courgettes to Nigel's aubergines, onions, potatoes, and garlic. We accompanied the soft roasted vegetables with mouth-wateringly good spinach and green beans from Medley Manor Pick-Your-own -Yummy! We started the meal with crostini spread with smoked salmon pate, and will finish with Nigel's Raspberry Ice-cream cake.

Courgette and Lancashire Cheese Crumble [#131]

Well, well, what a surprise. This was totally delicious, and probably in my top 10 recipes from the book so far. As Nigel himself admits, this sounds like some worthy dish from a 1970s vegetarian restaurant. It is, in fact, savoury, herby and relatively light, the 'crumble' element being breadcrumbs, walnuts, a little Lancashire cheese and fresh rosemary. The base is onion and potato, with courgette, more crumbly lactic Lancashire and rosemary. It all bakes into a crisp yet moist dish that was just superb. For all you gardeners out there facing a glut of courgettes, do try this, you really won't regret it.

Grilled Monkfish with Rosemary, served with Garlic Mayo [#122]

It's been a busy and tiring week so far, with a funeral this afternoon, so we dropped off at Waitrose for a huge piece of monkfish tail on the way home, which would be quick and easy to cook. Cut into meaty chunks and marinated in chopped rosemary, anchovy, garlic and lemon, I was anticipating a speedy supper. About three hours and one bowl of garlic mayonnaise later, I was ready, finally, to cook the fish, even though my arm is ready to drop off! However, this recipe is worth it: lovely succulent fish and the most amazingly delicious mayo I have ever eaten! Accompanied by crisp sauteed potatoes that were dunked into the mayo, and finely shredded English runner beans - the first of the season - we dined like royalty - albeit very late! More mayo left over so we'll saute some more potatoes tomorrow and make a meal of dunking the crisp, salty wedges into the garlicky buttercup yellow lusciousness.

photos courtesy of thekitchensupperdiaries.blogspot.com/

Baked Tomatoes with Garlic, Rosemary and Parmesan [#117]

The recipe title in the book is A Lunch of Baked Tomatoes, but we had these as a side dish with baked Porkinson's Sage and Onion Sausages, (simply the best quality supermarket sausage there is) oven-sauteed anya potatoes and broad beans. I would not normally think of using rosemary with tomatoes - basil, of course, thyme, yes, and tarragon is great too - but the finely chopped fresh rosemary worked really well. The grated parmesan is added at the end of baking, so it melts and toasts into a savoury crust with the garlic and rosemary. Very nice! I am afraid there isn't an online recipe, but I'm sure you get the picture from the description and - well - the picture!

Red Mullet with Lemon and Rosemary [#88]

More lovely fresh fish from Stein's Deli in Padstow, this time two beautiful red mullet. Again, Nigel gives them a simple treatment, rubbed with a paste of garlic, rosemary and olive oil, then grilled until succulent. Lovely with Jersey Royals and some finely shredded, steamed and buttered, Cornish greens. No online recipe, I'm afraid, but it is as simple as I've described above!

Chicken Patties with Pancetta and Rosemary

This is a marvellous recipe. Nigel is certainly king of the meatball, burger and patty! Sticky, savoury little discs of organic chicken thighs, minced in the processor and mixed with sauteed onion, garlic, rosemary and pancetta, fried off then braised in chicken stock. Leftovers for hubby tomorrow at work with some bubble and squeak I knocked up with leftover roasted carrots, shallots, garlic and parsnip, roughly chopped and mixed with some fresh mash and plenty of seasoning - really good accompaniment to the chicken, with bright, green, sprouting broccoli.