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Summer Sunday lunch at the Heaysmans

 

 

Guest blogger this week is our daughter Victoria…

 

Mum and Dad are always inviting us over for the most amazing meals and its only very rarely that I get to return the favor… may have something to do with our two lively young sons taking up most of our ‘spare’ time!

Most of what I cook includes some stratta addition and I have so many of their products that my husband had to build some special shelves in the kitchen to house them all.

We were lucky to choose a warm day for our get-together so managed to eat in the garden.

The starter was based on a recipe I found in Country Living magazine and was enjoyed by everyone.  I love the combination of sweet fruit and parma ham and this had the added bonus of using Mum and Dad’s newly 3-star-gold award winning elderflower vinegar in the dressing.

The Salmon dish has been a staple of mine for over 10 years and always ends up with our 7 year old Charlie eating his and everyone else’s salmon skins!  The charred potatoes were a surprisingly gorgeous addition and I will be repeating the happy accident of leaving the gas on under the dry cooked potatoes again in the future.

Mum insisted on bringing the desert and boy am I glad she did.  Dad had made the frozen yoghurt in advance and Mum knocked up the bananas and toffee sauce in little more time than it took everyone to lick their bowls clean.

This is a meal I could eat every week…

 

Peach mozzarella parma salad final

Starter:   Peach, mozzarella and Parma ham salad with elderflower dressing

  • 4 ripe peaches, stoned
  • 300g buffalo mozzarella
  • 12 slices Parma ham
  • 100g lamb’s lettuce

For the dressing

  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons stratta elderflower vinegar
  • squeeze of lemon
  • ½ teaspoon wholegrain mustard
  • Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

To make the dressing place all ingredients into a bottle with a lid and shake well.

Slice the peaches and mozzarella.  Arrange with all the other ingredients on 6 plates, drizzle with the elderflower dressing and serve immediately.

 

 

 

Salmon roasted peppers

Main course:   Salmon fillets with roasted peppers, seasonal vegetables and charred new potatoes

 

  • 6 fresh sustainably sourced salmon fillets
  • 2 unwaxed lemons
  • few sprigs of lemon balm
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 30ml stratta lavender vinegar
  • splash of white wine
  • 750g new potatoes
  • Knob of butter
  • 5 red and yellow peppers
  • 1 curly courgette (from the garden)
  • 5/6 cloves garlic pealed and left whole
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Seasonal green vegetables (we had broccoli and green beans)

 

Heat the oven to 180ºC.

Core and de-seed the peppers, top and tail the courgette and roughly chop into a large baking tray.  Add in the garlic and toss it all with olive oil to coat the vegetables.

Cook for 25 to 30 minutes, turning over once.

Line a deep casserole dish with kitchen foil and lay the prepared salmon fillets along it on top of a bed of lemon balm.

Slice one of the lemons and lay the slices on top of each of the fillets.  Drizzle over the white wine and stratta lavender vinegar, juice from the remaining lemon and season with freshly ground black pepper.

Cover with another sheet of foil, sealing the edges.

Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Boil the new potatoes with a sprig of mint.  By accident I ended up putting the cooked potatoes back on the heat once drained of the water for about 4 minutes.  They ended up blackened on the bottoms and tasted delicious – just like the potatoes we used to have baked in a “Thomas kartoffelfeuer” clay pot.  Dress with butter.

Steam the green vegetables for a few minutes.

Place the salmon directly on plates and pour and remaining juices into a jug to serve at the table.  Take the vegetables out to the table in serving dishes for everyone to help themselves.

 

 

 

bananas with yoghurt icecream

Desert:   Caramelised bananas and toffee sauce with vanilla frozen yoghurt

 

For the frozen yoghurt (made in an ice-cream machine)

  • 280ml whole milk
  • 175g honey
  • 575g Greek organic yoghurt
  • 50ml double cream
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place the milk and honey in a medium bowl, whisk together until combined.  Stir in the yoghurt, cream and vanilla.  Cover and chill for 2-3 hours

Place the mixture in an ice-cream machine as per the instructions and set the timer to 45-60 minutes.

 

For the bananas

  • 6 peeled and thickly sliced bananas
  • Knob of butter
  • 3 heaped tablespoons brown sugar
  • Slosh of rum
  • Small pot of single cream
  • Large pinch of cardamom if you like
  • Small squeeze of lime (or a dash of stratta vinegar if you prefer)

 

Fry the bananas in the butter, letting them colour on both sides.

In a separate pan mix the sugar, rum and cream together over a medium heat.

Add the cardamom if using, bring to the boil and stir for a minute or two then stir in a small squeeze of lime juice.

Divide the bananas between bowls with vanilla frozen yoghurt and spoon over the warm sauce.

 

 

 

 

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Caramelised onion, fig and brie tart

 

 

 

A classic combination of ingredients using both fresh figs and our balsamic fig vinegar.  A perfect summer dish served with a delicate green salad.

  • 15g unsalted butter
  • 3-4 medium red onions, finely sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves finely chopped
  • 30ml stratta fig balsamic vinegar
  • 215g sheet puff pastry
  • 6 fresh figs, quartered
  • 100g brie, sliced

How long till its ripe!

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan, add the onions and gently cook for around 5 minutes before adding the fig balsamic vinegar, garlic and rosemary.

Simmer very gently for a further 15 minutes making sure that the sauce does not catch or dry out.  Season and set aside.

Lay the pastry sheet onto a baking tray, score a 1cm border around the edge and prick the centre all over with a fork.

Bake for 10 minutes or until just starting to turn golden and puff up.

Press down the centre and then evenly spread the caramelised onions inside the border.  Scatter over the figs and brie.

Bake for 10 minutes and serve warm.

 

 

 

 

 

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Courgette and shiso soup with parmesan and ricotta

Koj (Andrew Kojima), the brilliant Cotswold chef, introduced us to shiso.

http://kojcooks.co.uk/

This extraordinary Japanese herb adds great interest to dishes as you roll through the flavours that open up – is that basil, or mint, or coriander or…….!  With courgettes in profusion at this time of year we are always looking for new ways to enjoy them.  Here is one of them…

Courgette and shiso soup 1

  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion finely sliced
  • 1kg courgettes, chopped into small chunks
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • Handful of basil leaves and handful of mint leaves roughly chopped (or if you can find it… small handful of shiso leaves)
  • 75g ricotta, plus 2tbsp extra to serve
  • 500ml vegetable stock
  • 30ml stratta shiso vinegar
  • 4 tbsp grated parmigiano reggiano

Heat the oil in a large pan; fry the onion and courgettes over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes until softened and slightly browned.

Add the garlic and basil or shiso stalks, season with salt and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the ricotta, stock, stratta shiso vinegar, most of the mint and basil leaves (or shiso leaves) and 250ml water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes until everything is tender.

Blitz with a hand blender until smooth.

Stir in the cheese and season.

Serve in bowls with the remaining ricotta and torn mint and basil (or shiso) leaves.

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Barbecued Garlic

 

 

 

This is one fine unctuous addition to your barbecue.  Open and spread onto French bread or barbecued chicken, or simply spoon into your mouth!

Garlic and stratta Smokey Moroccan infused extra virgin olive oil
Preparing to barbecue the garlic…

 

 

  • Whole garlic bulbs – preferably violet garlic as is very smooth with no bitterness or sharpness
  • stratta Smoky Moroccan olive oil

 

Chop the top 1cm of the garlic bulb off.

Drizzle with stratta Smoky Moroccan olive oil, wrap in tin foil and place on the BBQ for around 30 minutes.  You can also place them into the embers of a fire if you are camping.

Open and scoop out onto buttered French bread or toast or simply spoon into your mouth!