Summer Pasta

On these hot summer nights, I'm often after simple grub with minimal cooking. After all, we're hot and tired after a day in the office and crammed into trains so we might as well keep things simple.

Give this simple summery pasta recipe a go...

Tomato and Goats Cheese Pasta

You will need: (to serve 2)

1 pack of chevre/goats cheese

1/2 red onion

2 tomatoes, diced

handful of basil

1 courgette, sliced lengthways

6 asparagus tips

175g spaghetti

sunflower oil

olive oil

salt & pepper to season

- Put the spaghetti on to boil. I find that it usually takes around 10 minutes for my taste but follow the packets instructions if you're unsure.

- Meanwhile, cut the onion into rings, brush them, the asparagus and the courgette with a little sunflower oil and fry on a griddle pan until softened and nicely coloured. Set aside.

- Break up the cheese into bite-sized chunks and put in a bowl with the tomatoes, cooked onion and torn basil leaves. Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain it thoroughly and add it to the bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and some seasoning. Leave for a moment so that the cheese melts slightly and toss until the ingredients are combined and the tomatoes and cheese cover the spaghetti.

- Serve a twirl of spaghetti with the griddled veg over the top.

Point of Interest: What's in Worcestershire Sauce?

A friend of mine is a fellow designophile and subscribes to Wired magazine. He very kindly passed on his recent cast-off in the shape of the June addition. I've heard of Wired before but haven't had a chance to give it a proper read. It's certainly interesting stuff - a mix of a little bit of everything with a tilt towards the world of digital/science/design geekery. Needless to say, this floats my boat rather well.

I'm a publication behind the cool kids but I thought that this article about the ingredients of Worcestershire Sauce is interesting. Shamefully, somewhere down the line, I'd assumed that Lea & Perrins was an almost exclusively English affair but it turns out that they have it across the pond too. This article sites high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetening ingredient but, as this is from the US version, I doubt that this is found in the UK bottles. Still, a little food geekery for your Monday afternoon...

Goodies in the garden

Baby beef tomatoes

I might not have acres of fresh top soil at my disposal but when I tire of the limitations of my potted vegetable garden, I escape to my parent's garden. That, or my parents-in-love's vegetable patch. My own parent's back garden has become home to a feast of veggies including a forest of tomato plants. I forget the exact story but I think they planted lots of seeds, expecting about half to germinate. And then bought some seedlings from the local garden centre. Then, of course, all of their own seed offerings sprouted! Tomatoes are like buses.

They have a copse of towering tomato plants gradually taking over the bottom of the garden with their spindly leaves and their rapidly swelling fruits. But my parents haven't stopped there. The tomatoes are taking over. They've dotted tomato plants around the garden. They've also been growing lettuces in the flower bed nearest the house which, of course, makes complete sense - the closer the produce, the fresher it is in your bowl! Their lettuces have been in salads all summer and the tomatoes should be ripening soon if the sunshine comes back. Fingers crossed!

Fresh home-grown beetroots

While wandering around their other vegetable beds, I found some deliciously ripe beetroots, prime for the picking. As well as fixing my broken blue-screening computer (thanks Dad!), they kindly gave me a small bunch to take home. I can't wait to cook these beauties!

Banana 'icecream' with pecan butterscotch sauce

Making the caramel

If you, like me, can't be phaffed with the rigamarole of freeze-then-stir-then-freeze-again method of icecream making and don't have the cupboard, counter or wallet space for an icecream maker, this dessert might be the answer. It's also really quite healthy (until you load up on the butterscotch!). Banana's gooey nature means that it's naturally creamy when frozen so it works really well n lieu of ice cream.

The finished pudding

Banana 'icecream' with pecan butterscotch sauce

You will need: (serves two greedy people)

3 bananas

50g demarera sugar (or mix half demarera and half granulated)

10g butter, at room temperaure

100ml single cream, at room temperature

a handful of pecans, chopped

- Liquidise or thoroughly mash the bananas with a fork and scrape into a freezable container (I used an old takeaway container) then pop into the freezer overnight.

- Remove the banana from the freezer about half an hour before you want to eat it and get started on the sauce

- Melt the sugar slowly over a very low heat in a heavy bottomed pan. Don't be impatient and turn the heat up or it will burn which tastes horrid. As soon as the sugar starts to melt, take the pan off the heat and let it continue to melt from the heat in the pan. If it needs some encouragement, put it back on the hob but watch it like a hawk.

- Once the sugar is completely melted, add the butter and whisk.

- Add the cream and whisk again until it is completely combined.

- Stir in the pecans.

- Serve scoops of 'icecream' with lashings of sauce

Tips & Variations:

- Beware, the melted sugar is very very hot. Don't be tempted to taste it; it burns!

- Add chunks of pecan, macademia or chocolate to the bananas before you freeze the mixture.

Yummy chopped pecans

Love Food

Summery Bunting

The weekends Love Food Festival took some exploring skills to find. Tucked away in Bristol's Paintworks, we followed our noses and the upbeat Jamaican tones being pumped out by the DJ's. We found a colourful courtyard festooned with cheerful bunting.

We arrived at lunchtime and quickly found our midday meal in the shape of Tom's tarts; we shared a slice of spinach and three cheese and a slice of chucky roasted veg. The spinach was divine but we were both surprised by how well the generous hunks of butternut squash went with the creamy egg filling. Delish!

We found seats in the glorious suntrap courtyard and people-watched while we tucked into our quiche. There was an overwhelming community atmosphere with strangers shaving tables and stall holders gamely exchanging happy banter. The sun was out and the mood was high.

Hedgehog bread, Tim's tarts and a travelling greengrocer

Next up was a slice of chocolate and cherry cake from the Ooh La La Chocolaterie accompanied by a well-deserved cup of tea. I lost myself in creamy black forest heaven for a full five minutes... Wow! I galantly managed to bring myself to share a few mouthfuls with my friend who in turn swapped a bite of her chocolate caramel cake. These girls know how to make a woman happy!

The foodhall, just off the main courtyard, was alive with tables of kids decorating hats (very tempting even to us adults!) and stalls groaning with sumptuous food stuffs. The Thoughful Bread Co amazed us with their unusually hued beetroot bread though the real star of their stall was their tangy onion bread. The lovely Kate from Lahloo Tea had a table stacked with delightfully chinz cups and saucers. I've since heard that they've won four Great Taste Gold awards for their glorious loose teas - congratulations Lahloo! My magpie eye just can't get enough of their stylish packaging.

Our eyes were also drawn to Parsnipship stall where they had a stack of Hedghog Bread (above). The dough had been snipped, sprinkled with cheese and decorated with pumpkin seeds for eyes and noses. Very cute! A savory take on gingerbread men that we just loved.

The Love Food Festival isn't the biggest food event that you'll find this year but it was friendly, relaxed and unpretentious. It has the feel of a school fete - maybe next time, we can have a foodie tombola and lucky dip!?

A beautiful blaze of colour

Blazing Griddles, Big Lunches and lots more foodie fun

So it seems that the festival season is well and truly upon us. Following an unusually sunny Glastonbury this year, I have high hopes that the rest of the summer's events are going to go off without any hitches (please!). This weekend alone is jam packed with foodie events in Bristol - you really are spoilt for choice.

 

Grillstock is taking over Bristol's Harbourside for this weekend only and describes itself as "a BBQ themed two day food and drink festival". As well as sampling whats on offer from the 130+ stalls hosted by producers, you can also get involved with the 'King of the Grill' competition where 25 teams will be battling for a portion of the $100,000 prize pot. They will be preparing their best bbq dishes in the hope of scooping one of the six 'Best of' categories and spectators are not only encouraged to feast their eyes; you can taste their creations and vote for your favourite.

 

The Love Food Festival is running a summer food party on Sunday to get us all out in the sunshine (fingers crossed) and thinking about where our food comes from. It seems to be a very family-orientated event though Lorna, the organiser, assures me that all food lovers are welcome. There'll be a Mad Hatter's Tea Party for the kids to enjoy while adults get to explore the outdoor picnic area which will be crammed full of local producers peddling their wares.

 

Meanwhile, Sunday 18th July is the Eden Project's Big Lunch. The idea is to organise a communal lunch with your neighbours or alternatively, you can use their website to find the nearest Big Lunch to you. They hope to join together communities and encourage people of all ages and cultures to meet to discuss life, share skills and generally "conquer our natural shyness". For me, great conversation often sparks from sharing food so this sounds like a lovely way to build some local bridges.

 

Grillstock is running on 17th and 18th July at the Lloyds Amphitheatre and costs £5 to get in (£4 in advance).

Love Food Festival is free and is on between 10:30 - 4pm on 18th July at the Paintworks Bristol.

The Big Lunch is happening nationwide on 18th July.

Review: Martin's Chocolatier

My lunchtime was brightened by the lovely gents in Martin's Chocolatier. I hadn't noticed them before and on speaking to the guys behind the counter, it seems that they're a new addition to the Bristol shopping experience. They've only been open for a week! They have a large selection of chocolates which you can buy by weight or they also have a variety of boxed chocolates for sale.

More importantly for me, they have a café set up so that you can enjoy the finest hot chocolates and cakes while resting your poor shop-til-you-drop feet. Now, I can't resist trying out the newest place on the block (price permitting) so I wandered in and took advantage of their Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer on all drinks. I ordered a house blend (half milk, half dark) hot chocolate to enjoy there and a dark chocolate orange hot chocolate to take away. If you "drink in", your drink is served complete with a yummy chocolate from their selection to try. Their home blend comes highly recommended by yours truly; a delicious middle ground between smooth milk and rich dark chocolate. The dark chocolate orange was absolutely devilish and is set apart from other chocolate orange drinks(a vice of mine) that I've tried as it doesn't have a synthetic edge to it.

I will be back with a friend to try their cakes very soon.

Martin's Chocolatier can be found at 72 Horsefair Road, Bristol BS1 3JS. Tel 0117 927 9433