Summer garden party delicacies

I fear that I failed totally to take any pictures of the FoodsMatter summer party guests skipping the light fantastic, but I did manage to take some pictures of some of the food. And since some of it was really rather tasty, I thought I would give you the recipes. So here goes…

Broccoli and asparagus risotto with almond milk
Serves 8
Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free; low histamine

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 medium leeks, sliced finely
• 1 large/2 small hot green chillies, cored and seeded and sliced finely
• 50g fine green beans, cut into roughly 25mm lengths
• 125g asparagus tips, cut in roughly 25mm lengths
• small head of broccoli, cut into small florets
• 300g arborio rice
• 1 litre almond milk
• salt & freshly ground black paper
• juice 1 lemon

1. Heat the coconut oil in a wide pan and gently sauté the leeks and chilli until both are soft. This will take 8–10 minutes at a low heat.
2. Meanwhile, steam the green beans for approximately two minutes, then add the stems of the asparagus and continue to steam for another two minutes.
3. Finally add the asparagus tips and the broccoli florets and continue to steam for a further two minutes.
4. N.B. Please keep tasting the vegetables to get them to the texture that you want. I like mine very lightly cooked with a bit of crunch left – but you may prefer yours more or less crunchy.
5. Meanwhile, add the rice to the leeks and chillis, stir around for a minute or two, then add around 200ml almond milk. Stir well and cook gently, stirring to ensure the rice does not stick. As the rice absorbs the milk, gradually add more. When the milk is nearly all absorbed, taste the rice to be sure it is cooked – it should take 10-12 minutes. If you feel the rice is not yet cooked, just add a little extra boiling water or vegetable stock. The dish should remain quite ‘wet’.
6. When the rice is almost cooked, add the vegetables and stir in gently.
7. Season with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice to taste.
8. Decorate with fennel fronds, or parsley or a couple of nasturtium flowers if you have them and serve at room temperature.
9. The risotto will happily keep for a couple of days in the fridge but be sure that you take it out well in advance of serving it or it will be very ‘claggy’.

 

Baked frittata with butter beans and black olives
Serves 12
Corn, gluten, lactose, milk, nightshade, nut, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free; low histamine

• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 6 large spring onion, chopped roughly
• 100g okra, topped and tailed and cut into thinnish rounds
• 2 small head pak choi, sliced thinly
• 1 medium yellow courgette, halved and then cut into chunky slices
• 100g baby spinach leaves
• 100g black olives, ideally preserved with herbs
• 400g can of butter beans, drained
• 12 eggs
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4.
2. Line an oven proof dish with oiled baking parchment or line the bottom of a loose bottomed 15-20cm cake tin to stop the egg escaping.
3. Heat the coconut oil in a wide pan and add the spring onions, okra, pak choi and courgette. Cook all fairly briskly but without burnig until they are all starting to soften but are not fully cooked.
4. Add the spinach leaves and cover the pan. Continue to cook fairly briskly for a couple of minutes or until the spinach is wilted and well amalgamated with the vegetables. Take off the heat.
5. Stone the olives and halve them and drain the beans.
6. Beat the eggs in a large bowl and season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then mix in the vegetables, olives and beans, ensuring that they are well amalgamated.
7. Pour into the dish or cake tin and bake, uncovered for 45 minutes or until the egg is set and lightly browned on top.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly then unmould onto a plate and peel off the parchment. Reverse it onto a serving dish and decorate with green leaves, baby tomatoes or whatever you have to hand. Serve in slices at room temperature.

 

Smoked mackerel and oyster salad with samphire and seaweed
Serves 6
Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, nightshade, nut, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free

• 15g Japanese or Irish/Scottish seaweed salad
• 100g fresh samphire (if you can get it)
• small head of radicchio
• 2 bunches of watercress
• 150g peppered smoked mackerel
• 2 x 85g tins smoked oysters with their oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• juice of 1-2 lemons
• olive oil

1. Soak the seaweed in boiling water for 5-10 minutes or until soft – drain.
2. Chop the samphire into small (10–15cm) pieces.
3. Slice the radicchio moderately finely.
4. Remove the thicker stalks from the watercress and chop roughly.
5. Skin the smoked mackerel and break into bite size pieces.
6. Amalgamate all the ingredients gently in a bowl taking care not to break them up too much, and add the oysters and their oil.
7. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice and add extra olive oil if you feel it needs it.
8. Serve with crusty gluten-free bread or corn, hummus, lentil, potato or other crisps – remembering that the dish may not then be corn/nightshade free.

 

Puy lentils with fennel and Romano peppers
Serves 8
Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, nut, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free

• 1 x 30g tin anchovies with their oil
• 7 tbsp olive oil
• 4 medium leeks, finely sliced
• 250g Puy lentils
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• 200ml dry white wine
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• approx 350g beet leaves and stalks – or, if you cannot get beet leaves, variegated chard with stalks – roughly sliced
• 2 heads fennel, cut into quarters or eighths
• 3 red Romano peppers, quartered lengthways and cut into large pieces

1. In a wide pan heat the oil from the anchovy tin with 3 tbsp olive oil.
2. Add the anchovies, chopped small, and the leeks. Cook gently together for 10 minutes or until the leeks are soft and the anchovies dissolved to mush.
3. Add the lentils, stir around for a minute or two and then add the stock and the white wine.
4. Simmer gently for around 15 minutes or until the lentils are softening but are not yet cooked.
5. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a separate pan and gently fry the fennel and pepper pieces for 15–20 minutes or until they are quite soft.
6. When the lentils are starting to soften, add the beet leaves or chard, stir well and cover the pan. Reduce the heat and continue to cook for a further 5–10 minutes until both the lentils and the beets/chard are cooked. If needed add a little extra stock.
7. When all are cooked, stir the fennel and pepper pieces into the lentils and adjust the seasoning to taste.
8. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!!