Warm Fennel Salad

It’s been a very hectic couple of weeks, the best bit of which was a long weekend in Antibes…..my absolute favourite part of the South of France. Chic of course but also a proper French town, which inevitably means a wonderful market. So although dining out can be tough for vegetarians, cooking in is always a pleasure, with a huge variety of fresh produce, dried pulses, olives and oils.  I was also delighted to show off my new culinary knowledge .... yes… baby spinach is called ‘pousse’!

The stacks of fennel reminded me of a beautiful spring salad that Mo and I adapted when running workshops for Riverford Organic Vegetables. A greatly under-used vegetable in this country, partially I suspect because we have no idea how to take it apart. (I always start by taking off the chunky stem and lopsided feathery bits – do not be fooled into thinking they are useful for garnish – stock maybe…)

Fennel, French Bean and Leek Salad

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Ingredients

300g French beans trimmed

500g leeks, trimmed and halved.

Small bulb fennel, thickly sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

Dressing

1 tbsp black olive paste (not tapenade!)

1 tsp grain mustard

Pinch sugar

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp chopped herbs (parsley, dill, basil)

Makes enough for 6.

First of all cook the beans in boiling water for 3-4 minutes until al dente, drain and refresh with cold water to keep the lovely green colour.

Then blanch the leeks briefly for 2 minutes. Take these out with a slotted spoon and add the fennel slices and continue to simmer for 5 minutes before draining. When cooking fennel it’s always useful to blanch first otherwise it can take an age to soften. Once blanched cut the leeks into 6cm lengths.

Now heat up a nice solid griddle pan, “paint” the fennel slices and leeks with olive oil and griddle until tender and slightly charred. Meanwhile make the dead easy dressing so it’s ready to pour over the warm vegetables. To serve scatter over the pine nuts and maybe add some oven roasted tomatoes for colour and sweetness.

Aubergine Polenta Terrine

Possibly my favourite UK city is Edinburgh, not just for the food but also the wonderful art gallerys - and of course shops! As usual there was a 'lazy' wind (it goes through not around you) but we had a wonderful evening out at Nonna's in Morningside with the best B & B owner we know - Clarissa - and as a fellow American ex-pat we got to discussing the pros and cons of cornmeal (aka polenta).  She's a big fan, but I have to say I really need that strong maize taste knocked back, so here is my compromise, which I have to say is rather tasty. As with all terrines read the recipe all the way through to the end to make sure you get the layers in the right order.

Aubergine Polenta Terrine
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Ingredients

100ml  olive oil

1 medium  aubergine
3 medium red onions
60g quick cook polenta

250ml light stock

125g baking potato (cooked)

125g soft goats cheese

2 tbsp semi-skimmedmilk

½ tsp thyme, dried

100g spinach, wilted, drained and chopped

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1-1 ½ tsp sun dried tomato paste

1 large tomato, thickly sliced

5-6 black olives

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

First of all heat your oven up to Gas 5/190C.  Then cut the aubergine into thin slices (about 5mm) preferably lengthwise. This is the hardest part of the recipe - best tip is to use a really sharp knife. Then place the slices on an oiled baking sheet, brush with oil (you will probably need 75ml) and bake for 10 minutes until soft and golden, turning once.

Then peel and slice the red onion into thick rings (you should get 4 out of each onion). Place flat on a baking tray, drizzle with the remaining oil and roast for 15 minutes until soft.

At the same time cook the polenta with the stock according to packet instructions (usually 5 minutes). Do not worry it will take on the consistency of wallpaper paste!

Mash the potato, three quarters of the cheese and all the milk together and season with thyme, salt and black pepper. Then combine well with the polenta. I know it is faster just to boil the potato but it does need to be dry so baking is a more fail-safe method.

To assemble the terrine: take a long 1lb loaf tin and strip line with baking parchment so you will be able to life out the terrine. Then divide the polenta mix into three. Spread one third on the bottom with a plastic spatula. Brush a little sun-dried tomato paste over this then cover with half the aubergine slices. Spread another third of polenta on top and place the onion over this followed by the spinach and nuts. Then spread the final layer of polenta on top, followed by the tomato paste and aubergine. Dot over pieces of the remaining cheese, cover with sliced tomatoes, add the olives and drizzle with a little oil and balsamic vinegar.

Finally bake for 20 minutes.  You'll find the terrine will be quite soft when hot, but becomes firmer as it cools (very nice for lunch the next day!)

Update
Having just featured this dish on a course at LucyCooks in the Lake District, we have come up with an even better terrine with roasted red peppers on the bottom layer and thin strips of courgette (using a potato peeler) on the top. This version is called Fern's Terrine (thank you Fern for being allergic to aubergine!)