MAY LONG TABLE: The recipes

Here’s the low down on our May long table and some of the recipes to recreate at home !

Hello there friends, 

A couple weeks have passed since the last long table, what a roaring success. I felt a lot more organised this time around, completely in my comfort zone as I whizzed from bbq to table, too & fro, back & forth. 

Energised by the gentle breeze and the soft summer sunshine blessing our table dressed in its Sunday best. Mismatched plates from my flea market scrounging , French silver I purchased from my time in Paris and the gorgeous London wildflowers provided by the equally gorgeous bluebell & flo team. 

We began the afternoon with the slabs of focaccia, a fluffy pillowy loaf, given a long rise and a healthy dousing in honest toil olive oil. The seasonal butter was of fennel and chilli, whilst the rhubarb cordial glowed a precious pink, like a jewel amongst the clutter of plates and glasses. 

To start, a homemade fresh milk ricotta slathered on plates beneath spears of charred asparagus , from grill to plate in barely a second, a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of bay & chili infused olive oil. 

Next up, precious spring green parcels stuffed with a wholesome and nutty mix of wild rice, pine nuts, plump sultanas, and capers. But wow oh wow the star of the show was the plump and delicious BoldBeans Butterbeans ! Simmered in a sumptuous saffron broth to create something equally delicate and rich?

To finish we feasted on a buttermilk ice cream stained a perfect beetroot pink, with a lemon tendercake. A name like that does as it suggests, tender, moist and oh so lemony. Everyone loves the tiny crisps of caramelised beetroot that I turned in sugar syryp before drying in the oven. 

Another gorgeous afternoon with equally gorgeous people , try and make it to the next one xxx 

Book in via the website x

a reminder we start at 12:30 next month :)

RHUBARB CORDIAL 

250g caster sugar

zest and juice 1 orange

zest and juice 1 lemon

450g rhubarb, chopped

1 slice fresh root ginger, peeled

Put the sugar in a large saucepan with 300ml water. Bring to a simmer then add the zest and juice of both the orange and the lemon along with the rhubarb and the ginger.

Cook the mixture over a medium heat until the rhubarb is falling apart. Remove from heat and let it steep for a couple hours if you can. 

Pour the mixture through a sieve lined with muslin into a clean jug then transfer to bottles. Keeps in the fridge for up to 1 month.

STEP 4

Serve approx. 25ml of cordial per 100ml water, or to taste.

SPRING GREEN PARCELS WITH SAFFRON BUTTERBEANS 

To serve 4-6

Spring Green Rolls: 

• 75 g black rice

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 red onion

• 1 celery stick

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 tsp fennel seeds

• 50 g sun dried tomato

• 30 g pine nuts, toasted

• 1 tbsp chopped capers

• 3 tbsp sultanas soaked in boiling water

• 2 tbsp each finely chopped parsley and dill

• 1 lemon zest, and the juice for later

• 12 leaves from a Spring Greens Cabbage, hispi cabbage or sweetheart cabbage.

• Vegetable broth

• Seasoning

Preheat oven to 200 C

• rinse the rice, then cover with water and boil for 15-20 minutes depending on the variety. Until just aldente ! Drain well.

• In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil and sautee the onion and celery until softened and translucent, add the garlic and fennel seeds with the chopped sundried tomatoes and black rice.

• Finally add in the pine nuts, capers and chopped herbs with the lemon zest. Make sure to season well.

• Now , bring a large wide pot of water to the boil, salt generously. Blanch the spring green leaves in piles of about 4, depending on the size of your pot, for about 3-4 minutes until tender.

• Remove the tough stalk down the center with a small pairing knife, so the leaves can be rolled without obstruction.

• To assemble! Lay a cabbage leaf on a chopping board and place a few tablespoons of the mixture about 1/3 of the way up. Bring the sides of the leaf towards the center then gently roll from bottom to top to encase the filling.

• Place your parcels in a deep baking tray and add a splash of veggie stock to cover the base of the tray, add the juice of the lemon and brush with olive oil.

• Cover tightly with tin foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then I like to crisp them slightly under the grill.

For the BUTTER BEANS WITH SAFFRON

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve

 1 fennel, diced

 1onion, diced 

3 garlic cloves sliced 

2 jars of Queen Butter Beans with their bean stock 

A couple pinches of Saffron 

2 tsp sweet smoked paprika 

A small bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped A small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add your chopped onion and fennel and sautee until caramelised and softened. After about 10 minutes the sweet smell of the fennel will really start to fill the room, and you will sense it is finished.

Add the garlic and continue cooking for a couple minutes. 

Next, add the bold bean butter beans and the stock to the fennel, using the liquid to unstick any caramelised bits off the bottom of the pot. Add in the paprika and saffron, and a little extra salt and pepper. Bring that to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes to reduce and thicken. Finally add in your chopped herbs. 

Plate up the butter beans, then a few cabbage parcels, a scattering of herbs and a drizzle of olive oil. Voila ! 

BEETROOT BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM WITH CARAMELISED BEETROOT

100ml beetroot juice from about 200g fresh beets 

300ml thickened heavy cream 

Zest of a lemon 

2 TB lemon juice 

1 TB cornstarch 

200ml buttermilk 

90g caster sugar 

Pinch of salt 

1 TB vodka ( this will keep your ice cream smoother !) 

Beetroot crisp 

150g sugar 

100g water 

1 beetroot, about 200g 

For the ice cream: 

Peel and chop the beetroot before juicing, or blending then straining the juice with a sieve. 

Combine the cream, beetroot juice, lemon zest and juice in a medium bowl, Stirring until there are no streaks. 

In a small bowl whisk together the cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of the buttermilk.

Heat the remaining buttermilk over a gentle heat with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Stirring until it almonds comes to the boil and all the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and cook on a low heat as you stir vigorously until it thickens, about 5- 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and combine with the beetroot stained cream. 

Let the mixture cool completely and pop it in the fridge overnight to let the flavours steep. Stir in the vodka if you are using it, its inability to freeze will help maintain a smooth texture without the iciness! 

Churn the ice cream according to your manufacturer’s instructions. Then freeze for at least 2-4 hours. 

You can also freeze this in a freezer safe container, and stir regularly, approx every 30 minutes,  over 4- 6 hours until set, this will mimic the churning process if you don’t have an ice cream maker , which is what i did ! It worked a treat. 

For the beetroot crisp 

Preheat the oven to 170 Celsius, 

Peel the beetroot then finely slice using a mandolin if you can, to make the slices even in thickness. 

Boil the sugar with the water to dissolve, stirring gently. Add those slices of beetroot to coat with the sweet syrup and simmer for 10 more minutes. 

Lay the beetroot slices out on a bit of parchment paper, making sure there are no overlapping pieces. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until no longer flexible to touch.  Keep an eye on them as they can turn quickly ! 

Cool then you are ready to use these lovely earthy crisps :)