Needing my greens!

You'd think that being a nutritionist and sportswoman  that my diet would be the healthiest ever, and on the whole it is.  But for the past few weeks I've been in the throws of writing an Italian recipe book and, as I believe all recipes should be thoroughly tested, it does mean there's an awful lot of eating to be done.
Today is a prime example - I do try to plan the recipes around my mealtimes, but sometimes there is just too much.  For my mid-morning break today I had apple and Parmesan tartlets - delicious, but not my normal piece of fruit and a few nuts snack.  Lunch was broccoli orecchietta followed by Zabaglioni.  And now I feel like having a siesta!  Of course the other problem is that each recipe needs to serve 4, so then there are leftovers, but the next day I have to start all over again.  My fridge is bulging at the seams!
Yesterday I felt I had just not had enough of my favourite greens (weirdly I probably could live on broccoli and cabbage!), so decided I had to have a green pick-me-up to boost myself.
You can add pretty much anything you like, but first decide if you want it to be sweet or savoury and then either add a little more fruit and some honey for sweet, or garlic and seasoning for savoury.
These are my favourite ingredients - 1 avocado, 1/2 cucumber, 1 apple, 1 stick of celery, 1 clove of garlic, freshly milled black pepper, sea salt, a small handful of fresh parsley and mint and enough water to give the thickness you want (if you want to make it creamier add a little natural yoghurt).  Put everything in a blender (if you have a Vitamix you don't even have to peel or core the apple), and pulse until smooth.  Drink immediately and feel your body soak up the goodness!

A Cornish Weekend

And there was I thinking I was going away for a relaxing weekend.  I should have known by the way it started - on the night train from Paddington to Penzance.  The great thing about the sleeper train is that you can get on it up to an hour and a quarter before it actually leaves, thus getting more sleeping time in.  Unfortunately for me this little plan backfired, as I was then woken at 5am due to works on the line and had to get off to travel on a different, much smaller and bed-less train to St Austell, a bus to Truro and yet another small train finally to Penzance - next time I will check for engineering works before I book!
Once there though the madness didn't stop.  Staying with a friend who is a keen sea swimmer throughout the year meant I obviously had to be included.  I can honestly say that if it wasn't for the 82 year old man going in ahead of me (and not screeching and complaining) I would never have got in the freezing water.  I admit it did make me feel pretty amazing afterwards, but only once I had got the feeling back in all my bits!
After that it was over to Porthleven, to the Porthleven Gig Club where I had been promised an outing in a gig.  Luckily for me the sea was calm, but even so the rise and fall of the boat did have me thinking that I was glad I hadn't finished off my swim with a fry-up!  What I thought would be relatively easy as a river rower, proved to be more difficult than I had imagined - different hand holds, really long lean back (great for the stomach muscles), and just such a different position to how I normally row.  It was a great experience and the girls were really friendly and seemed please to have me on board - what a shame it would be a 14 hour round trip for training sessions!
After that the eating started, Cornish Cream teas obviously had to be sampled, as did the famous Jelberts ice-cream - thick creamy vanilla ice-cream, topped with a huge helping of clotted cream - pure heaven!
So now it's back to training and healthy eating - only 2 weeks to the Norfolk Long Distance Sculls and 6 weeks to The Scullers Head - I can't believe they come around so quickly.
As an internal cleanser I really fancied some fennel yesterday, but unfortunately also had some Gorgonzola cheese in the fridge from the recipes I am writing for an Italian recipe book, so my healthy plan was not as good as it could have been.  After lightly frying off slices of fennel in olive oil, I layered them in an ovenproof dish and crumbled the Gorgonzola over the top.  After 30 minutes in the oven the cheese had melted into the tender but still slightly crunchy fennel - delicious.

How could I forget it's Chocolate Week?

I can't believe it's Thursday of Chocolate Week and I've not yet had chocolate.  This obviously had to be remedied, but not with a boring bar of chocolate.... oh no.


Salame di Cioccolato

200g caster sugar
175g walnut pieces
200g dates, pitted
120g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
165g candied peel, chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
200g dried figs

• Place the sugar in a small pan with 2 tbsp water and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.  Continue to cook until the syrup starts to turn golden.
• Place 100g of the walnuts in a pestle and mortar and lightly crush.  Place in a large bowl.
• Place the dates in a food processor and blitz until broken down.  
• Add the dates to the walnuts with all the remaining ingredients.
• Pour the hot syrup into the bowl and mix together really well.
• Divide the mixture into two and roll each halve into a sausage.  Wrap each one in greaseproof or wax paper and leave cool.
• When set hard slice the salame and serve.

Not letting-go of summer

We may have had a few chilly days, but it stills feels pretty warm to me, and I'm loving it!
Yesterday a friend and I took part in the Cycling Weekly Sportive, over the gorgeous Surrey Hills - it was a fantastic route, with rain only at the beginning and hills all the way through!  But having booked for the 77 miler, we decided early on that the 'Fun' ride was more our style, so after 30 miles we headed off to one of the pubs we had passed earlier for a spot of lunch.
The Dolphin in Betchworth turned out to be a real find - their fish pie was the best I have had in a long time, and was served with great fresh vegetables.  We had intended to finish off with bread & butter pudding, but alas were both too full!
Obviously by the time I got home I was hungry again, and was still in summer mood, as by then the sun had well and truly come out.  And what I really fancied was a summery dish of peppers - basic good ingredients simply cooked - delicious.



Peperonata 

Serves 4

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

2 medium onions, peeled and sliced

4 red peppers, deseeded and cut into 1 cm slices

350g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

small handful basil leaves, torn

·      1.  Heat the oil in a medium pan and sauté the onion and garlic for 1 -2 minutes.

·      2.  Add the red peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes before stirring in the chopped tomatoes.

·      3.  Continue to cook for 20 minutes, until the peppers have softened.

·      4.  Stir in the basil and serve, sprinkled with lots of freshly milled black pepper.

Back to Britain

It seems like I have been away for the whole summer, although according to most people I speak to I really didn't miss the summer at all, and luckily enough for me we seem to be having it now!
One of the things I really do miss when I am travelling is not getting the opportunity to cook, especially if I visit good markets full of great ingredients.  I do get inspired, but often the inspiration wears off by the time I have returned to a (normally) cold, wet England.
Before leaving Turkey this time a friend gave me a big bag of fresh walnuts from some of his many trees, so these wonderful nuts were brought home to be used in my first batch of baking.

Walnut and Celery Scones

Makes 6-8

225g self-raising flour
40g butter
1 stick celery, diced
15g walnuts, finely chopped
10g Stilton, crumbled, plus more to serve
150ml milk

Pre-heat the oven to 220C/Gas mark 7.
Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Stir in the celery, walnuts and crumbled stilton, then pour in the milk and mix gently with a palette knife until the mixture comes together.
Turn out onto a floured work surface and gently roll out (or you can just pat it down with your fingers), to a thickness of about 2cm.
Cut into scones with a pastry cutter and place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until they are light golden.
Serve warm, cut open and topped with a slice of Stilton.