jill dupleix's broad bean crostini with parmesan

After a cheeky 5k run around the park in the sun this morning with Mrs B, we get an unexpected health boost with dinner this evening. Well 'boost' might be pushing it. It might be better to say "an unexpected reduction in calories" as tonight's fab-looking experimental Jilly D dinner turns out to be about a quarter of the size I thought it'd be.

Admittedly she does say it's a 'light supper', but 40 minutes of podding a tiny hillock of broad beans later, and 'light' seems a bit of an exaggeration. Health eh, it's great!

Oddly enough though, it's surprisingly filling. Okay, so we doubled up on the eggs, but pfaffy podding aside, this turns out to be utterly marvelous, albeit teeny tiny, and another candidate for the Yummington Mummington.

Wine Time
We used some left-over olive oil from the roasted peppers we had on Monday, so this has a more intense flavour than I imagine was planned, but it's not a particularly acidic meal; The egg and beans are quite creamy, as is the parmesan I suppose but with some salty piquancy.

Chardonnay would be a great friend for this but not I think, a woody one. You want fruit and buttery creaminess, so go New World and think South Africa and Australia or, if you want to show off your vino chops, I've had a delicious unoaked chard from Piemonte before. Boom.

sources
broad bean crostini with parmesan - Jill Dupleix, Delicious, May 2008, p82

mediterranean halloumi salad

Having subjected Mrs Barnes to two days of bargain-basement meals, the least I can do to kick the week off with is to let her choose something for dinner. Naturally, being the equable and elegant lady she is, she doesn't immediately take revenge by insisting on her favourite and my least-favourite squeaky cheese. Oh!

Actually, I think I've finally got the hang of frying the halloumi so it has a creamy element to it, rather than salty and squeaky. Secretly I do love this salad, it's so easy to construct with some nice touches like soaking the onions in boiling water to take the edge off, which make you feel slightly more competent than usual. There is a hidden trap though - less oil from the peppers is definitely more. Too much and it overpowers everything. Oh, and if you can find really ripe tomatoes, they are infinitely nicer!

Wine Time
I usually like to wax lyrical at this point about dominant flavours, acidity and textures to think about when you're choosing wine to match with these meals, but not tonight. There's no need see, because there's only one wine you're going to need with this: A super crisp, super dry, pale pale pale pink Rosé. Easy!

sources
mediterranean halloumi salad - Delicious, June 2010, p24

angela boggiano's rich beef ragu

More bargain cooking for you tonight, as in addition to yesterday's special offer bream I also picked up a kilo of heavily reduced stewing steak.

Now Ana is not massively enamoured with my bargain-hunting, as quite rightly she thinks we should be eating things in date rather than on the cusp of turning to mush. To be fair I think she's broadly right, but it's hard to break my mother's habit of filling up the shopping trolley with reduced stuff. However we do have a compromise that allows me to go off-message with reduced beef/pork/lamb: I can buy it IF I make a stew or casserole within a day. Long, slow cooking with plenty of other bits and bobs makes all the difference to grey meat.

As it's a bit wet and woolly today, the beef is gets a three hour simmer with a whole host of veg, herbs (and wine), care of Angela Boggiano's comforting rich beef ragu. Sorry about the wonky picture...

See, you'd never know that was horse.

Wine Time
Hopefully the meat is falling apart, with a rich, unctuous sauce full of sticky tomatoes and resinous herbs. Red is the obvious match here, so let's cut to the chase and stick with Italian - it is a ragu after all! The trick here is to note how much, and how ripe the tomatoes are, as they are the base component battling away with the wine.

Canned tomatoes tend to be fairly standard in flavour, so if you use a single tin go with a lighter-bodied red like a Sangiovese or a Montepulciano. More than one tin, or plum tomatoes or even ripe, fresh tomatoes, new wave Barbera or Nebbiolo all the way! The difference here is in the acidity of the wines, they should all be fruity, but the latter wines will have a mouthwatering snap of acidity.

sources
rich beef ragu - Angela Boggiano, Delicious, March 2007, p51

pan-fried sea bream with spiced chickpeas and gremolata

Seeing how it worked so well last month, tonight we've been lured back to try the pan-fried sea bream and chickpea stew.

I'd like to say this is because over the past year we've become complete piscatarians, but sad to say the truth is we're more susceptible to a damn fine offer at the fish counter. Still, it's pretty bloody good excuse to crack this dish out for a second time.

It's a definite all-rounder this one; the crispy skin and lemony gremolata hints sing out 'summer', whilst the chickpea and tomato stew take the edge off the spring evenings. Give it a go, you'll surprise yourself! It's so good Milo ended up having an extra chunk of my fish/skin, which was gratifying if annoying.

Wine Time
The previous paragraph should give you a good idea where we're going with the wine match: Something lemony and fresh to balance the herbs and fish, whilst crisp enough to cut through the pulses creaminess: It's got to be a young, fresh and zippy Muscadet hasn't it? Get a bottle that has been left on the sediment (sur lie), and it'll have a little extra texture which you were looking for.

Brilliantly enough for those of us on a shoestring budget, if you can't get hold of a good-yet-cheap Muscadet, look for a Picpoul. It's a great little citrus bomb from the South of France, comes in a mad bottle and shouldn't set you back more than a tenner. Even better, it's one of those wines only those in the know drink, so you'll like a mighty vino swell when you get it out of the fridge.

sources
pan-fried sea bream with spiced chickpeas and gremolata - Delicious, April 2013, p135

silvana franco's spiced cannellini and couscous burgers

I don't know why, but I'm craving burgers at the moment. The phrase du jour chez maison Barnes is "When I get a job, I'm going to reward myself with Kiwi Burger from GBK", and then I stare off into the middle distance, drooling on my CV.

These reveries have inspired me this year to create a totally selfish challenge: As I think this summer cannot be as bad as last year, I figure we'll be having loads of BBQs and therefore burgers, so I'm stepping up to the hotplate and attempting to eat one imperial burger a week. Anybody else fancy joining in? In a fit of media madness I shall call it #GreatSummerOfBurger, and I'm sure Twitter and our waistlines are going to go mental! Ana's not entirely convinced, but surely that's part of the fun?

Tonight we kick off #GreatSummerOfBurger (see, it's catching) with an off-beam vegetarian number from Silvana Franco that I've been desperate to try for aaaaaages: Spiced Cannellini and Couscous Burgers - behold!

I don't know who is more surprised of their success, me or Lady Barnes, because they are most definitely a hit. I suppose in many ways they are like giant versions of Jilly D's polpettine which certainly helps Lady Barnes get over her reservations, but it's the inclusion of the couscous and lemon zest which really adds the wow factor: The lemon bringing obvious freshness, but the couscous gives a surprising lightness to the patty... as does bulgar wheat as we'd run out of couscous.

Totally. hash tag. amazeballs. But Silvana is right about how delicate they are - definitely one for the pan rather than the BBQ.

Wine Time
One of the reasons I like writing this blog is I get the opportunity to do some (minimal) research with drink matching. It's interesting and appeals to my inner-geek, but sometimes it's deeply frustrating as you can't quite nail the perfect match, and tonight is one of those occasions. My head says you'll want a crisp and clean white to go with the lemon, but the spices and the body the couscous give it pull me towards a lighter red. Do you know what, I genuinely don't know - why don't you try some and let me know what works, and when I work it out I'll let you know.

sources
spiced cannellini and couscous burgers - Silvana Franco, Delicious, now the Parsley Book

peter gordon's fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad

After a heady day manny-ing in the sun for Kendra, Finn and Rafe, I return home to discover tonight's dinner is far more experimental than planned.

Admittedly this is a recipe we've had loads before, but the thing is we've given the book back to Brenda, and whilst I could probably guess most of the ingredients from the pictures (it is only a salad after all), I do like the comfort of a recipe. A recipe a certain Mrs Taylor failed to text me in time. I'm looking at you Brenda...

The chances of successfully completing the dish take a further hit when I discover the prime mover for choosing this meal has eaten all but one of the required oranges. Still, with judicious use of extra tomatoes, two sorts of salad leaf and making the dressing with IoW Chilli Rape Seed Oil, we make a pretty good fist of it:

Until Ana points out I've forgotten the dill. And then I spot the jar of hazelnuts I'd put to one side, but forgotten to add. Bugger.

Wine Time
It might the fact it's been lovely weather, but I'm veering towards Prosecco tonight. It's a bit decadent I know, but it's always on offer in the supermarkets so it's only slightly more expensive than usual, and it'll perfectly tame all the big flavours going on in here, and the bubbles will lift the heaviness of the spinach and/or cheese. *Pop!*

sources
fried halloumi topped with chilli, spinach, water chestnut, hazelnut, orange and sun-blushed tomato salad - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p65

pasta with asparagus, mint pesto and poached egg

Despite carping on at great length yesterday about the asparagus in the supermarket coming from Chile rather than Albion's bejeweled shores, it doesn't stop me taking advantage of getting two bunches for the price of one. There's a great-looking  Angela Harnett recipe in the Guardian today, but it looks more starter-er than enough for dinner so we're fall back on a classic.

Strangely enough, despite all the years I've been making this I've never actually got round to doing the mint pesto until tonight, and do you know what? It's a total game changer: The zingy mint really cuts through the denseness of the pasta, whereas the shop bought basil-n-parmesan stuff is a bit too claggy. I buggered up the eggs though...

Wine Time
To be honest I'd stick with a herbaceous Kiwi sauv, particularly now we've thrown in the mint pesto plus the extra heft of the pasta needs cutting through in the same way as yesterday's salmon. This lark is easy eh?

sources
pasta with asparagus, pesto and poached egg - Delicious, May 2005, p110 - now the Parsley Book