asparagus

British asparagus is in season right now and I couldn't resist buying some this weekend. This recipe is super easy and there's hardly any effort involved.

Ingredients

1 bunch asparagus

1 fat clove garlic, whole

salt & pepper

splash dry vermouth or white wine

knob of butter

juice of half a lemon

1. Snap each asparagus spear so that you've removed the woody base. Place the spears in a wide pan that has a lid, add the garlic, vermouth, butter salt and pepper. Cover with the lid then cook over a medium heat for around 8 minutes or until the spears are cooked through.
2. Finish off by squeezing over the lemon juice and adjusting the seasoning as needed. Keep the cooking juices and drizzle over the top of the asparagus when serving. This was particularly good with some gridled tuna steaks and boiled new potatoes. 

chicken with soured cream, mushrooms and gherkins

After all my recent cake baking I'm in need of some proper savoury, autumnal food. This Nigel Slater recipe came up in the Observer today and I felt inspired to give it a go. My inner Polish girl told me that I had to make this dish especially with ingredients like mushrooms, gherkins and sour cream it immediately appealed. As Nigel says, it isn't hugely different from a stroganoff but to my mind this dish is infinitely better.
Below is my adapted version of Nigel's original. I should also warn you that in this dish the sour cream is likely to curdle a little and not look particularly beautiful. Don't let this bother you. This dish is about homely, autumnal comfort eating and the taste will not be effected in the slightest.

These quantities serve 2.

Ingredients
12 small shallots

2 skin on, preferably organic, chicken breasts or equivalent
a thick slice of butter 

250g button mushrooms, halved
6 gherkins cut into thick pieces. Alternatively some smaller cornichons would work nicely.
500ml riesling or any decent white wine will probably work well.
150ml (a small carton) soured cream

1. Top and tail, and peel the shallots leaving them whole.
2. Heat a wide frying pan or casserole dish over a medium high heat then brown the chicken pieces on both sides in the butter. Add a small oil if you are concerned about burning the butter.
3. Add the shallots and cook until they are coloured on all sides.
4. Next add the mushrooms and colour them lightly.
5. Add the gherkins followed by the wine and bring to the boil. Allow it to bubble away for about 3 or 4 minutes to get rid of the harsh alcohol smell, then lower the heat to a simmer.
6. Allow this all to simmer for about 20 minutes, until the chicken pieces are cooked through, then stir in the soured cream. Make sure the heat is low at this stage.
7. Warm the cream through, check for salt and pepper then serve with potatoes or rice. I served it with my potato, onion and rosemary layer bake. Awesome!