I Love Food Recipes

This cauliflower dish is one I often cook at home: it is simple, light, fresh and full of flavour – the Spanish version of a Chinese stir-fry. My cooking is inspired by growing up in Spain; I learned how to make this dish at my aunt’s house in Madrid. I’m looking at putting it on the spring menu in my restaurants; with better weather hopefully arriving soon (fingers crossed!) our customers will be looking for lighter dishes. I like it on its own, but you can serve it with a pan-fried fillet of cod or salmon for a more complete meal. (Serves 4 as a tapa) 1 large cauliflower, broken into florets, leaves reserved Pinch of salt 200ml milk Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying 5 garlic cloves, sliced 50g/5 tbsp drained capers 1 tsp cumin seeds ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika 50ml/3½ tbsp sherry or other white vinegar Place the cauliflower florets in a large pan, cover them with water, then add the salt and the milk (this will make the cauliflower whiter and prevent odours). Cook over a high hea...

Marshmallows take a little focus and some proper baking equipment, but, oh, what a joy to make and eat real homemade. Makes about 30 marshmallows icing sugar 25g cornflour 25g egg white 1 raspberries 175g caster sugar 200g cold water 180g powdered gelatin 2 sachets (30g) vanilla extract 1 tsp dehydrated raspberries 35g, crushed (or dehydrated raspberry powder)   Grease a 20cm x 30cm baking tray with a little oil. Line with parchment paper and grease again. Whisk together the icing sugar and cornflour and sift over the tray. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place the egg white and set aside. In a saucepan, heat the raspberries with 25g caster sugar, until they start to bubble and break apart (about 10 minutes). Then push through a strainer to remove all of the seeds. Set aside the puree and discard the seeds. Put 60g (4 tbsp) water into the bottom of a small, immaculately clean saucepan and add the remaining 175g caster sugar on top of that. Place ...

The recipe Mix 2 tbsp of olive oil with 2 tbsp of za’atar spice mix. Brush over 6 lamb cutlets and set aside. Put 4 tbsp of bulgur wheat into a small dish, trickle over just enough water to dampen it and leave for 10 minutes. Remove the seeds from a pomegranate and put them in a mixing bowl. Top and tail 10 radishes and slice them into thin rounds, then add to the pomegranates. Put 2 tbsp of good, fruity olive oil in a small bowl, add 2 tsp of ground sumac, 1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses and the juice of a lemon. Pick the leaves from 6 sprigs of mint and 10 sprigs of parsley, then add them to the pomegranates. Run a fork through the grains and toss them with the salad and dressing. Grill the lamb cutlets for a few minutes on each side, then serve them with the salad. The trick Let the cutlets sit for a good 20 minutes in the za’atar spice mix before grilling. Use an overhead grill, and take care not to let the spice burn. The twist Add chopped cucumber or apple to th...

There’s nothing better for a lazy chef than to put food in the oven and step back while it does all the work. This dish is a perfect example, and full of flavours inspired by Spanish and southern French cuisine. It is also full of colour – especially if you use different colours of beetroot and potatoes. You will need to soak the cashews overnight to make the aioli. Serves 4 1.5kg coarse sea salt 750g fresh beetroot, preferably red, yellow and Chioggia varieties 750g potatoes, preferably pink and purple Advertisement For the aioli 1 pinch of saffron threads (about 20) 200g raw cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or the juice of ½ lemon 2 or 3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 Set the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Spread half of the salt over the base of a baking tin. Pierce each potato and beetroot a couple of times with a fork. Arrange them on the tray and cover with the remaining salt. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour, or until tender. 2 While the vegetables are co...

Saved by a woman in a grey coat with a tartan shopping trolley. Not that I hadn’t noticed the porcini I was about to buy were a bad lot. Even my amateur eyes could see that the worm holes were more craters than pin pricks, that the half-dozen specimens looked like they had been in a scrap. Yet again though, as is also my way in clothes shops and Italian perfumeries, I was trapped in a transaction; somehow indebted to the man and about to spend the best part of 20 euros on some dodgy mushrooms. The woman’s interception was impressive. Was I making soup? she asked, putting herself between me and the crate. “If so, a few of the coral capped ones and field mushrooms would do the job – just boost them with porcini secchi (dried porcini); even a handful of chestnuts.” At that she put her bag of chestnuts at the top of her trolley and headed to the butcher. Porcino means something reminiscent of a pig or piglet, perhaps after the bulbous stems, pale with five-o’clock shadow, which is o...

here is genuine pleasure to be had in things that feel just right: the weight of a pound coin, a bath at the perfect temperature, the feel of a well-worn wooden spoon. To this list, I’d add bao: it’s as if this little bun was ergonomically designed for eating – it fits snugly into the nook of a hand; the pillowy dough gives like memory foam; and the semi-circular shape slots cleanly into the mouth. It’s no surprise that these buns – thanks to Bao, the Soho restaurant, a bit of social media hype and our ever-growing appetite for new tastes and cultures – have become popular in the UK. Especially in the Sodha household. Ordinarily, the buns are made with milk and the fillings are porcine, but this recipe uses neither. The bun is filled with some of the finest mushrooms in the land, shiitake, which are coated in sesame and soy, covered with sharp cucumbers and finished with a smattering of salty peanuts. It’s everything you need and nothing you don’t. Mushroom bao This is a good wee...

My summer was far too short and I’m not ready to let go just yet. I’m wishing with everything I have for another few weeks of sunshine, dinners outside, feet on grass, iced coffees. I don’t yet feel the lure of crisp autumn leaves, knitwear and bowls of soup ... it will come, I know, but for now I’m hell‑bent on keeping summer going as long as I can. So, this week I am doing all I can to encourage an Indian summer, throwing the final spoils of warm weather into a quick curry with some soft chapatis. My kitchen is still cheerful with bowls of tomatoes, citrus, squash and ears of corn. Late corn, less sweet than its earlier renditions, still in paper husks, is all the better for a gentle braise with some spice and a few tomatoes, easy chapati breads as a sidekick, which are even quite meditative to make. Late summer sweetcorn and tomato curry (main picture) Serves 4 4 eggs Coconut or olive oil 2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp black mustard seeds 2 tsp fennel seeds 1 onion, peeled a...