Scotch quail's eggs

Leo is off to a barbecue tonight. After insisting he wouldn't want anything to eat when he gets back, it has transpired that I am expected to produce "something nice, but light and tasty...". Whatever that means. 

I have decided on Scotch quail's eggs- bite sized balls which explode with taste (and a runny yolk, if cooked correctly) in your mouth.

Until last summer, it had been around ten years since I had gone near a scotch egg. Mentally scarred since my primary school days by the rubbery balls of pallid sausage meat which uncovered a greying egg once you bit into them, giving them another chance was definitely not for nostalgias sake, but rather to make a clean break with the past. 

These are quite fiddly to make, but absolutely worth it.    

Ingredients

12 quails eggs

200g fresh breadcrumbs

300g sausage meat 

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp mustard powder

1 bunch of sage, finely chopped

Flour, to dust

Salt and pepper

2 litres of vegetable oil

Method 

1. First, cook the quails eggs. For soft boiled eggs, place in a boiling pan of water for two minutes. For hard boiled leave for 30 seconds longer. Remove from the pan and place in a bowl of iced water for five minutes to halt the cooking process. Peel the eggs carefully, by tapping gently and peeling away the shell. Set to one side.

2. Add the sage and the mustard powder to the sausage meat and season with salt and pepper. Mix well to ensure the seasonings are well incorporated. Take a marble sized piece of sausage meat in your hand and flatten it so it covers the egg. Gently roll the egg in your hand, making sure that the sausage meat completely covers it.

3. Now, dust the sausage covered eggs in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip these briefly in the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs until they are covered completely. 

4. To cook, heat a deep pan half filled with oil (or a deep fat fryer) to 180 degrees. Test the temperature by dropping in a few breadcrumbs- they should turn golden, but not burn. Drop in the eggs carefully, in batches if necessary. Fry for three minutes or until golden brown. 

These eggs are best eaten hot alongside English mustard but also work well for a picnic. 

Beef Carpaccio, lemon pesto and fresh pasta

I adore carpaccio. There is something wonderfully primitive about it, but it still manages to be elegant at the same time. To turn it into a more substantial but still summery dinner, I added a fresh lemon pesto and some pasta. 

I assumed that carpaccio would be easy to make but there is a lot of debate on how to prepare it. Nigel Slater recommends searing the beef fillet in a hot pan for just one minute. This is not long enough to actually cook the meat, but serves to seal the fibres making the wafer thin slices easier to cut. The meat should then be put into the freezer for half an hour to firm up before slicing. 

A sharp knife is vital, but if you can't get the slices as thin as they do in restaurants, my advice would be to lay them flat on a clean surface and bat them out until the meat is almost transparent.

Smooth, fresh pasta is the perfect partner to the beef and although it seems a faff to make, it really isn't, and there is a certain joy in kneading the dough and literally feeling the point at which the pasta comes together in your hands. The general rule of thumb is 100g of pasta flour (00 grade) and a large, fresh egg per person. 

It is also better to make the pesto from scratch, because it can be tweaked to suit the dish. As I wanted this to be a relatively light dinner, I went easy on the Parmesan cheese and in order to compliment the meat and give it some extra zing, I added a lot of lemon juice. 

Ingredients (Serves two)

350g beef fillet

200g pasta flour

2 large eggs

Handful of rocket

Lemon, to serve

For the pesto

Large bunch of basil

50g toasted pine nuts

60g Parmesan cheese

120ml olive oil

Juice of one lemon

2 garlic cloves

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. To make the pasta, place the flour in a large bowl and mix in the eggs, lightly beaten. 

Mix together until well combined and then turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. The mixture may seem quite dry at this stage- but persevere! After around ten minutes of kneading it will feel gloriously smooth. At this stage, wrap your dough tightly in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour.

2. Place a tablespoon of olive oil in a a frying pan and heat to a high temperature. Take your beef fillet and for one minute only, sear on all sides until it is evenly browned all over. Wrap this in cling film and place in the freezer for thirty minutes.

3. To make the pesto, put all solid ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you have a paste. Then add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix until just combined. Season to taste and then transfer into a jar. Any leftover pesto will keep in the fridge for up to a week. 

4. Using a pasta machine (or, if you're brave, a rolling pin) roll out the pasta as thin as it will go. Then put it through the linguine attachment to make ribbon, or cut these out yourself using a knife. Leave your ribbons to dry out (we use a clothes horse) while you cut your carpaccio.

5. Using a very sharp knife, cut the carpaccio as thin as you can. If you cannot get the slices thin enough by cutting, then lay them flat on the work surface and using a kitchen mallet or similar implement, bash them out until almost transparent. Leave slices to come to room temperature whiles assembling the rest of your dish.

6. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook pasta until soft. This should take around four minutes. Drain the pasta and add back to the pan, allowing any residual water to evaporate. Stir in the pesto, evenly coating the pasta.

7. Serve the carpaccio on top of the pasta and scatter with some wild rocket and place a lemon wedge on the side. Parmesan shavings on top are always a welcome addition to any meal!

Enjoy.

Lavender Shortbread

Lavender has firmly established itself as a fashionable ingredient. No longer the preserve of old ladies and bars of soap, it lends a delicate and sophisticated flavour to baking.

There are many ways of incorporating this herb into your recipes. For this shortbread, I infused a jar of caster sugar with dried lavender leaves for a few days, in order to allow the flavour to permeate. The leaves can be separated from the sugar by sieving if you wish, but I think the flecks of purple are what make these tasty little biscuits so attractive.

Best enjoyed with a cup of freshly brewed tea and a slice of lemon.

These will last up to a week in an airtight container. 

Ingredients

250g unsalted butter, softened

85g lavender sugar (shop bought or homemade)

170g plain flour

60g self-raising flour

30g rice flour 

Pinch of salt

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees (fan) and lightly grease a baking tray.

2.  Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (I use an electric hand mixer).

3.  Sift in the three flours and mix until you have a firm paste (your hands are your best utensils for     this one).

4.  Cover the mixture in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.

5.  When the dough has firmed, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface to about the width of a £1 coin.

6.  Cut out your biscuits into the shape of your choice (I use a scone cutter).

7.  Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden.

8.   Allow to cool completely, and enjoy!