FOOD:Feeling out of sorts? There's only one thing for it - indulge yourself with some real comfort eating, writes Domini Kemp
I WAS CONSIGNED to the couch recently due to a severe dose of man-flu. To relieve the constant coughing and spluttering, I stuck to toasted hot cross buns slathered in butter and apricot, washed down with Lemsip and sweet tea.
It was all very relaxing and I vowed to get sick more often. Through the fog of tissues, I managed to settle (in an unhealthy, but transfixed way) on cookery shows rather than Dr Phil and after four back-to-back episodes of The Barefoot Contessa, I was in love.
Her name is Ina Garten, she looks a bit like Dawn French and she seems to have a wonderful life, selling books and food products to rich Americans.
While most American TV cooks do nothing but bang on about how to remove every ounce of fat, salt and sugar from anything we eat, Ina is refreshingly tubby and generous with all things calorific.
She made a version of the herb toasts below, and I swear to the Kerrygold God, that she slathered her toasts in a layer of herb butter so thick that my hot cross buns looked positively slimming. I could literally feel my arteries clog as I watched in awe.
Croutes
These topped toasts are an ideal spring/summer
canapé to serve eight guests.
1 focaccia or 1 French stick, cut into thin slices and place
in a baking tray. Between 20-24 of these croutes will be
sufficient.
Chuck them onto a baking tray and drizzle with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes at 120C until golden and crispy. You can shake them around the baking tray after 10 minutes to disperse the olive oil. Leave to cool - you can do this 24 hours in advance in an air-tight container, once completely cold.
Herb butter
You can use any combo of herbs or add in some
chopped chives and ditch the parsley, whatever you like. Unsalted
butter also works well especially if you then add chunky grains of
fancy fleur de sel. But genuinely, soft butter and about three
tablespoons soft herbs will taste great when spread on golden
croutes. If you have leftover butter, save for some boiled new
potatoes.
100g butter very soft
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 tablespoon chopped dill
1 tablespoon chopped flat parsley
Sprinkle of Maldon sea salt and loads of black pepper
Mix everything together and either use straight away or refrigerate for a few days until required.
Radish Toast
To assemble, slice 20 radishes, keep them in water
to which you've added a small bit (1 tablespoon) of lemon juice.
You can leave them sliced and swimming in the acidulated water for
about an hour.
Spread the croutes with soft herb butter. Top with the radish slices (which you should pat dry) and sprinkle with some extra sea salt.
Caprese Salad
Buffalo mozzarella is fab. Recently, it hit the
headlines because of hassle with Italian binmen and the Mafia.
Litter was getting dumped in Naples, the poor old buffalo were eating grass that was a bit dodgy and hey presto: Caprese salads were under threat.
Regardless, this isn't something I ever feel inclined to order in restaurants as it just seems too basic. Any eejit can make a Caprese salad. Hence why I'm so good at it.
Anyway, here's my way to spruce it up! Feeds four.
2 x balls Buffalo Mozzarella (they all seem to weigh approx
150g)
100 ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced in half
1 punnet cherry tomatoes or small tomatoes on the vine (about
20)
4 very ripe good plum tomatoes, sliced
Large bunch basil
2 tablespoons pesto (optional)
Drain and slice the mozzarella. Pour most of the olive oil on top, season with salt, pepper and add the garlic clove. Leave to marinate for about an hour at room temperature.
Meanwhile, slice the cherry tomatoes in half, put in a baking tray, drizzle with last bit of olive oil, season and roast the tomatoes at 160C for about 20 minutes until starting to caramelise. Allow them to cool, then arrange the ingredients on individual plates and serve with good bread and a spoonful of pesto.