First of all, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s bought Let’s do Lunch and given the book and me so much support. It’s been a sad few weeks for us in the UK. There’s a lot going on in all our lives at the moment, so hopefully we can bring ourselves and our loved ones some joy with a proper lunch. Let’s cook our way through it.
What I’m currently consuming
The Book: Bake it. Slice it. Eat it.
I first encountered Tom and Ollie from the Exploding Bakery when my friend admitted she had cheated, and the unbelievable peanut butter brownie I was praising her for had actually been delivered that morning from a bakery in Devon. With next day delivery, Letterbox brownies is a business idea I wish had been mine. The clever guys also have a café and now a cookbook so I’m extremely pleased that I have my hands on all their brownie recipes, which total a whopping NINETEEN! The Marmalade on Toast and Cream Tea Brownie (choc brownie, strawberry jam, scone layer on top) have my name all over them. It’s a truly thrilling book, full of unfussy deliciousness such as Raspberry Croissant Crown Cake and Grapefruit & Honey Polenta Cake. And a challenging chapter ‘Boss Level’ for when you want a ‘slightly fancier pay-off’. It’s wittily written and a very attractive book too, all shot by the brilliant Sam Harris, who also snapped my book.
Tom and Ollie have been kind enough to give me a super easy, seasonal fig recipe from the book for the Something Sweet section below, don’t miss it!
The Dish: Clam Flatbread at The Garden Café
I still haven’t got over this. You know when you get great pizza (my heart belongs to Theo’s) that’s just out the oven and the dough is all warm, soft and chewy and in a sexy little embrace with the melty topping? And angels sing when you bite into it? This I call HOT MAGIC! and let me tell you, this dish has IT. The clams were swimming in a rich pool of creamy, garlicky, buttery white wine, and each briney bite gave way to warm, pillowy dough. Majestic. I’ll definitely be looking to re-create this myself, so let me know if you have any tips.
The Fruit: The Fig
I’m here to do a little bit of PR for the fig. I’m happy to do it for free as I’ve heard too many toilet jokes about this poor fella and it needs some help boosting its image.
The fig patiently waits until the end of the UK summer to launch itself. It’s not interested in competing with all those juicey peaches, glossy cherries and perfumed little strawberries. It’s better than that, and I’m going to tell you why. It’s the whole package: a beautiful buxom, rain-drop shape; deep purple (or bright green) delicate, soft skin; and an intense, vibrant red flesh with hints of honey. It’s sweet, but perfectly balanced by a little zing of acidity.
And as a flower disguised as a fruit, it’ll be whatever you want it to be. Try it raw combined with creamy things such as mozzarella or Greek yoghurt or something salty like prosciutto or roast almonds. Or roast it to create the kind of caramel flavours only nature can come up with. I love it because it’s a fruit, but it’s filling. It’s amazing on its own, but give it a little olive oil, salt and pepper and you see a whole new side to it. See Something Sweet for a great recipe to celebrate my guy while it’s at its peak.
The Shameless Plug: My Book
When was the last time you energised your day with a decent lunch and a proper break? Let me help you with that. Make a ritual out of lunch again with my book, Let’s do Lunch. If you haven’t got your copy yet, it’s currently got a 30% discount with the publisher, HarperCollins.
Meet the Maker: Georgia from Papo’s bagels
Husband and wife duo, Georgia Fenwick-Gomez and Gabe ‘Papo’ Gomez have managed to create the ultimate New York bagel in London. They started from their home kitchen in lockdown and have grown into a business with hungry suppliers across London, nationwide delivery and a shop slinging some of the finest-sounding bagel sandwiches this side of Brooklyn. With seven different flavours, each and every bagel is still overseen by Papo himself. Indeed, the business is still entirely run by the two New Yorkers, who met over there and brought their baking skills and entrepreneurial spirit over here to us. Here’s Georgia’s story of how it all happened.
This journey started accidentally, simply out of our love for bagels and our homesickness for New York. And a little bit of friendly competition on Papo’s end as I was making sourdough in lockdown and he wanted to one up me.
The delivery of bagels gave us something to do while we were struggling to sit with ourselves at home. It was great for a while. But we soon found ourselves constantly in the car with our two young kids, then one and three, forever driving all around London and it all became a bit challenging.
We soon found a shared commercial kitchen that helped us to grow the budding business, but then we managed to outgrow that kitchen, which sent us on a long, long hunt for our own place.
Our first few days in the new kitchen, with all of our new equipment, was stressful. The bagels did not come out as we had previously known them to be. It took a lot of tweaking, along with the machinery not working, too much steam in the room…just one hurdle after the other. At the same time we were learning how to hire staff, become bookkeepers, parent while working insane overnight hours and stay happily married whilst running a business together.
We eventually got there.
This summer, our bad days look like our kids running around the bakery play fighting and screaming while we're both trying to work, trying to control the dough in the hot weather, and finding time for some family downtime. Papo always says it’s the love that goes into making them, which sounds a bit corny but he’s still hands on six days a week, along with all the other incredible people who work with us, and I think that shows.
Something to fill you up
Roast Aubergine with Garlic Yoghurt and Sweet & Sour Mango Sauce
We’re nearing the end of summer, but there are still a few summery ingredients that are just coming into their own - aubergines, peppers and figs (I may have mentioned them once or twice already!) - so let's celebrate them while we can.
I love this way of cooking aubergines. Cutting them thickly, giving them plenty of oil, a little seasoning and a hot oven creates that unmistakeable rich, buttery flesh. The secret is the very hot oven, plenty of oil and the baking paper which helps to both roast and steam at the same time. A dollop of cool, acidic Greek yoghurt and tangy, sweet mango makes for the most unbelievable mouthful. This is great scooped up and served with pitta bread, but I often serve with with a lamb chop or roast chicken when I have people over.
The mango sauce is a quick, cheat’s version of Iraqi amba sauce, which I will one day make from scratch (it involves leaving your mangoes out in the sun), but in the meantime, I cheat.
My how-to video is here.
Serves 4 as a side
3 medium aubergines, cut into 2cm thick slices
6 tbsp olive oil
½ tbsp Pul bieber or ½ tsp regular chilli flakes, plus extra, to serve
200g thick Greek yoghurt
1 small garlic clove
A big handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
1 lemon
100g mango chutney
Nigella seeds, to serve
Flatbread, to serve
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Line a large (or 2 small) baking tray with baking paper and drizzle over 2 tablespoons of oil. Spread out the aubergine slices in an even layer, then drizzle over the remaining oil, and sprinkle with the chilli flakes and some salt. Roast for 30-35 minutes until golden and tender in the middle.
Meanwhile, make the garlic yoghurt by grating the garlic straight into the yoghurt and stirring in 3 tablespoons of water so you have the texture of thick double cream. Season lightly.
Next, make the mango sauce by squeezing half the lemon into the mango (see, so easy!)
As soon as the aubergine comes out the oven, squeeze over the remaining lemon juice and sprinkle with the chopped mint.
Transfer to a platter and spoon over the yoghurt, drizzle over the mango sauce and scatter with the nigella and a few chilli flakes. Scoop it up with a flatbread or eat on the side of chicken or lamb.
Sesame, Orange and Fig Slice
From Bake it. Slice it. Eat it. by Tom Oxford & Oliver Coysh
Using seasonal, non-imported figs for this recipe can leave you with a relatively small window of availability. So, if you’re in a sticky situation fig-wise, and can’t find the fresh ones, try cutting up some dried figs and putting them in the mix, then dollop a few spoonfuls of fig jam on top. While the figs turn on the charm with some super-squidgy sweetness, the sesame adds an element of savoury complexity.
200g (7oz) caster (superfine) sugar
200g (7oz) soft brown sugar
200g (7oz) soft butter
3 medium eggs
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
250g (9oz) toasted sesame seeds
300g (10½oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8–10 whole ripe figs, quartered lengthways
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/320°F/gas 4 and line your 22 x 33 x 5cm (8½ x 13 x 2in) baking tray. Start by combining your caster sugar, brown sugar and butter in a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl, and beat until fluffy. Now add your eggs, one at a time, and beat until everything is well combined. Next, stir in the orange zest and juice, followed by 200g of the sesame seeds. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt until combined, then transfer the mixture to your baking tray, spreading it into the corners and levelling it out using a spatula.
Sprinkle over the remaining 50g of sesame seeds. Finally, press the figs on to the top of the cake, then bake for 40 minutes until the top becomes darker and the figs are nice and jammy. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack or chopping board. Best eaten still warm or cooled. This will keep for 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
12 tips for how to host without breaking a sweat - and even enjoy it! (Part 1)
Remember this mantra: REHEAT REHEAT REHEAT
1. Make sure everyone is invited for the same time and check for dietary requirements, because there’s always one, isn’t there?
2. Plan 1-2 days before what your menu will be. Check you have all the ingredients and buy anything you’re missing. You want to avoid dashing to the shops on your cooking day.
3. Keep the menu simple. My go-to is a substantial, seasonal salad or vegetables to start (such as the roast aubergine, above, or the roast tomatoes salad from this newsletter, a hot main course plus 2-3 sides, and a dessert and/or cheese.
4. Choose dishes that you’ve ideally made before and have a nice balance of rich and light. Try to balance your flavours so not everything is bold.
5. Do as much as you can in advance and write yourself a prep list for the cooking if you want to feel more in control.
6. Any element of the menu can be as time-consuming and complicated as you like, BUT just be sure to have it all done by the time people arrive (so you can REHEAT it). A good example of this is a homemade Thai curry paste. Time-consuming to make, but takes seconds to finish off.
7. Steer clear of anything that requires last-minute, attentive cooking or anything that smells strongly. I’d say frying fish falls into the latter camp and deep frying and and stir fries into the former. We’re avoiding sweating, remember. A bit of chopping, sprinkling and reheating is fine, but the aim is to be holding a conversation at the same time as cooking so they all need to be low-risk tasks.
8. Get your serving bowls and platters out before everyone comes and ideally have them warming.
9. Lay your table before everyone arrives or at least have all the cutlery etc out so the first person to arrive can do it for you.
10. Have some snacks such as crisps, olives or nuts out in bowls to keep people occupied when they first arrive, this will buy you time if you’re running behind, too.
11. If you want to serve cocktails, make sure you give this task to someone else so you can concentrate on cooking and hosting. Wine is easier to serve if you’re hosting alone.
12. And finally, lower your expectations of your self and the food. Don’t see this as an opportunity to show off your cooking prowess, but as a chance to make some easy, delicious food, drink too much wine and enjoy seeing your friends.
Part 2 will be a more detailed look into what dishes work and which ones don’t, coming in the next newsletter, out 30th September.