It
really is a joy to eat outside and better still to be able to
prepare food to be eaten cold or at room temperature. I was at
fundraiser last Monday evening and had a lovely chat with a wonderful
farmers wife who we also buy delicious honey from and she was
telling me that they Bar-B-Qed a couple of marinated shoulders
of lamb and only ate one and had the other cold– the smoke had
done its’ stuff and the result was fantastic in fact the cold
one was better. It sounded so good that we did it on the weekend
and she was right! The next time you are BBQing, toss on a shoulder
of lamb and eat it the next day – real get a head food!
Tomato Jelly
Serves 6-8
200g cherry tomatoes, halved and chilled
6 leaves gelatine
140ml tomato juice
Salt and pepper – quite a lot of salt as this is being served
cold
1 tsp Tabasco Sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
3 garlic cloves, peeled, and crushed
1 large bunch of basil
1 tsp caster sugar or I tbsp of an aged Balsamic vinegar
425ml passata –
Put the tomatoes into 6 ramekins and chill.
Soak gelatine in cold water until they are soft, drain add
gelatine to the tomato juice. Over a bain marie stir until melted
and syrupy. Add the Tabasco, Worcestershire, garlic, salt, pepper
and sugar to the gelatine and stir to dissolve then remove from
heat and cool for a few minutes. Tear up the Basil leaves and
add to the spicy mix. Taste the mix and adjust seasonings.
Pour the passata into the mix and stir well. Pour the passata
mix over the tomatoes making sure each ramekin also has a bit
of basil. Cover and refrigerate until set min 3 hours. You can
either turn the jelly out onto a bed of rocket leaves with grilled
artichokes and a drizzle of good olive oil or serve in the ramekin
with toasted pitta bread.
Top Tip:
As you know I am already a big fan of Fever Tree Tonic and Bitter
lemon and now those clever people are doing a Ginger Ale and
it is wonderful – this is a company that is really taking great
care to get the taste of their products just right. Come the
autumn I can see us serving it with Berry Bros & Rudd’s
King’s Ginger Liqueur as a mixer. Seek it out and buy it! www.fever-tree.com