In My Kitchen – June 2014

At last! June with it’s promise of long sunny days, picnics, barbecues, days out at the seaside and lots of spanking fresh summer produce. The festival season has started and the big thing now is music festivals with fabulous food too; also horse racing and of course the start of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships – oh summer, how we have waited for you.

This month, my kitchen has been full of, among other things,  gorgeous fresh British produce – here, take a look…

Oven roasted British asparagus finished with parmesan and olive oil

In my kitchen I have British asparagus, which this year have been wonderful – I like to either griddle them or oven roast them and serve very simply with a drizzle of olive oil, some shavings of parmesan and perhaps a squeeze of lemon. The other night we even ate some sprue raw with a dip at a local pop up dinner event put on by Sutton Community Farm for our local food festival. The raw sprue were spectacular.

Jersey Royal potatoes

In my kitchen, I have Jersey Royal Potatoes. May/June is also  when the incomparable Jersey Royal potatoes are available. They have only been growing for about 130 years on the island of Jersey and have a Protected Designation of Origin. These kidney shaped tubers with their papery skins are fertilised with seaweed for a really unique and delicate flavour. There are only 20 farmers who cultivate and harvest this eagerly awaited potato and the we love the first few bags, simply boiled with a little salt and butter to finish them off – this really allows their unique flavour to shine. They also make the best potato salad…The history of how they were discovered is fascinating too – http://www.jerseyroyals.co.uk/about-jersey-royals/history.aspx

Red spring onions from my Sutton Community Farm veg box

In my kitchen, I had some of these red spring onions in my veg box which were wonderful in a potato salad. I have also had broad beans, yellow stalked chard, spring carrots and celeriac. This is when the veg box becomes really exciting!!

In my kitchen I’ve had these beautiful peonies brought over by a friend who came to tea. Peonies (and Casablanca lilies) are my favourite flowers – thank goodness for friends who know me so well! And I thought you might enjoy a photo of those Landscape bowls with the late afternoon sun shining through then…

In my kitchen I have  the Konditor and Cook by Gerhard Jenne of the gorgeous bakery/cafes in London. I won it (yes, again with winning cookbooks), this time from the lovely people at The Happy Foodie  for my Easter themed Pinterest board. I wasn’t the winner but had an email saying that they liked my board so much that they wanted to send me something and this beautiful book arrived . Konditor and Cook have five shops stocking their legendary cakes and pastries as well as 2 schools in London.

This is an artisan book – beautiful and well crafted recipes that are made with love and care. I can’t wait to try some of these out and share them with you. If you enjoy cooking and baking, I suggest that you sign up for the Happy Foodie’s newsletter – it is always full of inspirational recipes and stories. You can buy the book using this link  http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/the-konditor-and-cook-book-of-cakes/9780091957599 and it is also available on Amazon UK.  This is Amazon’s  biography of Gerhard Jenne – “I was practically born with a spoonful of Black Forest Cake in my mouth. And from my birthplace, Freiburg the gateway to the Black Forest, I progressed via licking out my mother’s baking bowls and completing an apprenticeship in my brother-in-law’s bakery to an even sweeter career as a Konditor (pastry chef). At first in Munich then in London where I made a name for myself as a celebrity cake maker – for real aristocracy as well as rock royalty.  With Konditor & Cook I was able to create my own set of recipes and contemporary decorative styles and soon the first shop on London’s South Bank was so popular, someone once said: ‘Every street corner should have a Konditor & Cook on it.” Who wouldn’t want to be born with a spoonful of Black Forest Cake in their mouth?!

In my kitchen I have The French Cafe Cookbook, sent over by a friend in New Zealand.

With gorgeous photography and a very inspirational story charting the journey of the chef and his wife to their popular restaurant in Auckland.

This is the sort of book from which to learn restaurant cooking techniques and adapt them for home use.

Home made lemon oil

I though that I would update you on my home made lemon oil. It has been steeping for nearly 3 weeks now and the lemon flavour is really coming through. A few of you including Celia, have either commented or tweeted that you have started your jars and I hope that you have remembered to open the lids and release the gas from time to time. It is a very simple recipe – unwaxed lemons in a sterilised jar topped up with a mild olive oil and steeped for at least 4 weeks in a cupboard. The original post is here.

Well, that is it from my kitchen this month.What have you been up to? Let me know via the comments box below.

The In My Kitchen series is is hosted by Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial where she is joined by bloggers from all over the world affording us a glimpse of what they’ve been up to. Many thanks to Celia for hosting this lovely series. Pour yourself a cuppa, click on the link and take a look at what others have been up to in their kitchens!

© Selma Jeevanjee and Selma’s Table, 2013, 2014. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material, including photographs without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Selma Jeevanjee and Selma’s Table with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.