New beginnings and time to reap the fruits of the garden harvest
Since lockdown has eased and many businesses are now up and running, the pitter-patter of work returns in dribs and drabs for me. Still not teaching cookery classes or hosting supperclubs and with a new book out this month, my usual three-month tour schedule has been replaced by an online version packed with talks, Q&As, cook-alongs and the like. I’ve even been doing some filming at home for a TV show due to air in autumn and whilst getting back in the swing has been a bit of a shock to the system, it has made me feel that all is not lost and there are signs of a normality of sorts.
Like everyone, for me the year has been about adapting. Who’d have thought I would be filming for a TV show from my dinky little kitchen? Similarly, I’d never have believed that restaurants like Tommy Banks’ Roots and Black Swan would launch UK-wide delivery services like ‘Made in Oldstead’ sending their food up and down the country.
As summer comes to a close, I wonder what the remains of the year will look like. Will we able to see each other, hold each other, laugh together without restrictions? By Christmas will we be able to gather the way we always have and celebrate together in a glorious food and drink-induced slump?
For now, my beautiful Yorkshire garden provides me with an endless source of joy. The currants and gooseberries have been preserved and turned into jams and sauces. I even picked a few cheeky early apples which I made into apple sauce with extra sugar and also quick-pickled a second batch which I added to spicy pork wraps. I am really looking forward to the autumn fruit bounty of pears, apples and plums but for now, the damsons are looking fantastic and a fiery damson ketchup is on the cards. The abundance of fruit and the beauty of nature in this gorgeous part of the world is keeping me from losing my mind and certainly puts a smile on my face. Sweetcorn is something I love with every meal and there is no better time to enjoy it, as it is bang in season. This gorgeous sweetcorn salad is the perfect accompaniment to any meal, rain or shine and I named it after my friend Milli, who loves my salads and especially this one.
So, I give you Milli’s Corn Salad, a perfect way to end the summer on a flavourful note.
Milli’s charred sweetcorn salad
Serves 4–6
Once in a blue moon, I sheepishly agree to cook a meal for a talented chef friend of mine named Milli Taylor. Milli is one of those doubly talented individuals who not only makes food that tastes amazing, but her creations look beautiful, too. She always enjoys my salads, and this one in particular – a rainbow salad, as she calls it. She has good taste – it’s also a favourite of mine.
Ingredients
2 sweetcorn cobs
400g can heart of palm, drained and cut diagonally into 1cm-thick slices
300g baby tomatoes, halved
ó red onions, sliced into half moons
ó small packets (about 15g) of fresh
coriander, roughly chopped
For the dressing
3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon harissa
Juice of ó fat limes
Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly
ground black pepper
Method
Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cook the corn cobs in a saucepan of simmering water for 10 minutes, or until soft but not completely tender, then drain. Preheat a griddle pan over a high heat and griddle the corn cobs for 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until charred in places. Remove from the heat and transfer to a chopping board.
Hold the sweetcorn cobs vertically and, using a sharp knife, cut down to slice off the kernels, then put them in a mixing bowl.
Arrange the heart of palm, corn kernels, tomato and red onion on a serving platter. Dot with the dressing, then scatter over the coriander and serve.
Taken from Bazaar: by Sabrina Ghayour published by Mitchell Beazley, £25.
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