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We have had a HOT summer in London and although I love cooking I simply have not felt like turning the oven on.
I’ve been making a lot of chilled watermelon, feta salads like this one and leaning heavily on cold noodle bowls and precooked prawns (God bless you M&S)
Our BBQ has had a lot of action. We ate some VERY good sea bream with a gloriously fresh citrus olive salsa last week. And whenever we BBQ, I tend to follow the cook- once-eat-twice rule. Everything from chicken thighs to carrots and broccoli goes on there. I’ll usually whip up some spicy salsa situation and then the leftovers will get shredded, chopped and tossed into some cold grains or pre cooked lentils for tomorrow’s lunch. I would be lost without these.
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Before I went away I froze some watermelon plus the juice of four limes with the sole intention to make frozen watermelon margaritas when I got back and I AM SO GLAD I DID. Because we had a no cook feast and it was EXCELLENT.
On the menu
FROZEN SPICY WATERMELON MARGARITAS
GINGER MARINATED TOMATOES ON SPICY GREEN SAUCE
SESAME TUNA TARTARE WITH AVOCADO CREMA
As I said, it’s been hot. Really hot! So I had no intention of doing any form of cooking last weekend. All of these recipes come together with no need to switch on the oven or the hob! x
My cookbook Cooking Made Simple is currently 24% off on Amazon. Thank you SO much to those of you who have purchased and cooked from it already. If you would like your own copy you can get one here!
Makes 4-6
4 big handfuls chopped watermelon, frozen
200ml blanco tequila
1 jalepeno (optional)
70 ml triple sec or spicy Cointreau
4 cubes frozen lime juice fresh lime juice
Squeeze of honey or agave if you like
Tajín and fresh lime for the glass
Ensure your watermelon is frozen. I froze the lime too but this isn’t compulsory.
For an extra spice kick, slice the jalapeno and add a jug with the tequila. Allow it to infuse for 30-60 minutes.
Strain out the jalepeno and seeds first, then add the frozen watermelon, tequila, Cointreau and lime juice (plus honey if you like) to a blender with the ice and blend until smooth.
Pour into tajin rimmed cocktail glasses or into ice filled tumblers.
Serves 4-6
650g mixed tomatoes
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and frozen
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
½ clove of garlic finely grated
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
For the spicy green sauce
1 large bunch coriander or parsley (approx. 75)g
1 bunch mint (approx. 50g)
½ small garlic clove
1-2 green or jalepeno chilliies
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of sugar
Juice 1/2 lime
100g plain yogurt
Make the spicy green sauce first. Pluck the leaves from the stems of the herbs and blitz in a food processor with the remaining ingredients until smooth. Chill into ready to serve.
Grate the frozen ginger into a bowl and combine with the sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic and sesame seeds. Toss through the tomatoes and allow to sit for ten minutes.
Spoon the green sauce onto a plate and top with the tomatoes.
Serves 4-6
A classic recipe for avocado crema would likely call for sour cream but I always have yogurt in the fridge and prefer it this way.
For the sesame tuna tartare
400g sashimi grade tuna, chopped into roughly 1cm cubes
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp tamari
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp mirin
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (plus more to serve)
For the avocado crema
2 avocados
100g Greek yogurt
lime juice to taste
salt
plus your favourite corn chips, to serve
Make the avocado crema first, place everything into a food processor or high speed blender and blitz until smooth.
Chop the tuna into roughly 1cm sized cubes and toss with the toasted sesame oil, tamari, rice wine vinegar, mirin and a good pinch of fine sea salt and the sesame seeds. Season to taste adding more tamari or salt as you prefer.
Serve with fresh coriander, lime wedges and your favourite corn chips.
I’ll be joining the brilliant Chef Director of Thyme Charlie Hibbert, to cook supper at the beautiful Thyme in The Cotswolds. Supper will be four coursers and there is an optional talk before supper too. Thyme is one of Englands most special places and if you can make a night of it I do recommend staying!
BIG LOVE and see you next week
Alexandra
x💋x💋
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