Not even apple day!

It's ages since I reviewed a product. But I've been moved to action by Cawston Press and their apple and ginger juice.

It's delicious, refreshing and feels as if it's doing all kinds of good!

Go on - give it a try (as Neil Hannon would say).

Cous cous I said so

Since I got back from Morocco, the question I've been asked most is "how was the food?" People ask it in an envious, anticipatory way as if I'm going to tell them tales of world-class cuisine. I'd expect such hushed reverence if I said I'd returned from, say, Paris or rural Italy. But Morocco?

Many of my holidays are based around food experiences: you've probably noticed by now I'm quite partial to food! But when I booked the trip to Morocco I wasn't expecting world-beating cuisine. It turns out I was astute in my expectations.

Ok - Moroccan cuisine has the potential to be fantastic. The country grows fantastic fresh produce and makes use of a wonderful array of spices. There's a few well-known national dishes - tagine, cous cous, pastille, kefta, harira - and they're often cooked very well indeed. But ... it's all a bit....well, samey.

We travelled quite extensively around the country, from the west coast across to the Sahara in the east, across the Atlas and back over to the southern west coast. We experienced busy modern towns, old medinas, small villages, tiny outposts and touristy ports. We ate in fancy restaurants, family-run riads, remote service stations, small cafes full of locals, tourist traps and mock-European places. And my overriding food memory of the country can be summed up in one word: tagine.

There's a few exceptions. The 'Berber pizza' is worth a try, and reminded me of a lamb pasty. Some of the traditional Moroccan salads presented as appetisers in all the typical riad restaurants are delicious. The seafood in places like Essaouira makes a real change and is perfectly cooked. But these things stick in my mind primarily because they're exceptions. Most lunchtimes, wherever we'd just arrived, the menu choices were tagine, cous cous or kefta. Always in the same order, too - "tagine, cous cous, kefta" - like a menu mantra!

I did have one outstanding tagine: spiced chicken pieces with onion and tomato topped with a fried egg. It made a change from the standard chicken and lemon, lamb or meatball ones. Of course, I can't for the life of me remember the name of it! Anyone?

During our stay we found a leaflet listing the top restaurants in Morocco. I don't know who did the choosing! We were fortunate enough to visit three of them during our stay. One was completely overrated, one was pretty good and one - Le Patio in Essaouira - was outstanding. I ate fish with an olive cream followed by a delicious apple tart. The food was a fusion of traditional Moroccan and European; it still made use of excellent local ingredients but broke away from the menu-mantra. I feel a bit sad that my favourite food experiences in the country were the non-authentic ones, but that's the way it was.

Before I went, I asked someone on Twitter how he'd enjoyed the same tour a few years ago. He said it was excellent but "there's only so many tagines you can eat". My sentiments precisely.

Chilled out Spanish style

It's a while since I've been to Spain and I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms. I can barely hear a flamenco guitar without developing the shakes and starting to salivate.

There's one dish in particular I've had a craving for lately: salmorejo, a thick tomato soup-like sauce similar to gazpacho. I've never made it before but a quick search online gave me all the information I needed to fill the gaps in my knowledge.

The first thing I did was to tear a slice of stale bread into small pieces. I soaked it in one dessert spoon of white wine vinegar, a splash of water and a drizzle of olive oil. In the meantime I hard-boiled two eggs and cooked some asparagus (two minutes in a centimetre of boiling water with the saucepan lid on).

The only laborious bit is peeling tomatoes, a messy and tedious task. Next time I'm going to try with the skins on, and I'll let you know if it made a difference. Anyway, I chopped the peeled tomatoes, along with two small shallots.

Then comes the fun bit: blend the tomatoes, shallots and bread together with a little bit more olive oil, some black pepper and some paprika. A big electric blender would be ideal for this, so that you can drizzle in the extra oil and some water, if necessary, while it's going. I've only got a hand blender and a mixing bowl, however, so I got splattered quite a bit. My kitchen looked like a scene from a slasher flick by the time I'd finished.

After a few moments I wiped the tomato mush from my eyes and checked the consistency. You're looking for something like a very thick but smooth soup. Serve it in a shallow dish with the asparagus placed in the centre. For the final touches I grated the hard-boiled eggs over the top and added a few flakes of Serrano ham.

You absolutely have to serve it with crusty bread (a bit on the stale side if you want the authentic Spanish experience...) and a Spanish rose wine.

Things to do in Stansted when you're grounded

I always knew the time would come when hundreds of people would need my 'Stansted and surrounding area' restaurant reviews. And here it is: flights are still grounded across London because a volcano erupted in Iceland.

If you're stuck in the Stansted area with some time to spare and a rumbling stomach, try out some of these places I've written about in the past, all within easy reach of the airport by train, bus or cab.

Kim's Coffee House in Saffron Walden has a fantastic selection of tea and some great lunchtime snacks.

The Lemon Tree in Bishop's Stortford - a classy yet comfy restaurant with a traditional menu of well-cooked locally sourced delights.

The Cricketers in Clavering is a gastropub famous for giving birth to Jamie Oliver, or something.

Sandyford is a local vineyard, in Great Sampford where you'll always get a friendly welcome, a glass of good wine and some pretty views of the countryside.

Audley End House - an English Heritage stately home with lovely grounds and a good cafe. I can't promise apple-based food at this time of year, though.

Finally, there's a fantastic place called the Farmhouse Delicatessen in Stansted Mountfitchet. I've written about it many times but I can't find a post in which it's the nub and gist. It started solely as a deli, then added a few tables for lunchtime dining. It's now a fully-fledged cafe with a deli counter, and serves evening meals on Fridays and Saturdays (I think). The service is friendly and I'm never disappointed by the freshly-prepared local food.

Hope the skies clear soon ...

Spring, spring, spring

Spring is in the air and Easter is here, which immediately makes my food-brain turn to springy food. Eggs, asparagus, mushrooms, cabbage, watercress, beetroot, spring onions, etc.

One of my stand-by Easter lunches is scrambled eggs on toast with asparagus. It's dead easy to make and deliciously light. Add a bit of smoked salmon, if that's your bag.

Another favourite at this time of year is savoy cabbage and spring onions mixed into mashed potato, served with roast chicken or sausages. I may also try it with an oven-baked salmon fillet.

This evening's dinner will be tagliatelle with assorted mushrooms, spring onions, asparagus and a creamy sauce. Again it's awfully easy to make - just remember to add the cooked pasta into the sauce and vegetables, rather than pouring the sauce onto the pasta. It's the Italian way, apparently!

There: a whole post with no splash of red wine! Well, it's spring - rose or white would be far more appropriate ...

Soupy water

A colleague recently came into the office with a huge container full of carrots. Apparently she had a big bagful at home and felt obliged to munch them before they went off!

I immediately suggested she made carrot and coriander soup: it was my first thought. Other people later suggested carrot cake or batons to dip in hoummus, but I stuck to soup. I'm a very soupy person.

And then I realised I go around saying I'm 'soupy' but haven't made my own soup for ages and have a fairly limited repertoire of recipes.

So ... answers on a postcard, please. Let me know your favourite soup recipe by adding a comment here. And I'll make some, and tell you how I got on!

Cottage with an orange roof

I've just discovered cottage pie with sweet potato mash on top. Yes, I know I'm well behind the times!

Folk say it's better for you, but I'm not sure exactly why. In my book it just makes a nice change and tastes more interesting.

Cottage pie is surely one of the easiest and most satisfying things to cook. Just bung lean mince, chopped onions, carrots, beef stock and a bit of red wine in a frying pan and fry it until the mince is cooked. At the same time peel a couple of sweet potatoes, chop them into small cubes and boil them until soft and squishy. Mash the potato (on its own - no need for butter or any of that malarkey). Then you layer it all in an ovenproof dish with the potato on top and shove it into an oven for 20 minutes.

It makes great lunch leftovers too, and I've got a cunning tip for transporting it effectively. Set aside a small portion of each (mince mixture and potato) before it all reaches the oven. Place them side by side in a tupperware container to make sure it doesn't all go mixed-up and soggy. The next day, microwave the whole thing for a few minutes and layer it onto a plate, like a little orange-roofed cottage!