Arctic Cloudberry: side dish

Cauliflower and chèvre purée - so delicious and elegant you would never guess how easy it is

22:21

This goat cheese and cauliflower mash is either an elegant silky accompaniment to some delicately cooked lamb or a robust and comforting bed on which to serve the weeknight protein of choice.

I got the idea originally from my sister. Her husband's sister had served them lamb with a cauliflower and chèvre purée which apparently had been restaurant quality and with the amount of l'accents should bloody well be.

Our surroundings at the moment are not restaurant quality, everywhere is covered with boxes of tiles and a layer of dust regardless of my obsessive but futile daily mopping and dusting. We have the world's most useless builder doing our bathroom and it's taking forever. But at least because we have to go shower at the gym we will get some accidental extra exercise and in the end we may be slightly less perfectly fresh but our buns will be steel and abdomens can be used as dinner gongs in Downton Abbey – the Movie.

It is a bit of a palaver though because every time you go to gym you forget something critical, like clean clothes and after the workout and shower you have to go home commando in sweaty running pants. Or you forget your towel and have to skulk around the dressing room starkers and wipe yourself dry with the side of your palm.

Husband is not as enterprising or persevering so tonight when he forgot his towel he just turned back defeated halfway and asked if there was a chance of a nice dinner instead.

And of course there was because I was dying to do this cauliflower concoction.

I had a couple of haddock fillets, nothing exciting but pretty lovely when seasoned to perfection and fried in a bit of oil and butter. But the real excitement of the evening was the cauliflower and goat cheese mash. I made it a bit more robust, even left it rustically (rustic is kind of like lazy but stylishly and intentionally so) lumpy rather than pure until silky smooth. I also did it a bit more filling with half cauliflower and half potato. But you could do it with just cauliflower.

Husband initially questioned the smell emanating from the kitchen, but when I assured him it was a totes legit smell of boiling cauliflower and nothing to do with the bathroom works he relaxed and happily consumed a healthy portion of the mash and fish.

Cauliflower, potato and goat cheese mash

Cauliflower and chèvre mash

400g cauliflower

400g potatoes

salt

water

150g soft goat cheese

2 tbsp of mascarpone or butter

Remove the stalk of the cauliflower and cut the vegetable into pieces. Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Put the cauliflower and potatoes in a pan and cover with water. Add salt. Bring to boil and simmer until vegetables are cooked. Drain reserving some of the water.

Add the chevre and mascarpone or butter. Mash or blend until smooth adding water depending on how thick or thin you like it. Check seasoning and add salt if necessary.

almond

Persian Jewelled Rice for Crystal Fairy Royalty

16:01

feta

Lemon orzo and rice with herbs and feta - the awesomest rice dish you'll ever have

18:00

Persian rice - you've just had your butt kicked, tahdig and all. This Greek style rice and orzo pilaf recipe was a new experiment for me, but I can't wait to do it again. And again. I can't see rice getting much more awesome than this although I may surprise even myself with my obvious talent for rice cookery. But for now this remains my finest hour at the handles of my rice pan.

Greek rice and orzo pilaf with lemon and feta

The recipe for this dish was a bit of a combination of different things I have seen online - originally I planned to do this in the oven with the chicken pieces cooking on top of the rice which I will try at some point. I can imagine the chicken juices making the rice even more delicious, although it's hard to imagine how it could be any tastier.

But yesterday I changed our dinner plan a bit because the weather was so gorgeous and I wanted to light the BBQ. We were out all afternoon enjoying the sun. We drove down to Runnymede to walk by the river, but actually it is a bit of a disappointing spot. There are much nicer walks along the river Thames. But oh well, at least we have now seen this historically important place although there is little to see. We walked on the vast open fields where King John signed the charter and visited the Magna Carta memorial. All that contemplating and discussing the importance of freedom and democracy made us thirsty so driving back into town we stopped in a little pub in Barnes.

One thing that again baffled me though was the car park picnickers. I have seen them a lot in the various car parks of places we've visited, country parks, historic houses etc. People drive to places like this to spend their day sitting next to their car. Between rows of cars. Why? Why would you drive to a lovely riverside location or a country park and not walk the 50 meters to do your picnic by the river or in the park. Surely no one can be that lazy? You go through the trouble of packing your cooler bags with food and drink, you pack your folding chairs and a table in your car, then risk your mental and physical health on M25 to sit behind your car in the car park rather than the actual beauty spot the car park is there for. Oh well, each to their own I guess.

So once back at home I quickly chucked the chicken in marinade. I should have done it in the morning, but it turned out fantastic although it didn't have long to marinade. I made quite a potent marinade of lots of lemon juice and zest, garlic, thyme, oregano, oil, salt and pepper and let the chicken pieces swim in it until the BBQ was ready.

But the star of the show, the belle of the ball was the rice. If you don't try this immediately you are crazy.

Greek rice and orzo with lemon, feta, oregano and thyme

Greek rice and orzo pilaf with lemon and feta recipe (serves 4)

Oil

1 1/2 cups basmati rice

1/2 cups orzo

1/2 leek

1 yellow onion

3 cloves of garlic

black pepper

2 heaped tbsp of fresh (or 2 tsp of dried) thyme

2 heaped tbsp of fresh (or 2 tsp of dried) oregano

Juice and zest of one lemon

3 cups chicken stock

100g feta

Rinse the basmati under cold water until water runs clear. Soak in salted water minimum 30 minutes. Drain.

Chop the onion and leek. Mince the garlic and herbs if you are using fresh herbs. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a non-stick deep pan with a lid. Fry the onions and leek on medium heat for a few minutes, add the garlic and continue frying for another couple of minutes. Add the herbs, pepper, drained rice and orzo and cook for a few minutes stirring the rice constantly, stir in also the lemon zest and juice.

Add the chicken stock and cover the pan leaving it bubbling on low to medium heat. Cook until rice is cooked but still a bit al dente. There should be no liquid left at this stage, if there is let it cook uncovered for a while. Then wrap the lid in a clean kitchen towel, cover the pan with it tightly and leave on a very low heat to steam. You can leave it for 10-20 minutes easily and it will be lovely, the key is the kitchen towel that will soak the steam and leave your rice lovely and unmushy.

When ready to serve check the seasoning, mix in the cubed feta and sprinkle some fresh herbs on top. I can imagine a handful of olives would be nice in it also.