Calçots and romesco sauce: perfect for the barbecue

Recently we had a spell of barbecue weather, so, of course, we made the most of it. I'd been lucky and had come by some calçots from the father of one of my daughter's school friends who's a fruit and vegetable wholesaler in Druid Street, Bermondsey (one of several who used to be based in Borough Market). He likes pickles, so I gave him some of my spiced apple chutney as a little 'thank you'. (I also had some wild mushrooms from him last autumn. Generous man.)

Calçots are like a cross between spring onions and leeks and are a Catalan speciality. I first encountered them on a visit to Torres (who are based near Barcelona) whose public relations I used to handle. Calçots have a short season late winter/early spring and the Catalans get very enthusiastic about them, grilling them over charcoal until the outer leaves are almost black and serving them with peppery, nutty romesco sauce. It's a messy, but delicious process, peeling off the burnt bits and dunking the hot, juicy calçots into the sauce. Well worth getting enthusiastic about.

Initially I was expecting to keep things simple and buy some romesco, but Spanish specialists Brindisa didn't stock it, but were able to sell me some piquillo peppers and fabulous blanched marcona almonds. I slightly adapted the Moro recipe which was pretty straightforward (I didn't have quite the right combination of peppers, but I don't think it matters that much as you make it as hot or mild as you like). The big surprise, though, was how well it also went with the chicken we were barbecuing as well. It just seemed brilliantly suited to grilled food.

Note: the romesco started off as a full-on garlicky Mediterranean mouthful, but mellowed and was quite mild when we finished it off a week later. Either way, our five-year-old also really enjoyed it. Once the weather improves, we'll definitely be making more.

Wine
The romesco was great with both white and red wine: Torres' crisp, refreshing and incredibly versatile Viña Sol (particularly good with the calçots) and a big, spicy Jumilla. (We played safe and stayed with Spain on both occasions, although southern French wines, especially from just across the border in Roussillon, would also work well.)

Romeso sauce
Serves 4
100g whole blanched almonds
50g shelled hazelnuts
*4 small dried red chillis (see below)
3 garlic cloves, peeled
6 tablespoons olive oil (more might be necessary)
50g stale white bread, cut into 1.5cm cubes
100g piquillo peppers or 1 large red bell pepper, roasted peeled and seeded
1-1.5 tablespoons red wine or sherry vinegar (or mixture of the two)
1 teaspoon tomato purée
40 strands saffron, infused in 8 tablespoons boiling water
half teaspoon sweet smoked Spanish paprika (or more to taste)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

* The original recipe suggests 4 dried ñoras peppers (small and round) and half a dried guindilla pepper (spiky in shape and like a large red chilli). Sweet and/or hot paprika can be used instead, although the result will obviously be a bit different.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Place the nuts on a tray and dry roast in the oven until light golden brown. This will take 10 minutes or so. Remove and cool. Rub the skins off the hazelnuts.

Meanwhile break open the dried peppers and remove the seeds; crumble peppers a little further. Place in a small bowl and cover with boiling water.

Fry two of the garlic cloves whole in the olive oil until coloured. Remove them with a slotted spoon and reserve. Use this oil to fry the cubes of bread until light brown. Keep the oil for later.

You can use a pestle and mortar to make the sauce (the traditional method), but a food processor is the easier option. Start by pounding/processing the bread, nuts, garlic and peppers (soaked and roasted). Keep the pepper water handy for later.

Tip this mixture (by now a course paste) into a large mixing bowl and stir in the olive oil, half the pepper water, vinegar, the remaining garlic clove (crushed), tomato purée, saffron and paprika. Check seasoning. If the sauce still looks too dry and thick add more oil and/or water. The sauce should have the consistency of a sloppy hummous.

Serve generously. (And, as mentioned earlier, the fierce flavours will mellow after a day or so.)

Galvin at Windows

A few weeks ago I had a call from a friend who was between jobs, suggesting a girls' lunch as a special treat. I've always been a huge fan of the set lunch at Le Gavroche, but it was too late to secure a booking there, however, scanning through places with a sense of occasion and luxury, Galvin at Windows (on the 28th floor of the Hilton on Park Lane) looked just the ticket for some midweek glamour.

Given that we both had school runs later that afternoon, we met for an early lunch and, thankfully, the skies were clear, so the views were spectacular. We settled on the menu du jour (two courses for £25, three courses for £29) and the accompanying flight of two glasses of wine for £9. They also offer a fuller set lunch deal of three courses with half a bottle of wine, water and coffee for £45 per person (on par with the set lunch at Le Gavroche). There were three choices for each course: for starter I was really tempted by the deliciously seasonal sounding poached breast of wood pigeon, pine nut purée, beetroot and elderberry jus. My friend had grilled mackerel, mackerel brandade, pickled cucumber and tomato dressing.

The keenly priced set menu wine selection included several impressive names, spanning the world and offering a broad range of styles. We enjoyed discussing the wines with enthusiastic and knowledgeable sommelier, Ashraf Saleh who had just visited Bordeaux. The impressive full main wine list includes a tempting selection of Champagne and sparkling wine (given that it's an ideal venue for celebrations), many wines by the glass and even some natural wines.

I was drawn to the rosé, Terra Alta Más Amor Rosado (Cataluña) by Christophe Brunet and Franck Massard (who met while working at Torres in Spain – and who I liaised with closely while I was the company's PR consultant). This was great with my pigeon, its spicy red fruit complimenting the sweetly gamey meat, beetroot and berries. It was also good with the flavoursome mackerel and salty brandade.

My friend was skipping wine with her main course, but I fancied some red with my slow cooked pork belly with puy lentils, swiss chard and clams. The Little Yering Pinot Noir struck me as the best choice – supple and fresh, but the sommelier also poured a small glass of Guigal Côtes du Rhône which worked well, too, with a little more earthiness and spice. The pork was meltingly tender and the clams provided a tasty contrast – a fulfilling, complete dish. My friend's steamed fillet of plaice, caper and raisin purée, romanesco and jus Véronique was delicate and subtly flavoured, the foam adding an appropriate touch of glamour. A perfect light lunch dish.

These were all excellent dishes with a lovely seasonal feel, but my only criticism is that the portions were limited. I felt as though I could have devoured everything in the bat of a heavily mascara'd eyelid. Consequently, we had plenty of room for dessert – again, beautifully judged, delicious dishes. We shared spiced honey glazed black fig, goat cheese Bavarian cream with pain d'épices ice cream and carrot cake, caramelised walnut purée, lime and coriander sherbet. The sommelier also kindly treated us to glasses of sparkling dessert wine to round off our lunch.

The goat cheese cream was a welcome tangy contrast to the decadently sweet fig and the lime and coriander sherbet was fresh and palate cleansing alongside the light-as-a-feather carrot cake. There was another glamorous touch with the delicately flavoured carrot foam. The Ice Cuvée was a light and perfumed and made a very pretty accompaniment.

We concluded our lunch with fresh mint tea, chocolates and home-made marshmallows while chatting to general manager, Fred Sirieix, before a quick tour behind the scenes through the kitchen and onto the staff balcony (see opening picture). We felt thoroughly spoilt and it was a great end to an already memorable lunch. We headed off on our respective school runs, me clutching a goodie bag of marshmallows which my daughter and friends were treated to in the park. Lucky girls!

Galvin at Windows
The Hilton Hotel
22 Park Lane
London W1K 1BE
Tel 020 7208 4021
www.galvinatwindows.com

Summery all-in-one roast

So tasty and almost unspeakably easy, this is ideal for a weekday supper or a more classic Sunday roast dinner. I just love this recipe as you feel as though you literally throw everything together, pop it in the oven, check a couple of times and, low and behold, you have a really satisfying meal.

In this instance I had some free-range chicken thighs and drumsticks, potatoes, red and yellow peppers and celery. Just remember to cut the vegetables into quite large pieces so that everything cooks together happily at the same time. Once you've added the chicken and vegetables to a large roasting pan, pour over olive oil. Using your hands, turn everything around so that it's well coated in the oil. I also included a couple of lemons (quartered), sprigs of thyme, heads of garlic (sliced through) and plenty of salt and pepper to season.

Roast in the oven at 200°C for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the meat is cooked through. It's best to check a couple of times and give everything a good stir so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Dish up onto warm plates and enjoy (see opening picture). I also cook this dish with onions, carrots, courgettes, pork or lamb cutlets – whatever's handy. We had some gravy with our chicken, but a dab of mustard would be good, too. (By the way, this was the last proper meal we cooked in our old oven, so the colour does look a bit uneven.)


Wine recommendation

A ripe, oaked Mediterranean white would be a lovely choice such as Gran Viña Sol from Torres near Barcelona, or you could cross the border into France for some garrique-scented red from the Languedoc-Roussillon.