butterbean houmous

couldn't wait to eat it

Quickly made, butterbeans mixed some of the cooking liquid, together with a tablespoon of tamari, garlic, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Yum

RECIPE

half a tin of butterbeans (around 200g)
1 tbsp tamari
1 clove garlic
handful of parsley (leaves only)
olive oil
lemon juice (from half lemon/1 tbsp)
pinch of salt

Method

I use a stick blender, but you could mash the beans with a fork, or use a liquidiser instead. If you are using a fork, remember to chop the pasley and garlic really fine, otherwise you'll end up with parsley in your teeth and surprising lumps of garlic every few mouthfuls. DON'T go mad with the blender, the beans may become a bit chewy.

• drain the butterbeans, keeping back a little liquid
• put butterbeans, garlic, tahini, roughly chopped parsley, a couple of slugs of olive oil and blend until smooth, no longer
• add some liquid if it becomes a bit dry
• taste, and adjust salt if you like

amazing olive oil made by friends

you are unlikely to find a better olive oil than the one we received from Paula, Kevin and Alice

red fruit coulis - no sugar added

Coulis, is a jewel coloured fruit tang that adds a lot to desserts. Fancy chefs scribble on the plate with it, and sit chocolate mousses, cakes and more on top. It's a lovely supplement to a fruit salad, it's the ripple in the raspberry ripple, and it's a way to keep the flavour of red soft fruit without having the depressing sight of it turning into mush: it's mush with attitude.

On Sunday it worked brilliantly alongside Kitty's creme brulee (NB the creme brulee that was pronounced by a grateful cousin as the best he'd ever tasted). The coulis was made of thawed frozen fruit (500g bag of raspberries, redcurrants, blackberries and ... more). Instead of sugar I used 12 dates, soaked for a few hours in water (straight from the kettle, boiling water). The fruit was blended with the dates, along with the water and and the mixture was passed through a sieve to get rid of all those little pips that get stuck in your teeth, and in between your teeth. The result was a rich red, full bodied, flavoursome coulis, that will go very well with the meringues being made at the moment, from all the leftover egg whites. Sugar is used in the meringue, not dates. If your coulis is too thick, go mad, and add some more water.

Left over coulis can be frozen in ice cube trays and decanted into plastic bags. Unthickened coulis would top a cheesecake, a merveille.