When TS Eliot said, "April is the cruellest month", it was intended as more than a meteorological observation. The natural upheaval of spring creates stirrings and yearnings in us that will often, in the end, be confounded or painfully thwarted. At the same time, to add insult to psychological injury, it certainly takes the mickey weather-wise.
As I write this, I've no idea whether we'll be basking in spring sunshine by the time it's published, or whether we'll still be shivering by our firesides, or indeed watching horizontal rain batter against the window panes. Of course, all those scenarios might be true in different parts of the country – or, indeed, in the same part of the country on the same day – but the colourful, all-over-the-place, predictably unpredictable tableau of our spring weather is something to embrace. It's invigorating and, in any case, it's not as if we can do anything about it.
The weather adds its impetus to what I'm doing in the kitchen almost as much as the early spring harvest from the veg garden. Changeable skies, combined with the tail end of the "hungry gap", with its dwindling supply of fresh homegrown veg, lead me towards a kind of blended cooking that tosses and tumbles what's local and still somewhat wintery with more exotic, imported ingredients that speak of sunshine.
This sort of commingling often comes up trumps in the taste department. Lift a familiar ingredient out of its ordinary context, marry it with something to which you wouldn't normally even think ofintroducing it, and you can produce some exciting chemistry. Earthy, early spring broccoli or kale teamed with garlic and preserved lemons starts to feel positively seductive, for instance. And you can really bring a rice pudding out of itself by scenting it with fragrant spice and setting it up with a sweet, juicy orange salad.
In the same vein, I've been finishing my customary hungry gap root veg soups with vivid swirls of red harissa, yoghurt and olive oil; my carrot or cabbage slaws are studded with almonds and raisins; and saffron and orange zest have found their way into my rhubarb compotes.
So, built around a few stalwart vegetables, a good old chicken, some store-cupboard staples and asprinkling of North African-inspired extras, this week's recipes represent a sort of in-or-out, rain-or-shine feast. Together, they form amenu I could imagine being the very first alfresco meal of the year or, just as easily, a comforting repast to be enjoyed, hunkered down in awarm kitchen, while the rain pelts down outside. It's food to improve your mood whatever the weather.
Halloumi with purple sprouting broccoli and preserved lemon salad
It's around this time that my purple sprouting broccoli tends to get its last outing, and I can't think of a nicer way to bid it goodbye for another year than with this robust salad, spiked with gorgeously salty-sour preserved lemon rind. You can also use other spring greens for this. Serves four as a starter.
300g purple sprouting broccoli (orkale)
250g pack halloumi
½ preserved lemon
25g almonds, lightly toasted and roughly bashed
For the dressing
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
A scrap of crushed garlic (about ¼ ofa clove's worth)
½ tsp English mustard
½ tsp honey
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
Trim the coarser ends off the broccoli stems – with some late-season PSB, this may mean discarding quite a lot, but it makes the finished dish far more delectable. Steam the broccoli over boiling water for four to five minutes, until tender to the point of a knife (or, if using kale, wilted); or bring a large pan of water to a boil, add the broccoli, cook until tender (three to four minutes), then drain.
Meanwhile, whisk or shake together all the dressing ingredients. As soon as the broccoli is done, toss it in half the dressing and keep warm.
Heat a cast-iron grill pan (or other heavy-based pan) over a medium flame. Cut the halloumi into 7mm slices, then cut each slice in half, so you have slim rectangles. Lightly oil the cheese, add to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until tender and golden brown.
Arrange the broccoli on four plates, lay the halloumi on top and trickle over the remaining dressing. Finely chop the preserved lemon rind and scatter over, then add the almonds and serve.
Chicken with olives
Delicate spicing and fat green olives give this stew a hint of the exotic. Serves four to six.
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and chopped
2 stems celery, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
1 large free-range chicken, jointed (or about 1.5kg chicken pieces, skin-on, bone-in)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and roughlychopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
100ml white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tin tomatoes, crushed
150g whole green olives
½ tsp sugar
Heat two tablespoons of oil in alargecasserole, add the onion and celery, cover and sweat them down gently for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a frying pan, heat another tablespoon of oil. Season the chicken pieces and, working in batches, brown them well in the oil and set aside in a bowl.
Add the garlic, chilli, cumin and coriander to the onion mixture, cook for a few minutes more, then add the browned chicken, along with any juices from the bowl.
Deglaze the chicken-browning pan with the wine and add this to the pot, too. Add the bay leaf, crushed tomatoes, olives, sugar andsome salt and pepper (go easy on the salt at this stage), then enough water almost to cover the meat. Bring to a boil, then reduce toa very low simmer and cook, covered, for 45 minutes or until themeat is very tender – rearrange the chicken pieces halfway through, to ensure even cooking. Season to taste and serve with a big pile of couscous and some fiery harissa paste on the side.
Chilled cardamom and orange flower rice pudding with orange salad
The perfumed flavours of cardamom and orange flower water take this classic pudding in a whole new direction. If they don't appeal, the pud is still delicious cooked without them. Serves six.
1 litre whole milk
50g caster sugar
10 cardamom pods, bashed or lightly crushed
100g pudding rice, rinsed anddrained
1 tsp orange flower water (or to taste)
For the orange salad
5 large oranges
3 tbsp caster sugar
Put the milk, sugar and bashed cardamom pods in a large saucepan and bring slowly to a simmer, stirring todissolve the sugar. Add the rice and cook gently over a very low heat, stirring often, until it is swollen, tender and the texture of avery loose risotto. This should take in the region of 45-50 minutes. Transfer the rice to a bowl or dish and leave to cool, stirring it now and then to prevent a skin forming on top. When cold, stir in the orange flower water, then transfer to the fridge to chill.
Meanwhile, make the orange salad. Finely grate the zest from one of the oranges into a small saucepan. Slice all the peel and pith away from all the oranges. To do this, cut aslice off the base of each and stand the orange on a board. Then use asharp knife to cut down through the peel and pith, slicing it away completely, in sections. Now slice out the segments from between the membranes, working over a bowl tocatch the segments along with any juice. Squeeze out the juice from theorange membranes into thepan with the zest, and strain the juice from the sliced segments into the pan, too. Add the sugar. Stir over agentle heat until the sugar is dissolved, bring to a boil, boil for one minute, then remove from the heat. Once cool, pour over the orange segments and stir gently.
Serve the rice pudding in scoops with a spoonful of the juicy orange salad on top.
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