FRESH GARLIC VICHYSSOISE

Too hot for soup. But not for a chilled one. 

This cooled soup is smooth and light, and thanks to the surprisingly enormous amount of fresh garlic, it has a lovely, earthy sweetness.

I imagine this to be eaten from a thermos in the park, or from tiny bowls with tiny poached quails egg to garnish. Oh, and if the weather forces on our anoraks, have it hot.

FRESH GARLIC VICHYSSOISE

serves 2

25g butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large leek, roughly chopped, white bit only

15 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and halved

1 potato, peeled and chopped

500ml chicken stock

150ml double cream

1/4 tsp ground mace or nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt, extra to serve

generous pinch coarsely ground black pepper

2 ice cubes

2 quails eggs (optional)

handful parsley leaves, finely chopped

Melt the butter in a medium pan and add the olive oil. Add the onion and slowly cook to soften but not colour. Then, add the leek and the halved garlic cloves and fry on a low heat for 5 minutes. Now add the potato and, after two minutes on a gentle heat, pour in the stock. Simmer the soup, unseasoned at this point, for 20 minutes. Do not bring to the boil as this may spoil the flavour of the garlic.  

Leave the soup to cool slightly before pouring it into a blender. Add the cream and seasoning and whizz. Pour, through a sieve, into a jug and taste - it may be tempting to add more at this stage but I'd leave it to cool completely before adding more salt. 

Making sure the soup has cooled down completely add the ice cubes to the jug, cover and leave in the fridge for an hour or until ready to serve.

Just before serving, bring a small pan of water to the boil. Take the pan off the heat. Drop in the shelled quails eggs, one by one, from a small cup that is almost touching the surface of the water. Leave to cook for 1 minute and remove with a slotted spoon.

Serve the soup into small bowls and carefully place the egg on top. Scatter with parsley and light drizzle of oil. 

SMOKED MACKEREL PATE

Golly, lunchtime sandwiches are dull.

Dry, slapdash towers of bread, fumbly constructed at home with leftover hummus from the back of the fridge. Or worse, slimy, week-old slithers of starch bought in a hurry at the nearest supermarket. If only we could justify the daily, dripping, pastrami-stuffed loaf you get at Mishkins. We all wish we had the time and temper to make our own deli sarnie before work but, well, it never really happens. Opening eyes, washing hair and getting dressed have to be conquered first.

What we need is a put-it-together-last minute kind of sandwich - fresh, quick, cheap and easy. No soggy bread, no squished middle, no irritating cling film, no effort.

The Danes have nailed it with their open sandwich. Freshly baked rye piled high with cured meats, smoked cheese, and soused fish. Elegant, sophisticated, healthy, zero struggle.

Here's how you can get there. Make this smoked mackerel pate the night before, put it in a jar , pop it in your bag, and smother it on rye or crisp breads for a scrumptious munch. The shallot pickle takes a few minutes, the pate a matter of seconds.

Ditch the old sandwich - within moments you've got a mini smørrebrød for one.

SMOKED MACKEREL PATE AND PICKLED SHALLOTS

serves 1-2

ingredients

for the pate:
2 fillets smoked mackerel, skin removed
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp Dijon mustard
good sprinkling of black pepper
pinch salt

for the pickled shallots:
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 large echalion shallot, finely sliced

Whizz all of the pate ingredients together to make a smooth paste. Place in an airtight, sterilised jar and keep cool in the fridge until ready to use.

For the pickle, place the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and set over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the shallots and simmer for a few minutes until soft. Leave to cool slightly and serve, or cool completely and place in another jar until you're hungry.

Serve on Ryvita and, if you have an extra minute, a beetroot and watercress salad.

DINING AL COPERTO...

Looking out through the open shutters of my Bolognese top floor apartment, with the single-glazed windows very much shut, I try to escape the fact that April showers, even in Italy, are no match for a picnic in the sun. In fact, the thought of a downpour ruining a lovingly made hamper of homemade hummus, prosciutto cotto, and freshly baked bread seems far too sad to swallow. In spite of my well-known optimism when it comes to weather, especially when it involves food, today the rain has beaten me down to, 'perhaps let's have a picnic inside...' This, however, with a little bit of imagination and good company, can be just as fun as the real thing.

Many may go against this and say that a picnic isn't a picnic if it isn't al fresco, but if you have all the necessary ingredients, not just the food, then it can work brilliantly.

Step one, choose a room with lots of light.

Step two, lay out a large and colourful rug in the middle of the floor.

Step three, put on a Cd of rare birdsong of England - and you are there!

No. Really, there is a much more stylish and convenient side to all of this. The ease of being close to the kitchen sink, evading gusts of wind that may tip over the soup-filled thermos, or stray dogs polishing off your favourite pork and apple sausages makes fun of the old and lets on to a new love for the home front.

Now, the definition of PICNIC by http://yourdictionary.com/ tells us this:

pic·nic (pik′nik)
noun
1. a pleasure outing at which a meal is eaten outdoors
2. a shoulder cut of pork, cured like ham
also picnic ham or picnic shoulder
or Slang
3. a pleasant experience
4. an easy task

I think this description is almost accurate...By all means I prefer the outdoor picnic - the fresh air, the rosy glow, the green trees and Frisbee - but when the heavens open, where is the fun in soggy bread and finding shelter under dripping leaves? Inside there are no weather restrictions and you could, if desired, have a breakfast, lunch and dinner picnic. If it's the outdoors you love, head out for a wet and windy walk to ease off the 'pleasant experience' of 'a meal eaten [indoors]'...