Lemon, Mint and Poppy Tofu Salad

Here's a easy and almost fat free vegan salad. Generally I use a firm chalky tofu for salads as it gives bite and texture, silken tofu is nice but better for dessert making.
This is also the time of the year for excellent cucumbers and peas. Cucumbers are more fragrant than earlier crops and pea's are sweeter and juicer fresh from the pod. I highly recommend you shell your own pea's, this may be more laborious but definitely worth the reward.

500g firm smoked tofu
300g fresh peas
1 cucumber
70g washed rocket
4 lemons
4 tablespoons poppy seeds
6 springs of mint
1 green chilli
1 clove garlic
50ml extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Method:
Slice tofu into 2cm cubes and lay over baking tray. Juice the lemons and strain out the seeds, sprinkle tofu generously with salt then drizzle over the lemon juice and half the olive oil. Lastly sprinkle over poppy seeds and bake tofu in pre-heated oven set at 180oC for 20 minutes.
Finely dice chilli and garlic together, place a small pot over medium heat and add the remainder olive oil. Once oil is hot add, garlic, chilli, peas and a teaspoon salt, saute the peas till just tender then remove from heat. Using a potato masher very roughly mash the peas for a few seconds just to break the skin's a little.
Slice cucumber lengthways and scoop out the seeds, then cut into 2mm slice's. Once the tofu is cooked roughly chop the mint and sprinkle over tofu, when tofu has cooled down enough mix the mint and tofu together. To make the salad you can either make 4 individual portions or a large platter. First lay down rocket, sprinkle over cucumber and peas and lastly top with tofu and serve.

Iced Cascara (or Kaffeine's RedBull)

Cascara is a dried berry shell from coffee beans and currently a raging novelty in most serious coffee house's. I say novelty now but I'm pretty sure it will grow to be as popular as dare I say TEA! Usually served in teapots and left to brew for several minutes in hot water, much the same as tea but more potent in caffeine.
James the lead barista at Kaffeine asked me to come up with some sort of cascara based drink he could serve chilled during London's warmer months. I instantly thought cola or red bull but with less tooth decaying ingredients. We sampled 2 different cascara from El Salvador and settle on a variety that had a slight smoky and lingering fieriness to it but ultimately cooling thanks to the watermelon, lime and mint in the syrup. Best served with loads of ice and sparkling water on a stifling hot day to pick one's self up.       
60g cascara
1 watermelon
2 bramley apples
4 limes
750ml apple juice
1/2 bunch mint
3 cardamon pods
2 dried red chillies
125g sugar
Sparkling water to serve

METHOD:
Cut watermelon in half, remove the rind and discard, slice melon into 5cm cubes and put in large heavy based pot. Cut apples and limes into quarters and add to pot along with cascara, apple juice, mint, cardamon and dried chillies. Place pot over a medium heat and cook for 2 hours stirring once and a while to prevent sticking.
Place a large fine strainer (if your stainer isn't fine line with muslin cloth) over bowl and pour in cascara liquid, with the back of a large spoon press down on the sediment squeezing out any excess liquid. Put the cascara syrup back in a clean pot and add sugar, place pot over medium heat and cook for 20 minutes. Leave syrup to cool at room temperature then move into a 1ltr bottle and store in fridge.
To make a drink fill glass with ice cubes and pour in 50ml of syrup (around 3 tablespoons), add 250ml of sparkling water and stir.

Eat Your Greens Muffin

If I could wish for a last meal it would be oven bag roasted chicken served with sweet sticky roasted vegetables and drowning in Salsa Verde. I could seriously sit down to a jug of salsa verde and stale bread and be completely satisfied with its salty, sour, herby goodness. Which is why I've put all the essential ingredients for a green sauce into a very yummy savoury muffin. A popular item on last weeks menu with regulars and staff so why not bake a batch?

450g plain flour
100g butter
100ml butter milk
150ml milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
75g grated cheddar
60g fine capers
Small handful of rocket
Small handful of flat leave parsley
10 mint leaves
1 clove garlic
1 green chilli
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

METHOD:
Put butter in small sauce pan and place over medium heat to melt, once melted put butter to one side to cool slightly. In large mixing bowl place flour, baking powder,  soda, cheese and roughly mix together. Crush garlic, chilli and place on chopping board then add capers, rocket, parsley, mint and salt, roughly chop together into green salsa and add to dry mixture. Beat eggs in butter and pour into mixing bowl with buttermilk and milk, using a butter knife cut through the wet and dry combining together till just under mixed. Grease a 12 hold muffin pan with oil spray or butter and evenly distribute muffin mix in pan. Bake muffins at 180oC 25 minutes, once cooked leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.