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Thomasina Miers’ recipes for chilaquiles with smoky tomatillo salsa and black beans, and pink grapefruit mocktail
You wouldn’t think of nachos as a natural way to start the day, but then nachos are simply a (more delicious) copy of a dish found throughout Mexico, where the tortillas from the day before are fried or baked until crisp and tossed in a salsa of your choice. Here, I use the acidity of tomatillo, which is given some smokiness and heat by chipotle chillies, and add a fried or poached egg and a squeeze of lime to make a seriously good brunch.This is traditionally a breakfast dish, but I also love it for dinner. Cook the beans in advance and keep in the fridge, like a secret weapon.Prep 15 min Cook 1 hr 30 min Serves 4-6 2-3 tbsp oil Juice of 2 limes300g corn tortillas Salt and black pepper4-6 eggsFor the beans 60g butter, plus 1 tbsp extra 1 medium onion, peeled and finely diced 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped 1 tbsp chipotle en adobo 450g cooked black beans 1 star aniseFor the salsa 1 large red onion, peeled and cut into wedges3 garlic cloves, unpeeled 300g fresh plum tomatoes 1 red chilli 30g coriander, roughly chopped, plus extra leaves to serve1 tsp cumin seeds 2 tbsp chipotle en adobo About 300g jarred tomatillo salsa – I like the ones made by Gran Luchito and Cool Chile Company50ml extra-virgin olive oilTo serve 120ml soured cream 60-80g feta ½ red onion, peeled and very finely sliced 2 ripe avocados, halved, stoned, peeled and sliced Lime wedgesHeat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6
Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for beetroot and celeriac gratin with goat’s cheese and walnuts | Quick and easy
I make variations on beetroot gratin all the time, and this one with celeriac, dill and goat’s cheese is an absolute winner. You’ll want to use a mandoline (very carefully) for the celeriac, to make sure it’s sliced thinly enough to cook through in half an hour (alternatively, do everything in a food processor using the slicing/grating attachment). If you happen to have a bunch of salsify, or spot one when you’re out, by all means peel, slice and add that, too. This gratin tastes even better the next day, so it’s definitely worth having leftovers.Prep 15 min Cook 30 min Serves 4½ celeriac, peeled and very thinly sliced2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and very thinly sliced280g cream cheese 100ml full-fat milk 20g fresh dill, roughly choppedSea salt and black pepper 300g raw beetroot, peeled and grated200g goat’s cheese log, finely sliced40g panko breadcrumbs 50g walnuts, roughly broken1 tbsp olive oil Juice of ½ lemonHeat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for pisarei, or leftover bread pasta | A kitchen in Rome
Just like the other three bowls on the top shelf, the wooden salad bowl is full. However, unlike the other bowls, with their pick’n’mix of clothes pegs, coins, aspirin, Ikea pencils, cables, wet wipes, sunglasses, business cards, Kinder Surprise figures and Sellotape chewed by the dog, the salad bowl is a holding (or dumping) place for just one thing: bread crusts. In Italian, the crust of a loaf of bread is sometimes referred to as il culo or culetto, meaning bottom or little bottom, making this a bowl of bottoms.Its position on the highest shelf, plus the depth of the bowl, means I can’t be reminded of what’s inside until there are enough crusts that they start rising, like brown icebergs, above the rim. Then follows a period of days (or weeks) during which I keep seeing those tips, and reminding myself to do something with them, but don’t, so they continue to rise, and when the morning sun hits the shelves, I can see the dust drifting and settling
Notes on chocolate: top marks, sparks fly at M&S
The supermarket chain’s new range is surprisingly delightfulRecently, for reasons we need not go into here, I hadn’t really been out much, having been confined to rest by an imaginary matron. So when my friend, Tamsin, offered to take me to a state-of-the-art Marks & Spencer in the next county (we live in the countryside) I jumped at the chance.It’s not as if I’ve never been to huge M&S in London – I’m a regular visitor to both of the big branches along Oxford Street. But not lately, because: matron.There is something intoxicating about being out and about after being largely confined to the house, isn’t there? I was like an overexcited child
Soak up the rays: wines tasting of sunshine
Escape the gloom with these big red wines bursting with the flavours of warm countriesThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.Cuevas de Arom Altas Parcelas, Calatayud, Spain 2021 (£18.99, shelvedwine
Fonda, London: ‘An exuberantly good meal’: restaurant review
This new Mexican restaurant serves up regional dishes so well crafted that conversation stopsFonda, 12 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BZ. Starters and small plates £7-£14, larger plates £23-£29, desserts £6-£11, wines from £39At Fonda, a new Mexican restaurant off London’s Regent Street, the staff have vital information and, boy, are they determined to impart it. Usually, speeches about ingredients and the best way to eat your lunch, feel like a nail puncture purposefully engineered to let all the air out of any fun you were hoping to have. Lunch becomes an exam to be passed. Am I doing this right? Will the staff approve? Oh, the social anxiety
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