Sunshine and butterflies

For the first time this summer I have been able to really enjoy my garden. As a student of ecology in the past butterflies and moths have always fascinated me. They are easy to tell apart by the way, butterfiles have straight antennae and moths have antennae that look like feathers, but please don't squash then just to get a close up view it really is not that important.

So out comes the sun and hopefully out come the butterflies. Not to worry if they don't as my most favourite butterfly of all comes courtesy of lambs. As I type the faintest whiff of garlic and lemon still linger on my fingers. My butterflied leg of lamb marinades itself gently in the fridge waiting to offer itself up on the altar of sun worship that is the gas barbecue. I butterfly the lamb legs myself for no other reason than I enjoy wielding a very sharp knife and I get a real sense of achievement if I get the bone out without making the kitchen resemble Hannibal Lecter's house. If you don't like the idea of wrestling raw meat, are fond of your fingers or would rather just pay someone else to do the job then fine.

Marinade your lamb for at least two hours in lemon juice, yogurt, garlic and harissa paste if you like things spicy. Heat your barbie up as high as it will go, whack on the lamb, turn the barbecue down a bit and cook for 25 minutes turning over to prevent the meat catching too much. The outside should be seared but not burnt to a cinder and the inside should be pink. Rest for at least 10 minutes and serve with cous cous, tomato and mint salad, flat breads and a large glass of wine. What a beautiful butterfly!

In the brownies

Sprites, Pixies, Leprechauns or Gnomes couldn't have been happier than me this week. For reasons I can't really divulge at the moment I've spent my free time devising the ultimate chocolate brownie recipe.

Despite originating in America, these beauties are neither brash nor unsophisticated. There is a complexity to them that belies the belief of some that they are purely and simply a poorly cooked cake. That squidgy texture is what makes these treats so special. Licking the bowl has always been the cooks perk and with a brownie we all get to indulge.

My biggest problem has been what to include and what to leave out. The understated British me wants to leave the mixture simple, just a squidgy chocolate cake. The slightly trans - atlantic me wants to add every nut and chocolate chunk I have in the cupboard, and believe me I have substantial quantities of both. Deciding that I really ought to share these with the rest of my family I opted for the no nuts versions. (Please insert your own joke here.) Well I actually devised a nut and chocolate recipe but then swapped the nuts for differing hues of chocolate chunk. Chunks and not chips of chocolate are vital both in the taste and the look of these brownies they are American after all and bigger is always better where chocolate is concerned. They also really help give the eater a decent chocolate hit.

Eaten warm with a scoop of decent vanilla ice cream Brownies taste like heaven. When I eat these I can almost forgive America for inventing the Pop Tart. Mind you ..... where is that toaster.

Back to where it all began.

Being a creatures of habit, and also being addicted to thick treacly coffee where the ratio of caffeine to liquid is always biased in favour of the caffeine, we have just got back from a fantastic holiday on a small island in the Bay of Naples. For me it is the place that first inspired me to first write about food with any real intent. The importance of food was brought home to me everywhere we went, be it a small roadside shop selling fresh fruits and vegetables, a caffe al banco just liquid enough to stain the bottom of a cup or eating proper lemon ice cream during the evening passegiata. Food added value and dimension to the lives being lived and wasn't just a fuel or a filler. This was the first piece I wrote and when I was in this very restaurant last week I had this very simple dish and it was still magnificent but then the same people made it with the same love and care that they had taken nearly twenty years previously.

Bruschette con pomodoro

Passion and respect, two things we as individuals all crave, but this object of desire was the humble tomato. Worship of the 'love apple' in this restaurant in Ischia in the Bay of Naples is simple and pure. Tomatoes are plucked fresh from the vine, unsullied by any refrigeration and still with a bloom on their cheeks. They are chopped deftly and anointed with the purest olive oil.
Slices of locally made bread are caressed with garlic and laid to char briefly on the grill. Bread and tomatoes are brought together on the plain white plate and seasoned with sea salt. Basil is freshly torn and strewn on the tomato.
The first bite is heaven. Tangy yet sweet, crunchy yet soft, gritty with sea salt, but slick with olive oil… simplicity makes this dish magnificent. If I ever get to choose my last supper it would be this.

How to ...

Read the above and follow the instructions, use as many tomatoes as you have, decent olive oil and remember food in Italy is for sharing, falling out over, discussing, savouring and enjoying with wine and water so find someone to help you do all of the above.