Sunday Suppers

Just a few of the children for Sunday camp at our place…

As usual, we had a pack of people last night for a casual supper, and I turned to one of the Barefoot Contessa books for inspiration. I've never really got the Barefoot Contessa. I've found her recipes a little...dull, and I'm wary of cooking them because I'm convinced everyone will know the food and be bored by it.

I went to a barbecue recently and there was a dish - admittedly, delicious - of coleslaw, and all the girls asked, 'Is it Ina's?', as if Ina was a friend, and not, in fact, the Barefoot Contessa herself. I found it really strange, until I remembered that once upon a time I was a Delia Smith devotee, and everything I cooked was 'Delia's'.

I still do, a lot of the time. She's English, and I like the fact that people don't walk in and say, oh, delicious, is it Delia's? as they would in the UK. In fact, for a few years, you couldn't walk ten steps without tripping over her Chicken Basque (It's still the most delicious dish of all time, but it did get a bit tiresome after a while, eating it over and over and over again).

Then came Jamie Oliver, then Nigella, and now, thankfully, there are enough wonderful cookbooks that you don't get served the same dish for dinner every time you go to someone's house.

So as I was flicking looking for inspiration for last night, I read some of Ina Garten's philosophy, and what she writes, in her book on Parties, is that so much of cooking is about organisation. She tells of times when she has slaved over the stove, not being able to enjoy her guests, and now the only way she cooks is to have everything done in advance so she can effectively be a guest at her own party. I couldn't agree more.

Yesterday afternoon Beloved and I slaved together, so when the guests arrived - 12 adults and 19 kids - we were able to sit with them and relax, (when I say relax, I mean as much as you can relax, with 19 kids...) and I'm sharing a couple of the dishes with you. The first is Ina's (!). An apple crostata:

Wikipedia: A crostata is an Italian baked dessert tart, and a form of pie. It is traditionally prepared by folding the edges of the dough over the top of the fruit filling, creating a more "rough" look, rather than a uniform, circular shape. The fruit can be anything from apple to mixed berry to peaches.

I realise, reading this definition, that most of the pies I make are, probably, crostatas. I realise this because I make them in, how shall I put it, a very rustic way. I'd far rather they looked home-made than perfect, so I tend to fold them over rather casually.

I adapted Ina's recipe ever so slightly. First, I didn't bother making the pastry. There is such good puff and pie pastry available, I can't honestly see the point in making it. I used puff pastry for this, just your regular puff, although when I can, I try and get Dufour because it's tremendously buttery, fattening, and delicious.

The apples I used were tart, so I sprinkled a tablespoon of brown sugar over them before adding the spice mixture, and when I pulled the pie out, it looked a little dry, so I drizzled pure maple syrup over.

The chicken kebabs I served are, I think, Delia's. I serve them with a pesto spiked with zest of a whole lemon, and when I can, I make the pesto myself - there's nothing like a thick, basily, dense fresh pesto made with basil cut straight from the garden, but all the basil has been used up now, so I bought some and added the lemon zest.

Apple Crostata (serves 6)

Grilled Lemon Chicken kebabs (Serves 4)

Basil Lemon pesto