NEW POTATOES WITH CUMIN AND MUSTARD SEEDS
You can do all of the prep in advance and then just heat these up in the oven. 1kg new potatoes – Jersey Royals would be ideal 1 tbsp rapeseed or other cooking oil
1 tsp each cumin and mustard seeds
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and cook gently for 20 minutes. Drain and leave to cool.
Squidge them into a frying pan with the heel of your hand. Add the oil and cook on a medium heat until they start to turn golden. Add the seeds for the final couple of minutes.
BROWN SUGAR MERINGUE WITH RHUBARB AND PISTACHIOS
This really is the most perfect English spring and summer pudding. 8 stalks rhubarb 150g caster sugar
FOR THE MERINGUES
200g egg whites
140g dark brown muscovado sugar 260g caster sugar
FOR THE PISTACHIOS
150g pistachios 100g caster sugar
Clean and slice the rhubarb into long pieces cut on an angle, about 5cm. Place in a pan with the sugar and heat in the oven or on the hob at medium heat. Cook for 12 minutes or until soft. Leave to cool.
Next make the meringues. Unlike white meringues these do not keep for ages so it pays to make them on the same day they will be eaten. Add all the ingredients to a metal bowl over a pan of hot water on the hob. Keep whisking the mix to dissolve the sugars in the egg whites. After about 5 minutes you will be able to feel that the sugars have melted and the mix is no longer grainy. Now whisk as you would normal meringues, either with a hand-whisk or in a machine. Continue to whisk until firm caramel peaks are formed.
Use a piping bag to pipe your meringue for a neat finish or go free-form by putting heaped tablespoons of mixture onto a baking tray.
Place in a preheated oven at 120C/gas 1 for at least an hour – more like an hour and a half to ensure they’ll be crisp on the outside and gorgeously chewy inside.
For the pistachios, place the sugar in a pan over medium-hot heat and add 2 tbsp water. Leave to cook down for 2 minutes and add the pistachios. The trick is to stir the nuts, which will then candy, as opposed to leaving them to caramelise. Adding a good pinch of salt at the end is a nice optional extra.
Serve the meringues with the rhubarb, whipped cream and chopped pistachios.