Kate Humble dishes up home-cooked heaven in our extract from her book

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Kate’s farmhouse kitchen: Fresh produce, simple recipes… Kate Humble dishes up home-cooked heaven in our final extract from her new book

TOMATOES WITH STEAK AND WILD SALSA VERDE 

This will still be delicious if you only use bought herbs, but inspired by my friend Liz Knight, an enthusiastic forager, I have used a recipe she shared with me which includes wild alternatives. I use flank of beef – bavette steak – for this recipe. You can cook it in one piece, then slice against the grain when cooked.

Serves 2

For the salsa verde (makes 200g/7oz)

Kate Humble (pictured) shares a selection simple recipes from her new cookbook

  • 50g (1¾oz) sorrel
  • 25g (1oz) rocket or bittercress
  • 25g (1oz) spinach or chickweed
  • 25g (1oz) mint leaves
  • 25g (1oz) parsley or ground elder
  • 25g (1oz) spring onions
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 40g (1½oz) drained capers
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1tsp sugar
  • 3tsp Dijon mustard
  • 100ml (3½fl oz) olive oil
  • Cider vinegar

For the rest

  • 250g (9oz) mixed tomatoes
  • Olive oil
  • A handful of chives
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 steaks, each 150-200g (5½-7oz)

Finely chop the herbs, spring onions, garlic and capers and put in a bowl. Add the salt, sugar and mustard and stir to combine. Pour in the olive oil and then add 1tbsp of vinegar, stir and taste, adding more vinegar until you get the balance between oil and vinegar that you like. 

Adjust the seasoning – adding more sugar or salt if necessary. You want it to be sharp and zingy, but not eye-wateringly so. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, stored in a sealed jar.

Slice your tomatoes and lay them out in a serving dish. Drizzle with oil, and snip the chives over. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook the steak on a barbecue or in a grill pan on the hob. Get the pan really hot. Season the meat really well (but don’t use oil as you will just fill your kitchen with smoke) and place in the hot pan or over the coals. 

Cook for 2-3 minutes each side – you want it charred on the outside but still pink and luscious inside. Leave to rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve with the tomatoes and salsa verde and a really good glass of red wine.

ROASTED FISH WITH PARMA HAM & PEA PURÉE

I’ve probably cooked this for everyone I know – it requires almost no preparation, cooks quickly, looks mildly impressive and leaves practically no washing up.

Serves 2

  • Oil
  • 2 fillets of skinless fish (salmon, cod or haddock)
  • 4 slices of Parma ham or speck
  • Salt and pepper
  • Chilli flakes (optional)
  • 400g (14oz) frozen peas
  • A dollop of crème fraîche
  • 2 roasted garlic cloves (see tip at the bottom of the page)
  • A handful of chopped chives
  • Lemon wedges

Preheat your oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/gas 7. Pour a little bit of oil onto a non-stick baking tray and wipe with kitchen paper. Check your fish fillets for pin bones, then wrap each in 2 slices of ham, leaving the ends of each fillet exposed.

Place on the baking sheet, drizzle with a little oil and season with salt, pepper and chilli if you like. Put in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the fish is done and the ham is crisp.

In the meantime, put the frozen peas in a pan, pour boiling water in, bring to the boil and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft. Drain, add the crème fraîche and roasted garlic, and season. 

Blitz with a hand blender to a not-too-smooth purée. Stir in the chives, reserving some for garnish. Keep warm until the fish is ready (but it should be at more or less the same time).

Divide the pea purée and the fish fillets between 2 plates. Sprinkle with the rest of the chives and pop a lemon wedge alongside.

PRAWN & SPINACH CURRY

A quick bowl of curry is sometimes just what a chilly winter weeknight demands, eaten in front of the telly. This one is light, fresh and perky. I like to serve it with brown rice (those pre-cooked microwaveable packets are very handy).

Serves 4

  • Rapeseed oil
  • 1 onion, sliced finely into half-moons
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 large thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1tbsp ground coriander
  • 1tbsp ground cumin
  • ½tsp ground turmeric
  • 200ml (7fl oz) coconut milk
  • 125ml (4fl oz) vegetable stock (fresh or from a cube)
  • 600g (1lb 5oz) raw prawns
  • Zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lime, plus extra juice to serve
  • 250g (9oz) baby spinach
  • Salt and pepper
  • A small bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
  • Brown rice and lime wedges, to serve

Heat a glug of oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft. Then add the spices, stir them in well and cook for a further minute. Pour in the coconut milk and the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Add the prawns, lime juice and zest and simmer until the prawns are pink. Pile the spinach leaves in and pop a lid on for a minute or so until they have wilted down into the curry. 

Season, stir and then add some of the chopped coriander, reserving some to garnish. Spoon over brown rice, scatter with the remaining coriander, squeeze over a bit more lime juice, grab a fork and settle down on the sofa for a quiet night in.

A SODA BREAD FOR ALL SEASONS

I love goulash, that Hungarian staple, and the soda bread which I make in the autumn is a homage to the warmth of goulash’s roasted peppers and the smoky intensity of paprika. You can adapt the recipe with my seasonal variations.

Makes 1 loaf

  • 250g (9oz) mixed spelt and rye flour
  • 250g (9oz) wholemeal flour
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2tsp smoked paprika
  • 100g (3½oz) roasted red peppers from a jar, finely chopped
  • 300ml (10fl oz) buttermilk, or 150ml (5fl oz) milk and 150ml (5fl oz) natural yoghurt
  • Oil, for greasing Variations (replacing flours, paprika and the red peppers)

For spring

  • 250g (9oz) each plain and wholemeal flour
  • Use only ½tsp salt
  • A bunch of chives and parsley, finely chopped

For summer

  • 250g (9oz) each plain and seeded flour
  • 1tsp dried thyme
  • Leaves from 1 stem of basil
  • 60g (2¼oz) sunblush tomatoes

For winter

  • 400g (14oz) self-raising flour
  • Omit the salt
  • 50g (1¾oz) oats
  • 3tbsp black treacle
  • Use only 200ml (7fl oz) of the buttermilk, or the milk/yoghurt mix

Preheat your oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/ gas 6. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add the roasted peppers (or variations) and stir, then add the buttermilk or milk/ yoghurt mixture (and treacle, if using) and stir until you have a sticky dough. 

Tip onto a greased baking tray, shape into a round loaf and cut a deep cross on top. Cook for 30-45 minutes until you get a hollow sound when you tap its bottom.

PINK GRAPEFRUIT WITH ROSE PETALS, STRAWBERRIES & MINT

I love grapefruit just as they are, but when mixed with macerated strawberries (a sort of strawberry salsa), you get a lovely combination of sweet and sour.

Serves 2

  • 200g (7oz) strawberries
  • ½tsp rose water
  • 2tsp caster sugar
  • A few fresh rose petals (optional)
  • Leaves from 2 stems of mint, finely chopped
  • 2 pink grapefruit

Cut the strawberries into small pieces – quarters or eighths, depending on their size. Sprinkle with the rose water and sugar, a generous pinch of rose petals (if using) and half the mint, and leave to macerate, if you can, for about 30 minutes. Peel the grapefruit, making sure you remove all the pith, then slice into thin rounds.

Arrange the grapefruit slices on a plate and top with the strawberries, scattering them with the remaining mint and a few more rose petals. 

Enjoy as it is for a snack or this would make a rather lovely, light pudding, perhaps served with a strawberry sorbet or (less light, but nonetheless worth considering) a very dark chocolate mousse.

 SWEDISH YELLOW SPLIT PEA SOUP

I first ate this while working on a ship in Norway. The crew (including, importantly, the cook) was predominantly Swedish. There are various recipes for this soup to be found, but this one comes courtesy of my dear – and thoroughly Swedish – friend Anders and has been passed down through his family for generations.

Serves 4

  • 500g (1lb 2oz) yellow split peas
  • 2ltr (3½pt) ham stock
  • 300g (10½oz) ham
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • A few sprigs of thyme (or ½tsp dried thyme)
  • 1 bay leaf

Soak the yellow split peas in lots of water overnight. Remove the dried floating shells and then drain. (Not all yellow peas need soaking, so you might be able to miss this bit out – check the instructions on the packet.)

When ready to cook, put your ham stock into a big pot with the peas, the ham (cut or shredded into good-sized chunks), the onion, thyme and bay leaf. 

Bring to the boil, remove the foam that forms on the surface, and then let it gently simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. If the soup is too thick, you can add water to get the consistency you like, but Anders’s family likes it fairly thick, as do I. More stew than soup.

HONEY LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

My friend Penny Johnstone’s lemon drizzle has made many a guest at my farm swoon, so it didn’t need tinkering with, but she was intrigued by my idea of adding local honey. We tried it – and I think the bees would have been proud.

Serves 10

  • 225g (8oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 225g (8oz) granulated sugar
  • 100g (3½oz) runny honey
  • 275g (9¾oz) self-raising flour
  • 2tsp baking powder
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1tbsp milk
  • Zest of 2 large unwaxed lemons, juice of 1

For the drizzle

  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 70g (2½oz) runny honey
  • 35g (1¼oz) caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4, and grease and line a roasting tin – about 30 x 20 x 5cm – with baking paper. Put all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until well combined and smooth. Spoon it into the tin and level the top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cake has shrunk from the sides of the tin and a skewer comes out clean from the centre. Leave to cool in the tin, on a wire rack.

While it cools, make the drizzle. Warm the lemon juice with the honey in a small pan. Pierce the surface of the cake with a fork, about a dozen times. 

Add the caster sugar to the warm mixture and spoon this gradually over the cake, giving it time to be absorbed between spoonfuls. Leave to soak in then, once completely cool, slice and serve. This will freeze in the unlikely event you have any left.

Home Cooked: Recipes From The Farm by Kate Humble will be published by Gaia on 3 February, £25. © Kate Humble 2022. To order a copy for £22.50 go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over £20. Offer valid until 13/02/2022.

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