Saturday 10 March 2007

Olive, 101 Smart Suppers: Slick Ideas for weeknights

Food magazines. I bought my first in winter 2003, in Sainsburys, attracted by the Christmassy cover of Good Food magazine and the tantalizing possibility of homemade edible Christmas gifts. Since then I've been a bit of an addict. I currently, courtesy of Tesco customer points, subscribe to Good Food, Olive and delicious., and I buy the Sainsburys magazine when I go there (which is probably often enough to allow me to buy it more or less every month, if I'm honest). Oh and then there's my naughty Donna Hay habit, which to be fair to me is less than once a month but to be less fair is cripplingly expensive. There, I've confessed. Anyway, as I've already said, I tend to wander wildly in terms of which magazine I prefer; they all go through better and worse phases, and probably so do I. I've noticed that delicious. seems to have its own international fan club, as does Good Food, whereas Olive is often dismissed. I find that interesting because I like the format of Olive; I like that it covers food trends as well as recipes, although I suspect I cook from it less than Good Food.

When I saw this bargainsome Olive book (£4.99 for 101 recipes, in the compact format of the Good Food books that everyone knows), I felt it would be a crime not to buy it (and I had a Borders token). I should say immediately that it is very different from the delicious. book I bought recently too. Where the delicious. book is large, elegant, and covers a range of recipes, the Olive recipes are shorter, simpler and definitely geared towards weeknights (although there's nothing to stop you from cooking a speedy meal at the weekend either). That appealed to me because I have an incurable desire to cook new dishes every day of the week, even when I'm exhausted and have no time. This can lead to tears at bedtime, as I don't do 'tired in the kitchen' very gracefully. (I don't know how most food bloggers cope. Do they never slump exhaustedly onto a sofa and watch mindless television, or read a trashy novel? Is every waking moment devoted to the discovery and invention of new recipes? Do they eat at midnight? Rest assured, I am not that person. To start with, I'm never still up at midnight.) A book that enables me to feel I'm trying something different while not delaying our dinner and not transforming me into Grumpy Old Woman in the Kitchen, is definitely a good thing. (That was probably why I raved so much about Jo Pratt's book - it fit my life so perfectly)

So: 101 Smart Suppers. 'Smart suppers' sums up the Olive approach to food: simple, but always smart and stylish. There are a lot of shortcuts in Olive, which some foodies would despise; I have to confess to an occasional desire to cheat. Anyway, the book covers soups, salads, poultry, meat, fish, seafood, veggie, and desserts; dishes include clams with linguine, crisp seabass with Vietnamese vegetables, chilli lamb cutlets, chocolate pots with cherry compote (the usual Olive-style recipes, really), and none looks prohibitively tricky or scary. These recipes aren't groundbreakingly different; they are just modern, mainly fast food with a stylish edge.

I tried chicken wrapped in parma ham first, which is no surprise to anyone who knows me because chicken wrapped in parma ham is a bit of a Kathryn-speciality. I have tried it in so many ways, with so many different stuffings. I like most of them. This is my sort of food, which I can make without trying too hard. Here is the Olive version, stuffed with roasted peppers and aubergines (both from a jar), served with rosemary potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli.


It was very good - neat, tasty food, that makes the most of the sometimes dry and tasteless chicken breast. It was a good start to the book, because it was ridiculously easy but it came out looking and tasting good. I like this kind of food that you can produce after a trip to a deli, or even Tesco; it might not win any prizes for originality, but it works very well even on a Monday night, when the working week stretches endlessly ahead and you just want to collapse in front of the television.


CHICKEN WRAPPED IN PARMA HAM
45 minutes

chicken fillets 6 skinless
roasted peppers 1 jar (about 440g)
char-grilled aubergines 1 jar (about 200g)
Parma ham 12 slices
rosemary 6 sprigs
baby fennel 6, to serve

Heat the chicken to 180C/fan 160C/ gas 4. Put the chicken fillets on a board, skinned side-down. With a small kinife, make a 'pocket' in the fillet by cutting along its length; if there is an extra bit of fillet attached then fold this back and make your cut under it. Be careful not to cut all the way through.

Fill each pocket with a slice each of pepper and aubergine. Lay 2 slices of Parma ham out flat, slightly overlapping, and put a sprig of rosemary in the middle. Put a fillet on top of the rosemary and wrap it with the ham. Repeat with the remaining fillets.

Lightly oil a baking sheet, put the chicken on ot, and cook in the oven for 35 minutes. Serve the fillets whole, or, for a more glam look, cut each one in half at an angle, and serve drizzled with the cooking juices. Serve with baby fennel steamed for about 8 minutes or until tender.
Serves 6.

4 comments:

Kelly-Jane said...

That looks really delicious. I'm a chicken kind of girl myself.

I'm going to go and have a look at this one in a book shop.

"as I don't do 'tired in the kitchen' very gracefully" I had to laugh when I read this, neither do I! I have never heard anyone say it out loud before, but there must be a lot of it about - foodies who like to cook, but are on the edge some nights due to tiredness. :)

KJxx

Freya Erickson said...

I don't like Olive magazine myself much (although I subscribe anyway!) as it's a bit too stylish, however, these dishes all sound (and look!) so good!

Kathryn said...

Charlotte, I like them wrapped and stuffed particularly! Try it - easy and very tasty.

KJ, it's only £4.99 so it's a bargain.

And Freya and Paul, I know Olive is stylized. I like that about it - I like the way the paper feels as you touch it, and I like the restaurant stuff. But I know what you mean!

Kathryn x

Gemma said...

I often buy delicious (although have started going off it) but almost never buy Good Food or Olive and I'm not sure why not. I do however have a subscription to Donna hay, always buy Waitrose Food Illustrated, and have been known to buy Australian Gournet Traveller, Gourmet, Martha Stewart Living, and Vogue Entertaining!

Anyway, these recipes look yummy so maybe I should give Olive a try.