Charlotte's June Newsletter
Whether it’s welcome for the first time or welcome back, it’s great to be writing to you today and I’d like to thank you sincerely for subscribing to my newsletter.
For those of you who are new here, I write a monthly roundup newsletter on the first Friday of the month for free subscribers and an almost weekly newsletter for my paid subscribers. It’s my place to share my best recommendations and advice with readers each week. This month, paid subscribers have received some lovely seasonal recipes and cookbook recommendations. So, if you’d like to sign up for more from me, I’d be so delighted and you can do so using the below link.
I can hardly believe it’s June. It’s been such a lovely sunny month and the garden is flourishing. I hope to be able to harvest some gooseberries and redcurrants soon. I’ve finished my product and hospitality judging for the year, which was fascinating, as usual. I’ve judged over 1000 food and drink products and some restaurants as a mystery guest, too.
Here on Substack, I've shared some great new cookbook recommendations and recipes over the last month. The Lasagna Bianca from Bologna was especially popular. You will find a new recipe below for white chocolate and roasted hazelnut blondies, with thanks to chef Grace Watts for the inspiration, reminding me how good blondies can be when I ate hers a couple of weeks ago. You will also find some top tips for packed lunches below and some seasonal recipe ideas from my archives and other brilliant authors, so please read on.
The last month has passed by particularly quickly as we have been spending every spare moment on our home renovation work. Some of you will know that I project managed our total renovation in our last home, and we are at it again although we aren’t yet where we ultimately want to be. It is certainly easier to take on a project like this when you have learnt as much as we did last time, but I shall be very glad when we are on the other side of the major work.
Yet again, I’ve set up my ‘field kitchen’ to tide us through a few weeks of disruption. The walls have now been plastered, but require painting and some carpentry work next. Setting up a temporary operation felt all too familiar and I spent most of a day batch cooking before the kitchen was withdrawn from service. I remain resolutely committed to us eating good, homemade food made from scratch avoiding all UPF wherever possible, so this preparation really has helped us along the way. I baked my usual bread, made several evening meals in advance and filled the freezer with lots of useful things like flatbreads that can be reheated in the toaster to go with a main dish.
You’ll probably expect me to say this, but the slow cooker has been an absolute godsend at the moment. I have genuinely been cooking from Quick Prep Slow Cook very regularly as the recipes really fit the bill given that they are designed to take around 10 minutes to prepare. We currently have the slow cooker set up in the conservatory and it’s a great tool if you need to operate in another part of the home temporarily. I urge any sceptics not to think of slow cooking as winter food - it’s simply a useful tool to make meal preparation very easy and time efficient all year round.
I have been making lots of curries and dishes that include vegetables so that we have a complete meal in one pot. Many readers have written to me saying that they’ve found the book especially useful at the moment with students working so hard on their exams. The large number of vegetarian dishes within the book seems to appeal to many teenagers according to the reports I’ve received. On the subject of students and quick meals, my Hungry Student Cookbooks are on offer for under £7 on Amazon at the moment if you’d like to pick up a copy for a student or anyone looking for some easy recipe ideas. I’ve been deeply touched by the many emails I have received over the years from readers who have found them useful in so many other situations, from caravan trips cooking to widowers learning how to cook for the first time. In fact, the feedback I receive from readers who try my recipes gives me such pleasure and really is why I do what I do.
Please read on for more and if you do try any recommendations or recipes, do let me know how you get on as I always love to hear from you.
Thank you, as always, and I wish all students the very best of luck in their exams,
Charlotte
Inspiration for summer eating
From the archives, you might like to read my Top Tips for barbecues and picnics
I’ve tried a number of these tempting summery recipes from Diana Henry which are very good.
I will probably be cooking from Chasing Smoke from the Honey & Co. duo Sarit and Itamar for a family birthday celebration in a couple of weeks.
White Chocolate and Roasted Hazelnut Blondies
Makes 16 squares
Ingredients
100g whole hazelnuts, skinless and roasted
200g white chocolate
230g butter
340g dark brown soft sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten
1tsp vanilla extract
½ teaspoon sea salt
280g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4.
Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with non-stick greaseproof paper and set aside.
First, chop the nuts and chocolate into small chunks. Next, melt the butter.
Put the sugar and eggs together into a bowl and whisk together. Add the melted butter, vanilla extract and salt and stir in, followed by the flour and raising agents.
Stir in the nuts and chocolate chunks. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25-35 minutes. Be careful not to overcook or the blondies will be on the dry side.
Allow to cool fully before cutting into slices. They’ll keep for around 5 days stored in an airtight container and will freeze nicely, too.
Into my kitchen
I find myself organising packed lunches again on weekdays, so here are some of the ideas I find work particularly well to prepare in advance and deliver an enjoyable lunch.
I often roast two chickens at the weekend. One will form part of a main meal and I will save the meat from the second to serve with salads during the week.
Fish is always popular, which could be poached fish such as salmon or trout or maybe some really good tinned tuna, smoked mackerel or prawns.
Soup is a firm favourite and I will make them all year round. We have a selection of metal soup flasks to heat it and take it with us for lunches on the move.
Salads are also a massive favourite, too. I try and make salads that will keep well, such as those with roasted vegetables, grated roots or blanched greens as a base. I will usually keep the garnishes separate to finish off at the last minute and prevent the textures from deteriorating. These will often include fresh herbs, toasted nuts and roasted seeds.
I try and avoid anything too wet, such as tomato salads, to ensure the contents of the box doesn’t end up too soggy by lunchtime.