Tomatoes, toast and other tasty things

What should we cook this weekend? Easy. A supercharged butter to spread on toast and top with tomatoes.

What should we cook this weekend? What about something really easy; a flavour bomb to spread over toast with tomatoes, over steaks, under chicken skin, into baked potatoes, you name it.

See below. Thank you so much for subscribing, reading, and hopefully cooking with me here. Next Wednesday I’ll be posting another ‘long form’ cooking video. These will be once monthly and are a bit like a cooking class that you can stop and start at your leisure. And at the end of the hour or so we' spend together, we’ll have made some good food for the week ahead (or weekend or whenever).

Happy cooking,

Sophie x

Whipped Cafe de Paris butter

This recipe does create a bit of washing up, but it's so delicious, so worth it and all done in advance, so it's ok. It's not the traditional, emulsified Cafe de Paris butter, but rather a 'whipped' simplified version. And I think it's really delicious on many things (see below),, but especially at this time of year with some perfectly ripe tomatoes tossed with quick-pickled shallots (also see below) and crusty bread.

In fact, the above, with the addition perhaps of a charcuterie plate on the side, and some chilled rose in our glasses, would make a pretty perfect late summer lunch. Follow with a plate of figs and some sweet biscuits. Yum. Maybe with this album playing in the background?

250g butter, at room temperature (soft)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 anchovy fillets
2 tbsp capers
1 small handful of parsley leaves
1 small handful basil leaves
½ tsp curry powder
½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

For the quick-pickled shallots
1 shallot
1 lemon
1/2 tsp sea salt

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk for five minutes or until really pale and fluffy. You might need to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then. Meanwhile, place all the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor and blitz until a rough paste.

Fold the flavour into the butter. Transfer to a little bowl and serve.

Or, spoon onto a piece of parchment paper and wrap it up as a disc or sausage shape, then keep it in the fridge until needed.

For the quick-pickled shallots; peel and thinly slice your hallot and place in a small dish. Squeeze over the lemon juice and add the salt. Rub everything together with your fingers and set aside. After about 30 minutes the shallot slices should be turning a lovely pickled pink.

If you're going to have this with something room temperature like these tomatoes, I think this butter is best served whipped and light at room temperature. If the plan is to dollop into a baked potato or smoosh under the skin of a chicken or slice onto a steak, then it's fine to do that straight from the fridge.

Other good things to do with this whipped CDP butter.

• Bake some potatoes until the skin is crispy, and the insides are all soft. Open them up, add a little of our butter, perhaps some freshly chopped parsley, and if you like, grate them with Parmesan.

• As per tradition, serve in thick discs on a really good steak.

• Rub under the skin of a chicken before roasting.

• Steam green veggies (beans, asparagus, snow peas, peas, whatever) and toss with a few tbsp of our butter. Season to taste.

• Wrap it up and give it to a friend with a loaf of lovely bread.

• Smother over cooked corn on the cob.

• Make up a batch of popcorn and stir through to taste.

• Use to make an exceptional garlic bread.

• Roast a big head of cauliflower, and as soon as it comes out of the oven, place it on a nice serving platter (with a lip) and smother it with our whipped CDP butter It will melt and slip down the sides and pool in the plate, which is totally fine because when you cut up the cauliflower to serve, just dredge each piece in the butter and grab whatever’s left with a mop of crusty bread.