With our almost Spring like weather during the day, I’ve been slowly introducing more Summery foods into the diet in the hopes that the weather should stick around. At our visit to Spice Temple several months ago, Christie recommended me a recipe for Neil Perry’s Cucumber with smashed garlic. I’d meant to make these for months and it wasn’t until I made another batch of the cucumber pickles that I was reminded of these. They’re easy and fantastically healthy and the perfect cooling side dish or precursor to a Chinese meal.

She pointed me to the Gourmet Traveller website where they featured a few of Perry’s recipes and the best pasrt? The time taken to make these is negligible and most of it is in waiting for it to drain. I loved the cleansing sensation of cucumber and the garlic lends a richer tone to it. It was gobbled up in no time by Mr NQN. I had intended to keep some in a jar to pick at for a healthy snack but he liked it so much that late one night I opened the fridge to snack on some to find the empty container in the fridge. Yes he had stuck the empty container back in the fridge. Luckily for him it was his birthday so I couldn’t get mad at him and he probably knew it.

So tell me Dear Reader, what’s your flatmate’s/husband’s/wife’s worst habit?

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“Use the chopsticks!” my mother used to always tell me when I was little and would take a jar of these out of the fridge. I never listened  of course, as I knew I’d eat my size in these delicious pickles so there was never any need to take them out of the jar with a clean pair of chopsticks. For some reason I was never a child that hated vegetables and the regular ingestion of a jar of these would prove testament to this.

Since moving out of home I realised that I hadn’t eaten these for years and years and with a glut of cucumbers I pestered my mum for the recipe. And this is where the dance began. My mum is quite protective of her recipes and she is also one of those “a bit of this and that” cooks so when I asked her by email she responded

Hi Lorraine,
All you have to do is to peel and slice the cucumber and add salt ,vinegar and sugar. Usually I just do it by trial and error i.e. I’ll taste it then add in more of what is required to  my satisfaction.
I think you  need more sugar than the other two. Lastly, add in chilli, pepper and sesame oil.
Bye,
Mum

If you do have some cucumbers I do urge you to make one batch of these. They are so good indeed. And don’t be put off by the amount of sugar in it – most of it ends up in the pickling liquid which you don’t drink. After a bit of back and forth she gave me the quantities and I was pleased to note that it tasted pretty much just like I remembered it. Perhaps she is coming round. Dare I ask her for more recipes? Tell me Dear Reader, is your mum or grandmother similarly protective or quantity-vague when it comes to sharing recipes?

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I cannot tell you how gloriously moist this cake is. For those who find normal cakes a bit dry, this is the cake for you. And because it is so moist, it keeps beautifully so you needn’t be baking on the day that guests drop by, instead doing much more productive work like watching reruns of Desperate Housewives or Seinfeld.

I know I eschewed Jessica Seinfeld’s suggestion of chopped pecans as I had some to put on the top after it had cooked (I was a little worried about them over-baking for the 60 min cooking time) but once it came out of the oven, the pink marshmallows had burst through the topping so I thought the only thing I could do is celebrate the pinkness of the cake with marshmallow flowers. I had most of the 500g bag of marshmallows left so I needed to do something with them.

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