Feeder is a word that is marred with negative connotations, and to be honest, I’m sick of it. Feeding people is the most joyful, positive thing in the world to me, and so I am reclaiming it. Hi, I’m Sophie Wyburd, I’m 29 years old and I am a feeder! There is nothing I love more than spending the day cooking up a feast, and squishing my friends and family around a table to demolish it. I am a very greedy person, and every month this newsletter will be dedicated to the food I love to cook and eat. Each month, you will receive 2 recipes from me - these will be speedy midweek numbers that you could easily cook up after work or in a hurry, but absolutely do not sacrifice on flavour. The food I love to rustle up is simple, comforting, casual home cooking, and this is what you will find dropping into your inbox once a month.
Coconut Dal with Tomatoes and Corn
Serves 2
Most midweek evening cooking in my house involves me shovelling as many vegetables into my mouth as possible to make up for the fact that I mostly subsisted on a diet of beer and crisps at the weekend. Even when I have pals coming over this remains the case, as I suspect that a few of us are like this. Dal is a staple for people all over South Asia, and the world, and my house, with very good reason. It is affordable to shop for and speedy to cook, and produces the most soothing bowl of food that my mind can conjure up. Dal comes in so many textures - some broth-y, some you could eat with a fork - and I personally like mine to be on the wet side, though you can adjust the thickness to your liking. Though I love eating it simply with some paratha, I am also prone to zjuj’ing dal up with some veg to sprinkle on top. Summery charred tomatoes and corn are perfect to toss on top at this time of year, along with a generous drizzle of your favourite chilli oil.
200g red split lentils
1 banana shallot
3 cloves of garlic
3cm knob of ginger
1 green chilli
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp kashmiri chilli powder (it is milder and much brighter red than other chilli powders - I love the stuff)
1 tsp garam masala
150g full-fat coconut milk
2 corn on the cob
3 tbsp crispy chilli oil (I’m obsessed with the White Mausu Peanut Rayu)
250g cherry tomatoes
Salt and coconut oil
Pop your lentils in a sieve and rinse them with cold water until the water runs clear.
Peel, halve and finely slice your shallot. Peel and finely slice your garlic. Peel and finely chop your ginger. Finely chop 3/4 of your green chilli, and finely slice the rest.
Heat 3 tbsp of coconut oil in a medium sized saucepan over a medium heat. Once the oil has melted, add your mustard seeds and cumin seeds, and cook these for about a minute, or until they start to pop. Tip in your shallot, and cook this gently for about 10 minutes, until it has softened and is starting to caramelise.
Add your garlic, ginger, and your chopped green chilli, and cook these for another minute. Tip in your turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala, as well as your lentils, coconut milk and 500ml water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down the heat, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Rub your corn with 1 tsp of coconut oil, then add the cobs to the pan. Cook these for about 10 minutes, turning them frequently so that they char and cook evenly. Remove them from the pan.
Add 1 tsp of chilli oil to the same frying pan. Add your tomatoes, and fry them for about 5 minutes over a medium heat, until they are a little charred and the skins are bursting.
Once they are cool enough to handle, stand your corn cobs upright on a chopping board. Carve your corn kernels off the cobs with a sharp knife.
Season your dal generously with salt - it will be able to take more than you think. Spoon your dal into bowls, and top it with your bursting tomatoes and any juices from the pan, as well as your charred corn. Spoon over your remaining 2 tsp of chilli oil and sliced green chilli, and serve it up.
Charred Bean, Tomato and Feta Salad
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
A bloody good salad recipe is not to be sniffed at. In fact, treating vegetables properly to make a salad as delicious as possible is a bit of an art. Salting tomatoes a good length of time before you eat them is vital to concentrate their flavours, and I am completely obsessed with charring beans at the moment. It lends a nice bitterness to go alongside the sweet toms, making this salad feel a bit more grown up than a bog standard beany one. Just make sure you allow them to cool to room temperature before tossing the salad together. This would be gorge with a bit of white fish or grilled meat, but honestly I just love it as a light meal in of itself.
1 banana shallot
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
150g fine green beans
150g mange tout
200g good quality tomatoes
a bunch of dill
½ lemon
100g feta
1 tbsp nigella seeds
salt and olive oil
Peel and slice the shallot into thin rounds. Add these to a bowl, then pour over your red wine vinegar and let them pickle for a bit.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Get the beans and mange tout into a bowl, drizzle in a little olive oil, then toss it together to coat them. Chuck your beans into the frying pan in batches, and fry them until they are charred and tender - this will take about 3 minutes each time. Repeat with your remaining beans, then leave them to cool to room temperature.
Cut the tomatoes into chunks and pop them into a colander. Add a good pinch of salt, then leave them to sit for 15 minutes.
Pick your dill leaves off their stalks.
Whisk together your lemon juice with 2 tbsp olive oil to make a light emulsion. Season it to taste with salt.
Crumble feta into big pieces.
Toss your tomatoes, beans, most of the dill, and pickled shallots together with the dressing and some feta. Top it with your remaining dill and feta, as well as your nigella seeds. Serve it up.
Events
I am buzzing to announce my next supper club is coming back to my homeland (south of the river!!!) on 21st September. You can find me at Peckham Arches serving you up lots of hearty bits to share to celebrate/commemorate the end of summer.
You’ll have a selection of nibbly bits (anchovy, burnt shallot and stracciatella toasts, corn and cheddar beignets, slow roast tomatoes with ajo blanco), as well as braised meatballs with dates and chickpeas, baby gem with courgettes, dill and yoghurt and garlic butter flatbreads. We’ll finish on a plum crumble cake, of course doused with custard. Due to the nature of the space, I sadly cannot cater to any dietary requirements, but hopefully I’ll be able to cater to you at a future supper club.
As a newsletter subscriber, you will be getting first dibs on all events from now on! You can find the ticket link here. The secret password to get you tickets is WYBS23.