XXXXXX

VEG BOX

preservation shelf

Pickling is a great way to make the most of fruit and veg when they’re bountiful, so that you can enjoy them all year

round. The intense flavours of tangy, spicy pickles and chutneys add a crunchy punch to salads and sandwichesRecipes Pete Begg Styling Anna Jones Photography Myles New

A surprisingly simple recipe for a classic French

sauce that’s a key ingredient in eggs benedict and just one ingredient

away from béarnaise sauce

Hollandaise sauce

Recipes Abi Fawcett Photography Karen Thomas

Little Chefs

jamiemagazine.com 21jamiemagazine.com 21

Pretty & pinkFrom whisking egg whites till they’re fluffy to stirring raspberries into

cream so it changes colour, there’s lots of fun to be had making this pudding

RaspbeRRy meRinguesYou will need: scales, a small plate, 3 small bowls, a large mixing bowl, a whisk or electric beaters, baking parchment, scissors, a large baking tray, 2 tablespoons, a spatula, a large plate, a fork and tablespoon Makes about 8• 2 large free-range eggs• Pinch of salt• 100g golden caster sugar, plus

1 tbsp extra• 150g raspberries, plus extra to serve• 150ml double cream• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out (ask

an adult to do this for you)

1 Wash your hands with warm, soapy water, then get all your ingredients together. Carefully separate your eggs into 2 small bowls – yolks in one and whites in the other. The easiest way to do this is to take 1 egg and crack it onto a small plate, being careful not to break the yolk. Hold back the yolk with a large spoon, then tilt the plate over a bowl so the white slips into the bowl. You’ll be left with the yolk, which you should tip into a separate bowl to keep for another use. Repeat for each egg.2 Put egg whites in a large mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt and, using a whisk or electric beaters, whisk till white and fluffy. Then, very slowly, add 100g caster sugar and whisk till it’s all been mixed in. The best way to check if the meringue mix is ready is to rub a bit of it between your fingers: if you can still feel sugar granules, keep whisking until the mix is smooth and silky. Then gently fold in half the raspberries.3 Preheat oven to 150C/gas 2. Use scissors to cut some baking parchment to the same size as your baking tray. Put a blob of the mix under each

Recipe Ginny Rolfe Photography Tara Fisher

corner of the paper so it sticks to the tray. Use 2 tablespoons to transfer the meringue onto the paper in dollops, leaving space between each. Bake for 1 hour, till they are crisp outside but chewy inside. Once cooked, get an adult to help you take the tray out the oven. Let the meringues cool.4 When cooled, remove each meringue from the paper with a spatula, then put on a plate. Wash and dry the mixing bowl, then pour in the cream and whisk

it with the vanilla seeds till you get soft peaks. In a small bowl, squash half your remaining raspberries with a fork, stir in 1 tbsp caster sugar, then stir in your remaining raspberries. Gently fold the raspberries through the cream. To serve, squash the top of each meringue gently with the back of a spoon, then spoon in some raspberry cream and top with some extra raspberries. Per meringue 163 cals, 10.4g fat (6.0g

saturated), 2.2g protein, 15.4g carbs, 15.4g sugars.

BALLET

82

SwanSbake

In an exclusive feature, Jamie Magazine

spends time in the kitchens of dancers

from the Royal ballet, as they cook their

favourite recipes, to find out what they

eat and how they manage their diets

words Andy Harris & Holly O’Neill

Photography David Loftus & Laurie Fletcher

“Sometimes I eat quite normally and

other times I have to really regulate

and make sure I’ve got enough

carbs and be aware of energy levels”

jamiemagazine.com 93

Bacon-wrapped chickenServes 2 (or 1 hungry dancer)• 2chickenbreasts,skinoff• 1ballofmozzarella,cutinto

4–6slices• 4rasherssmokedbackbacon• 2trussescherrytomatoes• Extra-virginoliveoil• Greensalad,toserve

1 Preheatovento180C/gas4.Placechickenbreastsonaboard,thenmakeanincisiondownthetopofeachbreast.Stuffeachwithhalfthemozzarella.2 Tearout2piecesoftinfoil,andinthemiddleofeach,lineup2piecesofbacon,thenplaceachickenbreastoneach.Foldthebaconuparoundthebreasttoformaparcel,thenfoldupthesidesofthetinfoil,leavingthebacon-wrappedchickenexposed.Drizzlewitholiveoilandseasonwithsaltandpepper.3 Placetheparcelsinasmallovenproofdish,thencookfor30–40minutes.After20minutes,topeachchickenbreastwithatrussofcherrytomatoes.Whenthetomatoesaresoftenedandchickencookedthrough,removefromovenandtinfoil.Season,drizzlewitholiveoilandservewithagreensalad.Per serving504cals,33.9gfat

(13.9gsaturated),47.1gprotein,

2.6gcarbs,2.2gsugars

He may be one of tHe Royal ballet’s most expeRienced danceRs, Having first joined the company 20 years ago, but Gary Avis is suffering from some severe stage fright. “Are you hating it already?” he worries, as he wraps mozzarella-stuffed chicken in bacon. “I’m not used to performing like this.”

Which isn’t to say he doesn’t cook. “When I have the time it’s great,” he says, sliding the chicken into the oven with an “oh God, let this work!”, but, as he whispers of late-night cereal, it’s obvious he doesn’t get the time. His partner is “brilliant” in the kitchen, though the nature of a dancer’s schedule means they hardly ever get to eat together. A principal character artist, Gary doesn’t dance every night, but by the time he’s finished rehearsals at 6.30pm, it’s often close to 8.30pm by the time he gets home – midnight after a performance, once he’s taken off the make-up used to transformed him into the duke, magician or whoever he’s been that night.

“Sometimes I eat quite normally and other times I have to really regulate and make sure I’ve got enough pasta, carbohydrates, things like that, and just be aware of energy levels,” he says. “Most of the time I’m one of these people who doesn’t necessarily worry about what I eat.” Gary gives thanks to a quick metabolism, but like many dancers, he tends to graze during the day, as his schedule allows. “Bananas, yoghurt, peanuts for protein, stuff like that is really good. Big meals don’t work with rehearsal schedules.”

After he left home at 16, Gary trained in musical theatre for a little over two years. He then auditioned for the Royal Ballet School, did one year with the upper school then was accepted straight into the company. It was an unusually fast progression for someone without an intensive ballet background. He left the Royal Ballet to help found a company in Japan, then was with the English National Ballet before returning to Covent Garden, where he is now a principal dancer and the assistant ballet master.

His day begins, as everyone’s, with class. Then he may go to rehearsals and dance, or he may sit at the front of the studio and lead the rehearsal. Gary dances featured solo roles, but the magician rather than the prince, or a villain not the hero. It’s here his musical theatre background comes in handy. “I like having a story going on. My favourite roles have a character behind them. I like contemporary stuff but because the nature of most of that stuff nowadays is very athletic and gymnastic. I think I’ve had my time in that,” says the 39-year-old. “My body has changed.”

“I almost now have the best of three worlds: I get to still dance and partner, which is brilliant; I get to do all the character roles, and there are some amazing roles; and I get to coach and teach. It’s my hobby but I get paid for it. I’m so fortunate because I absolutely love it; I wouldn’t do anything else,” he says, theatre training kicking in as he waits a comedy beat before muttering, “I certainly wouldn’t be a chef.”

gary avis

jamiemagazine.com116

INGREDIENT

Raspberries are such wonderful fruit, fragrant and delicious with the taste of summer. They remind me of long, hot days in my grandpa’s garden, crawling around the canes, picking berries – one for the basket, one for me. In fact, I think one of the great pleasures of an English summer is visiting a pick-your-own farm, such as the picturesque Priory Farm in Surrey where we shot this feature, so you can pluck raspberries from the cane yourself and take home an

abundance to eat fresh and use in the following recipes. Because they’re so delicate, raspberries should be eaten as soon as possible, though they freeze well for use at a later date in trifles or drinks. Golden raspberries taste the same as red, though aren’t so readily available, and they make a pretty contrast in salads or tarts.

Recipes & styling Ginny Rolfe Photography Tara Fisher

Sweet surrender

jamiemagazine.com 117