Taking a Leith out of her book

“Be nice to people,” was one of Dame Prue Leith’s tips when asked by a starry-eyed young woman for career advice.  The Cordon Bleu chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, novelist, TV personality and judge of the popular TV series The Great British Bake Off (TGBBO) was back in South Africa, where she was born. She lives in the UK and was here to launch her latest cookbook, Bliss on Toast. I was lucky enough to host a Q&A with her at a bookstore in Hyde Park, Johannesburg. The capacity audience, a sea of faces before us, were hanging on her every word.

I ruminated on the word “nice”. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as “giving pleasure or satisfaction; pleasant or attractive”. Nice is a word I’d use to describe an average ice cream, yet uttered by Leith, brilliant businesswoman as she is, it resonated for days after the interview. Having heeded her advice, I’ve discovered yes, it works.

As patron of the Prue Leith Culinary Institute in Centurion, I first met her soon after it opened in January 1997. I’d tucked the first cookbook I’d splashed out on, Leith’s Cookery Bible written with Caroline Waldegrave, under my arm for her to sign — and, interestingly, it also happened to be her first. Today Leith has a whopping 14 cookbooks and seven novels under her belt.

Within a couple of minutes of that meeting, it felt like catching up with a long-lost friend. There were no airs and graces and Leith, ever the raconteur, freely reeled out the juicy titbits of her life. And after 26 years and many interviews together, I find the inspiring  octogenarian — she’s  turning 83 in a couple of weeks — happier and busier than ever. Not afraid of trying anything once, she’s taking to the stage in a one-woman show that will tour the UK this month, then head to the US where, with fellow TGBBO judge Paul Hollywood, she will judge the American version of the show. Filming starts later this year.

“I’d say one of my very best jobs has been The Great British Bake Off,” she laughed, “because I just rock up, have my makeup and hair done, eat cake and earn a big salary.”

In TGBBO we see a reincarnation of Leith’s signature style — you can’t miss those bright, bold colours she wears with aplomb, matched with an alluring collection of glasses, a different pair for each outfit, and finished off with gorgeous whimsical plastic jewellery. Leith credits this makeover to her second husband John Playfair, a retired clothing designer and stylist who put it together. “I don’t do any of my clothes shopping any longer,” she admitted.

During our Q&A,  I reminded her how a decade or so ago she told me confidently that she was done with writing recipes and was never going to do another cookbook as she dipped into novel-writing. She laughed and shared with the audience her dream to get a series of her novels made into a movie. K and, knowing her, it will happen.

For now there’s no stopping this busy woman who admits loving nothing better than using up leftovers. Her best, she said, was to turn them into toppings served on toast, hence Bliss on Toast. This was their favourite way to spend Sunday night — eating leftovers with her feet up in front of the telly. It really is bliss on toast.

Here are three recipes from Bliss on Toast

Smoked salmon, wasabi and avocado on granary bread

 30ml (2 tbsp) cream cheese

5ml (1 tsp) wasabi paste

2 slices of granary bread (or brown bread of choice)

1 ripe avocado

150g smoked salmon or gravlax

Finely grated zest of 1 lime

2.5ml (½ tsp) each of black and white sesame seeds

A few pea shoots or tendrils (optional)

1. Mix the cheese with the wasabi and spread it on the bread.

2. Slice the avocado thinly and put it in an even layer on top of the wasabi-cheese mix, then cover with the smoked salmon.

3. Sprinkle on the lime zest and sesame seeds and garnish with the pea shoots or tendrils, if you have found any.

Chicken tikka with yoghurt on naan

100ml plain yoghurt

juice of ½ lemon

15ml (1 tbsp) tikka paste

4 raw skinless and boneless chicken thighs

Oil for the tray

2 small naans, or chapatis

Butter for spreading

½ mild red chilli, finely chopped

a few mint or coriander leaves (or both)

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 240°C/fan 220°C

2. Mix the yoghurt, lemon juice and tikka paste together and reserve half of it for later. Turn the chicken thighs in the rest and spread them out on an oiled baking tray. Roast for about 35 minutes until brown and cooked through (a skewer should glide through the flesh easily). Slice each thigh into 3.

3. Warm the naans or chapatis briefly in the microwave or toaster and spread with butter.

4. Pile the chicken onto the breads, seasoning with a little salt and pepper. Top with a dollop of the reserved yoghurt, the chilli and herbs.

Tomatoes with English pesto on toasted focaccia

2 squares of focaccia

4-6 big slices of ripe tomato

For the pesto:

20g walnuts

30g bunch of parsley

1 garlic clove, crushed

30g cheddar cheese, finely grated

75ml rapeseed oil (or olive oil)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C Put the walnuts on a baking tray and into the hot oven for 5 minutes to toast. Or toast them in the microwave for 5 minutes, giving them a stir halfway through.

2. Chop the stalks of the parsley, which have a lot of flavour you don’t want to waste, with a sharp knife. (Chopping in the machine can result in stringy bits — better to start by hand.) Put them, the parsley leaves and garlic into a blender and chop briefly. Then add the Cheddar and walnuts and blend again. At this point you will need to add the oil to loosen the paste. When everything is in, blitz to a smooth-ish sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Toast or grill the focaccia pieces to warm them through, then spread with the pesto and overlap the tomato slices on top.

Credits

Bliss on Toast by Prue Leith

Published by Bloomsbury distributed by Jonathan Ball

Price: R445