There must be a dozen glass jars in the cupboard, stoppered and untidily stacked, filled with seeds of various sizes and shapes. Not seeds to grow, but seeds to eat, from those of the pumpkin, dark green and almost flat, to the delightfully diminutive sesame.
Most edible seeds are nothing until warmed, in a dry, shallow pan, or toasted on a baking tray in the oven, when their earthy or nutty notes will shine. Right now, it’s the poppy seed’s moment in the sun. I have become slightly addicted to its crunch and gritty texture, the soft grey-blue of its tiny, perfectly rounded form. They look beautiful on a snow white cauliflower salad, dressed with soured cream, and provide a pleasing textural contrast to the soft, buttery crumb of a cake.
This week I have used them to add crunch to the skin of a roast chicken and freckled them through a moist almond cake. Next week I may rain them through the leaves of a chicory and watercress salad or press them into a batch of shortbread. Who knows what those little seeds may help out next.
Roast poppy seed chicken
The chickpeas, cooked inside the chicken, swell deliciously with the fat and juices from the bird as it roasts. You can expect a 2kg chicken to take a can and a half of chickpeas. The remainder, scattered around the bird, will crisp lightly. Mashed until almost smooth with lemon juice and the roasting juices, you end up with a deeply savoury hummus to eat with the chicken and its crunchy, poppy-seed freckled skin.
chickpeas 2 x 400g cans
chicken 1 x 2kg free-range
olive oil 2 tbsp
redcurrant jelly 2 heaped tbsp
white vinegar 1 tbsp
poppy seeds 1 tbsp
lemon juice of 1
flat-leaf parsley 6 sprigs
olive oil
Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4.
Drain the chickpeas, then season them with salt and a little pepper. Place the chicken in a roasting tin on its end and spoon the chickpeas inside the bird, letting any overspill fall into the tin. Lay the chicken down, trickle the olive oil over, season, then roast for about 55 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven, tip or spoon out all the chickpeas and transfer them to a food processor.
Mix the redcurrant jelly and vinegar in a small pan over amoderate heat, then brush the bird with the mixture, scatter with the poppy seeds and return to the oven for 7-10 minutes.
Pull the leaves from the parsley. Process the chickpeas to a smooth, wet purée with the lemon juice, afew spoons of the pan juices from the chicken and the parsley leaves.
Remove the bird from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes, then carve into thick pieces and serve, together with the chickpea purée and any juices from the roasting tin.
Orange and poppy seed cake
You won’t need all of the orange peel, so remove half of it and either keep it in a jar in the fridge or put it on a cooling rack and in a cool place and let them dry for use as candied peel. Unlike most of the shop-bought peel, it has a true citrus flavour.
Serves 8
For the orange confit:
grated lemon from the cake ingredients (below)
oranges 600g
lemon 1
water 750ml
caster sugar 250g
bay leaf 1
cinnamon 1 small stick
For the cake:
butter 225g, softened
golden caster sugar 225g
grated zest of an orange
grated zest of a lemon
plain flour 110g
baking powder generous half tsp
ground almonds 115g
eggs 4
poppy seeds 20g
You will need a rectangular cake tin, 22cm x 12cm x 7cm deep, lined on the base and sides with baking parchment. Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4.
First, make the confit. Cut the oranges in half then squeeze their juice into a measuring jug. Cut the fruit in half again, pull away the pulp with your fingers or ateaspoon, then discard it. Cut the orange peel into very fine slices, as if you were making marmalade.
Add the juice of the lemon to the orange juice, (there should be about 200ml), then pour into a stainless-steel saucepan. Add the water and caster sugar and bring to the boil. When the sugar has dissolved, add the sliced orange peel, the bay leaf and the cinnamon stick and simmer gently for 90 minutes. You will need to check the liquid level from time to time, but it should evaporate to about a third of its original volume. Check that the peel is translucent and tender. Set aside.
To make the cake, put the butter into the bowl of a food mixer, add the sugar and cream for a good 5minutes until soft and fluffy. Grate in the orange and lemon zest.
In a separate bowl, sieve together the flour and baking powder then stir in the ground almonds. Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat lightly with afork to combine. With the beater at a moderate speed, add the egg, a little at a time, to the butter and sugar. If the mixture appears to curdle slightly, then add a spoonful of the flour and almond mixture. Continue adding the flour until thoroughly creamed. Mix in the poppy seeds.
Transfer the mixture to the lined cake tin, gently smoothing the surface flat. Put in the pre-heated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer, inserted into the cake, comes out without any raw cake mixture attached. Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes.
Still in its tin, pierce the cake in about 20 places, with a metal skewer or fine knitting needle. Spoon the reserved orange syrup over the surface, letting it trickle though the holes, holding back the peel with a draining spoon.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk
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