The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. October Recipe by Samira Effa
Sue Monk Kidd started writing fiction and kicked it all off by winning the South Carolina Fellowship in Literature and the 1996 Poets & Writers Exchange Program in Fiction.
The Secret Life of bees was Sues first novel, published in 2002 it spent more than 2 ½ years at the top of the New York Times best sellers list.
This book is set in South Carolina in 1964.
It’s the story of Lily Owens who grew up thinking that she killed her mother when she was four years old.
Rosaleen, a black servant and Lily’s substitute mother, insults two local racists, gets arrested and beaten. They pick up and move to Tiburon away from her not so loving father, hoping to find some answers to her mother’s death.
It’s here that Lily first encounters the bees.
A book about female power is always a good read for me (sorry guys), and this was no exception.
Sues’ writing was likened to Joanne Harris by the Daily Telegraph, so if that’s your bag, then go out and start to read your way through all of her books, you won’t be disappointed.
To give you a bit of a taster, heres’ an excerpt from the website of Sue Monk Kidd (hit the link to head to her website to read more)
…The bees came the summer of 1964, the summer I turned fourteen and my life went spinning off into a whole new orbit, and I mean whole new orbit. Looking back on it now, I want to say the bees were sent to me. I want to say they showed up like the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary, setting events in motion I could never have guessed. I know it is presumptuous to compare my small life to hers, but I have reason to believe she wouldn't mind; I will get to that. Right now it's enough to say that despite everything that happened that summer, I remain tender toward the bees. – Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees
The Secret life of Bees
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 4 egg rating
Honey & Soy Glazed Yorkshire duck, Black Garlic, Onion, Turnip
Samira Effa, at home in any kitchen
This month’s Foodie Book Club chef is the super talented Samira Effa.
I first spotted Samira on the show Great British Menu and have been following her talents ever since, so was so excited when she said she would support Foodie Book Club by giving us a recipe using honey, for Octobers read.
Born in Huddersfield in Yorkshire, just up the road from Foodie Book Clubs home, Samira was lucky to grow up tasting flavours of her Mum & Dads birthplaces.
With her Mum from Iran & Dad from Nigeria, as a child they shared food, cooking programmes & dinners with flavours from around the world, around the dinner table.
It wasn’t just the cooking with her parents that inspired Samira to become a chef, but also choosing to take food technology at school & the work experience at Bradleys restaurant, a local restaurant which offered her a part time position while she was still in education.
Working her way up from salads to sauces & desserts, it was the buzz of the kitchen that made her fall in love with the work. Samira trained her way around the business for about three years, soaking up all she could from all sections of the restaurant environment.
After her time at Bradleys, she spent over a year at the Devonshire Arms Beeley, in Derbyshire. Another beautiful part of the world.
Maybe the locations of the restaurants play a part in her choice of work environment?
It wasn’t long before Michelin starred restaurants called to her to take a job as chef de partié at Paul Kitching’s 21212 restaurant in the heart of Edinburgh,
Turning 21 while working there, Samira moved to be sous chef at Alimentum and met her partner John.
Eighteen months later Samira and John took off for another beautiful place, Jersey, where she began work in the kitchen of Bohemia, a one Michelin starred restaurant, where she stayed for two and half years.
When Cornwall called her, Samira set off to be Head Chef at the Alimentum, although because of lack of funding this was only her home for ten months.
This is when Samira was approached by Great British Menu to appear on the programme.
With tons of talent, lots of great feedback from Michael O’Hare & amazing dishes, Samira reached the finals.
“My dessert was the hardest, as I found it hard to stick on what I was going to make and kept changing what I was going to prepare! But in the end, I really liked it.’ Said Samira.
Yorkshire beckoned to her once again, & The Box Tree in Ilkley was her next challenge, taking on the role as Head Chef .
With so much experience & so many skills at such a young age, what is this rising star doing now?
Right now Samira is Working as a senior production chef for TRUEfoods which develops premium products for the food and restaurant industry and creates dining experiences and tasting menus for the weekly TRUEfoods CHEFStable.
So look out for some amazing dishes coming our way from there, packed full of flavour with a pinch of Samira Effa in every bite .
The recipe Samira has given us to go along with Octobers read is:
Honey & soy glazed Yorkshire duck, black garlic, onion & turnip.
Samira said: “I like this recipe as it combines great Yorkshire produce with flavours I love to eat.
Chinese flavours lend themselves well to duck.
The salty soy and sweet honey is a great match.”
By Samira Effa
This is a great recipe, but it may look a little challenging at first glance & definitely not for the faint hearted.
Don’t let it stop you trying the full recipe or even part of it.
Sometimes it’s good to give yourself a bit of a “push” when cooking, & if you’ve any questions about the recipe, heres’ Samira’s Instagram link so you can contact her to ask.
Go on, give it a go & let Samira know how you get one.
Enjoy Your sweet Life.
Honey & Soy Glazed Yorkshire duck, Black Garlic, Onion & Turnip
Honey & Soy Glazed Yorkshire duck, Black Garlic, Onion & Turnip by Samira Effa
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 Yorkshire Whole Duck
1tbsp Coriander Seed
2 x Star anise
100ml Soy Sauce
1 litre 10% Salt Brine
For the onion puree:
4 White Onions
150g Butter
For the pickled red onion:
1 Red Onion
100ml Red Wine
100ml Red Wine Vinegar
100g Sugar
For honey glaze:
100ml Soy
100ml Honey
1tbsp Five Spice
For the black garlic puree:
300g Peeled Black Garlic
100ml Water
For the duck jus:
1 x 2.5kg TRUEfoods Golden Chicken Stock
1 x 2.5kg TRUEfoods Veal Stock
1 duck Carcase
Honey and Soy Glaze
Lemon Juice
2 Large White Turnips
6 Baby Turnips
Mix of white and black sesame seeds
1 Red Meat Radish
Butter Emulsion
Method
1. Break down the duck. Take off the legs and bone out. Vacuum pack the legs with soy, coriander seeds and anise. Cook in a water-bath for 12 hours at 75 degrees. Press, chill and portion when cooked.
2. Pour boiling water over the duck crown to render the fat. Blow torch the skin, chill, then take the breasts off. Remove any sinew. Make
the salt brine by combing 100g salt to 1 litre of water. Brine the breast for 1 hour. Once brined, cook in a water-bath for 25 minutes at 62 degrees. Render the fat down in a pan once cooked and finish with butter.
3. Chop down the white onions and colour in butter, cook out on a low heat till golden and blend.
4. For the jus, roast the duck carcasses and add to stock. Reduce. Finish sauce with lemon juice and honey and soy glaze to taste.
5. Heat and reduce the honey, soy and five spice till sticky. This will glaze the duck breast and leg. The leg will be finished with a mix of sesame seeds.
6. For the pickled red onion, boil the red wine, red wine vinegar and sugar. Slice the red onion thinly and combine the 2.
7. Heat the black garlic with water then blend till smooth.
8. Peel the large white turnips and use a Japanese spiralizer for the spaghetti. Cook in butter emulsion
9. Cook the baby turnips in a butter emulsion.
10. Slice the red meat radish thinly and cut into circles.
