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Recent Vegetarian Recipes

Get your bake on…

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A Few Thermomix Recipes

Journal

Bocuse d’Or 2015

As I write, 24 national teams have presented their final dishes at the Bocuse d’Or, the equivalent of the chef’s Olympics, or World Championships. This biennial competition typically begins with 60 national competitions to find a champion for each competing country {though this year the US team was selected following the submission of resumés, – the winning candidates worked at The French Laundy for Thomas Keller, the President of the US team}.

Once selected, the teams enter the three continental regional competitions in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe, whittling down the numbers to 22.  There are two wild-cards for chefs selected by the governing body {which this year includes Grant Achatz} – this winnowing process takes 18 months.

Those awarded a place at the final have two month’s notice of the ingredient selection – and new for 2015 – on the eve of their allocated day they are notified of a mystery vegetable ingredient which has been drawn from a hat {which turned out to be fennel}. The competition runs over two days, with twelve teams competing each day, and each team has 5 hours and 35 minutes to complete their menu. Theoretically teams can prepare for the ‘mystery ingredient’speed bump by practising extensively with different vegetables beforehand, but with so many teams working right up to the last minute in their restaurants, it’s much harder to achieve than it sounds. As always, it’s a question of funding.

The US team managed to secure a very substantial budget, some say $1million +, and as a result were able to spend over six months preparing for the event, and refining their dishes. On the other hand, the UK team carried on working in their restaurant kitchens, under-funded, and relying on the goodwill of all involved. They’ve even initiated a crowdfunding page to help support their efforts.

Whilst the teams from Japan, the US, and other countries are lauded for their efforts, our team is barely known back home. In the ‘vote for your country’s poster’ competition, we were on a shocking 7 votes when I last looked – by comparison the Hungarian poster won the competition with 1,841 votes.

And when it comes to practising, the UK’s Adam Bennett completed 11 trial runs – one wonders just how many the US team completed? If I sound as though I’m being critical of Adam and the UK team, I’m very definitely not! However I’m not critical of the US team either, they played the game, their food looked stunning, and they performed on the day.

I’d just like to think that we can get behind our team, and give them all the support they need for 2017!

Check out the UK’s beautiful dishes…

The UK fish dish, Bocuse d'Or 2015

The UK meat dish, Bocuse d'Or 2015

The UK Meat platter, Bocuse d'Or 2015

 

The UK came in 10th place – our chaps did an outstanding job, and we need praise them for all they achieved. I missed most of the opening day but the stand-out dish of day two, for me, was the Japanese fish course. Served in a stunning net covered cloche, as though you were catching your own fish, it came with a heating element below the plate, with a verbena scented mist. It looked beautiful, and the judges certainly seemed to be tucking into it with gusto… It wasn’t a surprise then that Japan won the Fish Prize this year. Finland won the meat price, and the podium places were awarded as follows:

1st Place Norway

Norway Fish

Norway Meat 2

Norway Meat

2nd Place USA

The US Meat Platter, Bocuse d'Or 2015

The US meat course, Bocuse d'Or 2015

3rd Place Sweden

The photographs are from the Bocuse d’Or Flickr feed, and are copyrighted according
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bocusedor/

Recipe

Braised lettuce, with spring onions and peas

There’s something very comforting about braised lettuce – maybe it’s because I know that lettuce is a soporific?  Such a useful vegetable, there’s always, always, a variety of lettuces in my fridge, and as soon as the weather improves, in my garden.  I like all varieties, particularly the more fluffy varieties such as lambs lettuce, and pea shoots (though not technically a lettuce)… I’m rather partial to herb salads to, especially those found in Eastern Europe and the Middle East…  But I digress – perhaps lettuce makes one too calm, too loquacious…

Today’s variety is baby gem – that old stalwart of prawn cocktails…  Personally I usually have mine simply cut in half, with a drizzle of very good olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a good helping of salt and pepper – delicious just as it is.  However todays little gem was destined for the pot!  Braised with cumin seeds, white wine, and a tiny dash of cream, it was a perfect accompaniment to my sea trout.

Ingredients:
4 baby gem lettuce
1 glass white wine
Splash double cream
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
Bunch of spring onions
100g petit pois
20g unsalted butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

 

Method:

  • Trim the spring onions, chopping three or so into a fine dice – retain the others whole
  • Cut the baby gems in half lengthways, retaining a little of the stalk to help keep their shape
  • Pop the oil and butter into a frying pan or shallow casserole, and soften the chopped and whole spring onions, without colouring them. At this point add the cumin seeds, salt and pepper
  • When the onions have softened a little, add the baby gems, cut side down, and cook for around 2 minutes, until they begin to soften
  • Add the glass of wine, and cream, and continue to cook for around six more minutes, until the lettuce is tender to a knifepoint, and the wine and cream have thickened
  • Add the petit pois, and cook until just tender

 

Notes:

  • This would make a great dish with fresh peas when they’re in season – I can’t digest fresh peas for some reason, but it would work beautifully
  • You could actually get away with adding more cumin seeds, they don’t taste as strongly in this as you might imagine
  • I added a little fennel herb salad to the bottom of my dish, and chervil, just to boost the anise notes further

Braised baby gems

Braised baby gems

Braised baby gems

Braised baby gems

Braised little gem lettuce

Breakfast

Cardamom Scented Pears

Pear, Cardamom, Sour CherriesIt was so spectacular this morning: the boats were buzzing up and down the Thames, and the gulls were spiralling high on the wind… It may be January, but I really wanted to eat breakfast outside.  Though the sun was blazing, it definitely felt more appropriate to eat something warm and nourishing, and there’s nothing like a bowl of porridge to warm you up.  I had some lovely pears to hand, and as I’m going through a bit of a cardamom phase, I thought they might taste rather special pan-fried with the warming spice. I’d intended popping in a few emerald pistachios, but I appear to be using them up all too frequently in jewelled rice.  A quick ferret in the cupboard turned up my old favourite, dried sour cherries. I love these, although they’re very sweet (and therefore perfect for sweetening up the porridge), they also have a great sour tang – sour enough to enliven the tastebuds on a cold morning. I popped them into the pan with the pears and they were a revelation! Enough of the pear juice had steeped into them to plump them a little, but the pan gave their outer shell a crisp and chewy texture, almost akin to little chewy toffees… This combination is so much better than I anticipated, and the whole thing took less than ten minutes to prepare. I drizzled a little local honey onto the top, and took my bowl outside, watching the world pass me by… As a taster of the coming spring, they were the perfect start to my day.

Ingredients (for 2):
1/2 large rip pear, cored, and cut into wedges
1 tablespoon of coconut oil, or butter
the seeds of 5 green cardamom pods
1 small handful of dried, sour cherries
1 teaspoon organic honey (not manuka, probably too strong for this)
1 portion of gluten-free porridge per person, made to your preference

Pears, cored and cut into segments

Pen fry the pears for 2-3 minutes on each side, until they’re golden, with the cardamom and cherries

Drizzle with a little bit of organic honey, and savour the moment

 

A perfect day :0)

A perfect day :0)

Pear, Cardamom, Sour Cherries

Italian

Saffron Risotto

Saffron risotto | Risotto alla Milanese: the favourite comfort food of my thirteen year old.  She’s always loved risotto, and I can only put that down to the holidays we took when she was very tiny, when we would spend the summer months in Italy…  One of her first ever risotto’s was a Barolo and gorgonzola affair, eaten al fresco in Lucca, the spectacular walled town to the north of Pisa.  Just over a year old, the Italian’s adored her gusto as she wolfed down half of my supper, having already eaten a healthy portion of my carpaccio…  To this day carpaccio and parmesan are a key part of her diet.  I’ve never really considered before how much this has to do with early exposure, but in retrospect, some of these early ingredients are the very bedrock of her diet.

There’s quite a lot of detail to put into any post on risotto, so I’ve separated the parts out, with one lengthy post on the finer details of risotto here…  And here is my saffron risotto:

Ingredients:
250g risotto rice, preferably Aquerello rice
1L of good chicken or vegetable stock
3 shallots, very finely diced
a large pinch of good saffron
1 large glass of white wine (I used a mixture of Noilly Prat and Marsala)
60g of cold, diced, unsalted butter (approx)
40g of hard cheese, such as Grana Padano or Parmesan

Method:

  • Sauté the shallots in the butter and olive oil until they soften – you’re not looking for the shallots to colour…  And unlike some risotto bases, the soffrito for saffron risotto doesn’t include garlic. My shallots were chopped a little too large here – ideally you want them to be the same size as the rice.
  • In the meantime, gently heat your stock – do not boil it, or you may reduce the stock to fast, and make it too strong.
  • Take a ladleful of the stock and put it into a small bowl – add your saffron and allow it to infuse
  • Once the shallot has softened sufficiently, pour in the risotto rice, and stir it into the base – you’re actually looking to toast the rice (tostatura), and you can see each kernel will become more translucent.  After a minute or so, pour in the alcohol of your choice…  Ordinarily it’s a glass of white wine, but I’ve seen a variety of things used from Vermouth to Masala – personally I like the herby’ness of Noilly Prat, but on this occasion also used a little Madeira to push up the richness of the flavour base, and enhance the colour of the dish (apparently in Italy it’s not uncommon to add a tablespoon of passata, to increase the richness of the colour).  Allow the alcohol to bubble until it has been absorbed into the rice.  I do this until you can draw a line through the rice, with no liquid left in the pan.
  • If your saffron has “bloomed” sufficiently you can add it to your rice (I used to add it to the stock, but it seems to work better this way).
  • From this point on the process can be repeated with the stock – add a ladle at a time until it sits just above the rice, and keep stirring it until the stock has been absorbed.
  • Once the risotto has absorbed all the liquid, and is just al dente, take it off the heat and set it aside for a minute. This resting process allows the temperature to come down just enough, before you beat in the cheese and butter (the mantecatura).
  • Add sufficient cheese and cold diced butter to develop a creamy sauce – I can’t really tell you how much, as this bit is quite personal.  I probably used about 60g of butter, and 40g of Parmesan.

I’ve shown the whole process in the following photographs….

Risotto base
Soften the shallots in a little olive oil
Add your alcohol and raise the temperature a little
Keep stirring until the alcohol is absorbed – you should be able to draw a line through the rice with your spoon.

Add a ladleful of stock

Keep stirring the rice, which allows the starches to be released.  Make sure the stock is absorbed before adding the next ladelful.
Repeat the process, one ladleful at a time, until all the stock is used and the rice is al dente.  If you run out of stock, you can add a little water.
Take your rice off the heat, and allow it to relax for a couple of minutes.  Then beat in the cold butter and cheese, until a soft and relaxed risotto is achieved (clearly to your taste).

Serve the rice in a warmed bowl, with additional Grana Padano or Parmesan.

Book Review

The Art of Eating Well

The book combines a number of concepts, including gluten-free baking, sensible fats, food combining, some raw foods etc, and is on the whole flexitarian, with an emphasis on vegetables, and less on meat. The Hemsley sisters are certainly part of a growing trend focussing on a much broader range of ingredients, and the usefulness of this book will depend on how many other vegetarian/ flexitarian books you have… It will also depend on your budget, as a number of the ingredients are relatively expensive to source. The food is colourful, certainly enticing, but for me not as inspiring as that in Ottolenghi’s Plenty More. If you already follow this kind of diet, there will be a certain familiarity with some of the recipes, but at least you’ll probably already have amaranth, acai and chia in your larder.

The book is broken down into the following sections, and recipes:

10 Things to Do Today; Our Food Philosophy; Twelve Golden Rules; Stocking Your Kitchen; Cook’s Essentials

Breakfast: blueberry pancakes with mango cashew cream; anytime eggs; buckwheat porridge and buckwheat cream; cinnamon and buckwheat crunch granola; muffin frittatas; coconut amaranth porridge; baked amaranth porridge; chia chai butternut breakfast pudding; acai berry breakfast bowl; buckwheat groat Bircher muesli; cranberry quinoa breakfast bars; instant blueberry chia jam; goji marmalade; mango cashew cream

Soups: watercress soup and Brazil nut cream; chicken tinola; broccoli, pea and basil soup; broccoli, ginger and white bean soup; ribollita with parsley lemon oil; roasted tomato and butternut squash soup; chilled pink beetroot soup; Vietnamese chicken pho and courgette noodles; kelp pot noodles; no-cook coconut soup

Salads: superfood salad with miso tahini dressing; paper, halloumi and watercress salad; summer lime coleslaw; Puy lentil, beetroot and apple salad; quicker-than-toast courgette salad; carrot, radish and seaweed salad with sweet miso dressing; broccoli slaw with ginger poppy seed mayonnaise; pea, peach and goats’ cheese salad; roast bone marrow with watercress salad; kale Caesar salad; red cabbage, bacon and apple salad; fennel, cucumber and dill salad

Sides and Snacks: cauliflower rice and pilau-style cauliflower rice; cauliflower mash; mushroom, rosemary and arm sauté; whole roasted cauliflower; braised fennel with lemon and rosemary; baked courgette fries; cannelloni bean mash; toasted coconut green beans; garlic lemon green beans; pea, mint and broccoli mash; apple cheddar buckwheat muffins; falafel and Italian veg balls; southwestern spiced nuts; carrot and flax crackers; toasted coconut chips; chickpea crunchies; tahini bliss balls; baked broccoli fritters and spicy avocado dip; apple rings five ways

Meat and Fish: fish and celeriac chips with tartare sauce; mackerel with miso carrot dressing; steak with mustard leek sauce and watercress salad; steak with mustard leek sauce and watercress salad beef argue and courgette; sardine butter; lamb meatballs and cauliflower tabbouleh; slow-roasted lamb with anchovies; sausage and cider stew; chicken; chicken curry and cauliflower rice; roast duck with cranberry and orange jam; mum’s baked trout; sea bream teriyaki; fish pie with celeriac mash salmon with Argentinian chimichurri sauce; osso bucco beef shin with oak-smoked tomatoes; Sri Lankan lamb curry; shepherd’s pie; Pablo’s chicken; baked chicken liver mousse; chicken adobo with broccoli rice; sesame chicken salad with cucumber noodles; duck tamarind lettuce wraps; Moroccan chicken stew; prawn laksa; cucumber maki crab rolls

Vegetable Mains: mung dahl; lentil and cavolo nero stew with chermoula drizzle; mushroom quinoa nut roast with a chestnut apricot topping; roasted vegetables with white wine miso gravy; flower power pizza; courgette and aubergine curry; quinoa and roasted vegetable salad with brazil nut pesto; hot buckwheat noodle salad; caramelised garlic tart with almond crust; asparagus and pea risotto with mint and parsley oil; mushroom and stilton quinoa risotto; quinoa risotto balls; smoky baked beans; courgette puttanesca; kohlrabi dauphinoise; Malaysian lentil and squash curry; beetroot and goats’ cheese terrine; buckwheat burritos; socca pizza; spring greens with blood orange dressing; feta and black bean burgers

Dressings and Dips: green goddess dressing; Thai sweet chilli sauce; turmeric avocado dressing; pomegranate molasses dressing; sun-dried tomato and jalapeño yoghurt dip; mung bean hummus; kale pesto; lemon parsley cashew dip; bagna cauda

Baking and Desserts: BB brownies; mini almond, strawberry and custard tarts; avocado lime cheesecake; sticky toffee pudding; banana bread; pear and five-spice crumble with ginger créme frâiche; chocolate molten pots chocolate fig pudding’ pistachio fig and goats’ cheese trifle; pineapple carpaccio with chilli. mint and lime; lemon poppy seed muffins; salted apricot caramels; gingernutsl cinnamon and raisin cookies; pean mint ice-cream or lollies with chocolate; instant berry and coconut ice-cream; banutty choice ices chocolate avocado mousse; paradise bars; dark chocolate thinks and chocolate wheels; flax sandwich bread; multitude loaf

Drinks: fennel and mint juice; broccoli ginger juice; classic green cleansing juice; carrot and cayenne boost juice; strawberry, mint and cucumber smoothies; go-to green smoothie; go-to green raw soup; papaya smoothie; chocolate, peanut butter and mac smoothie; blueberry, spinach and vanilla smooth, piña colada smoothie; beetroot mama smoothie; vanilla maltshakes with a chocolate swirl; Mexican hot chocolate; chicory latte; pep-up turmeric tea; blueberry, lime and lavender cocktail…

Basic Recipes and Methods; Sunday Cook-Off; The Menus; A Guide to Eating Out; Stockists

 

You can get your copy here >

Baking

Marmalade

A very useful book, Elizabeth provides a very interesting combination of historical facts, recipe origins, and useful tips. As well as recipes for the preserves, there are also recipes for complete dishes. The book is broken into the following chapters:

Before you start: tips, equipment, techniques

Traditional flavours: membrillo; how marmalade got its name; quince-raspberry marmalade; aromatic orange-apple-ginger marmalade

Citrus marmalades: whole-fruit Seville orange; cut-rind Seville orange; marmalade as an aphrodisiac; dark bitter orange; sweet orange; blood orange; “in the pink” grapefruit; three-fruit; shredded lemon; Meyer lemon, ginger and mint; kumquat and Earl Grey tea; tangerine and vanilla; the rise of the British breakfast

Other fruit: rhubarb; double-ginger pear; peach and orange; orange-pomegranate; cherry

Exotic: passion fruit; bitter orange, rose water and almond; coconut; yes; banana; marmalade mixology

Savory (sic): summer tomato; red onion; the perfect slice of toast; tomatillo-chile; marmalade in literature

Savoury: orange-barbequeud pork belly; duck à l’orange marmalade; Mexican steak with frilled vegetables and tomatillo-chile marmalade; curried chicken salad; marmalade-braised lamb shanks; carnitas with pico de gallo; meatloaf with red onion marmalade glaze; glazed country ham; Chinese vegetable dumplings with marmalade dipping sauce

Sweet marmalade dishes: marmalade tart; steamed marmalade pudding with orange-blossom cream; marmalade ice-cream marmalade meringue with foamy sauce; sorta de grin de notte; upside-down gingerbread; fresh berries with marmalade cream; schnecken; rugelach with cherry marmalade and chocolate drive; marmalade drops

Breads: baked boxy; brown soda bread; buttermilk biscuits; oatmeal scones; crumpets; marmalade sandwiches popovers; focaccia

I found this to be a wide-reaching and interesting guide to marmalade making.

 

You can get your copy here >

Recipe

Cardamom Scented Rhubarb Tart

I know, what’s with the cardamom already? But trust me, this isn’t just about obsession, this is about delicious perfection. Cardamom is absolutely perfect with rhubarb, and blood oranges – it had to make it into this dish. One thing we’re not terribly good at in mainland Europe, is layering spices. It must be an art form we’ve lost along the way, as our ancestors were absolutely obsessed with spices and herbs, from sweet cicely to orange thyme {I was going to call the blog that at one point, but it’s too long to put into a search engine :0)}.

In this rhubarb tart, the main vegetable is poached in a liquor of blood oranges, Grand Marnier, cranberry juice, and cardamom pods – it’s exquisite! Oh.  And yes. Rhubarb is a vegetable. Some of the resulting rhubarb is then blitzed into creme patisserie, making the most delicious custard, and poured into a pastry shell… Easy peasy huh?

Well, it would have been if I hadn’t been glued to this years’ Bocuse d’Or competition. I had to poach my rhubarb three times, to get to a consistency I liked. At least it provided the additional purée for the crème pâtt’, so it’s all good! Do watch yours like a hawk, even 30 seconds here or there makes a difference.

Ingredients for the Pastry:
300g plain flour
150g unsalted butter
½ tsp salt
120g icing sugar
3 large egg yolks
Seeds from ½ vanilla pod
1 egg for the egg wash

Ingredients for the Poaching Liquor:
juice of 3 to 4 blood oranges
100ml cranberry juice
seeds of 6 green cardamom pods
2 Tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)
3 stalks of rhubarb

Ingredients for the Crème Pâtissèrie:
300ml full fat milk
80g unrefined caster sugar
30g unsalted good quality butter
40g plain flour
4 free range egg yolks
200g poached rhubarb

Now, before we even begin with the method, no, of course I didn’t make my own pastry on this occasion!  You may love to do so, but I find this stuff so perfectly good, that I very rarely use anything else!  The recipe above is Heston Blumenthal’s, and if you feel the need to torture yourself, it will do very nicely, thank you! I have made it before, and it’s jolly decent pastry…

Method:

  • Add the lemon zest to the egg yolk mixture and then add to the bowl in the mixer and continue to mix on low speed until fully combined and a very soft dough has formed {approximately 3-5 minutes}.
  • Mould the dough into a flat rectangle and wrap it in clingfilm before placing in the fridge for at least 1 hour. {Last time I made it, I did it overnight, was pretty firm when I rolled it out}
    Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 2mm, using two stacked 2 pence coins as guides, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5. Line a tart tin with the pastry making sure to press it into the edges and leaving the pastry hanging over the edge.
  • Take a sheet of baking paper and scrunch it up several times to eliminate any sharp edges. Prick the dough with a fork all over the surface. Place the baking paper on top and add enough coins {or baking beans} to fill the casing ¼ of the way up. Place in the preheated oven to bake for approximately 20 minutes or until fully cooked. {Be careful with the coins – once nearly put a watch battery in the oven which someone had dumped in the coin pot – check them!}
  • In the meantime, mix some of the leftover dough with an egg using a hand blender.
    After 20 minutes, remove the baking paper and coins and, using a pastry brush, brush the entire surface of the tart with the dough and egg mixture. This ‘liquid pastry’ will ensure that any holes will be sealed. Return the tart to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.
  • Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool completely.
  • Meanwhile, chop your rhubarb to an appropriate length – this will, of course, depend entirely on the tart case you’re using!  Make sure all the lengths will actually fit inside your case, and try to pick stalks of a comparable size.  It’s inevitable that the rhubarb itself will lessen in colour towards the top of the stalk, but if you’re careful, you can match several stalks together to achieve a pleading gradient of pink.  I found three stalks fit my tart tin perfectly…
  • Combine all of the ingredients of the liquor together, and bring to a boil.  Now.  Having done this three times, and not being particularly attentive (!), I found that it was best if I brought the liquor to a boil and then turned it off!  Put the rhubarb in, and set a timer for 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes, turn the rhubarb over.  It won’t be tender at this stage, unless you’re using very tiny stalks.  After the second five minutes, bring the liquor back to a boil, and immediately turn it off again!  Turn the stalks after a further five minutes, then squidge them, as you might do a steak.  If they feel nearly there, remove them immediately – they will continue to soften.  This method will at least ensure your rhubarb does not disintegrate in the pan (as my first batch did).  If they’re still terribly firm, turn them over and wait a further five minutes.  When just about tender, set aside the rhubarb, and reduce the liquor down to a thick and syrupy glaze.
  • To make the crème pâttisèrie, put all the ingredients into the Thermomix bowl and cook for 10 minutes at 90C, speed 4. Give it a quick whizz at the end to ensure it’s smooth {especially if you still have cardamom seeds in it}, then pour into a bowl and cover with cling film until it’s cool. Yes – that’s it! Keep it in your fridge until you require it.
  • Finally – the assembly – take your cooled tart shell, fill it with the pastry cream, top with the poached rhubarb, and glaze with a little of the reduced poaching liquor.  C’est parfait, n’est ce pas?

 

Notes:

  • I remembered, last year, that Tom Kitchen shocked asparagus before cooking – by putting it into ice-water – the reverse of an ice-bath…  It sets the chlorophyll, and though rhubarb doesn’t have chlorophyll per se, I though it might help the colour… It certainly seems to work…
  • Poaching the rhubarb in successive batches in the poaching liquor definitely intensifies the colour and cardamon flavour
  • You can use any leftover rhubarb on porridge, ice-cream etc – it’s delicious

 

Cardamon scented rhubarb tart

Cardamon scented rhubarb tart

Cardamon scented rhubarb tart

Cardamon scented rhubarb tart

Cardamon scented rhubarb tart

Cardamon scented rhubarb tart

Cardamom Scented Rhubarb

Book Review

Jerusalem… by Yotam Ottolenghi

This third cookbook by Mr Ottolenghi is the winner of the Observer Food Monthly cookbook of 2013, but is still riding high at number 25 – indeed Mr Ottolenghi has three cookbooks in the top 30 on amazon – no mean feat!!

Why is he so popular? Can one person be a zeitgeist in their own right? If they can, then simply he is… This particular book is also a loving study of Jerusalem, with photographs of the city and it’s people. The city is an amazing confluence of Jewish, Libyan, Italian, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, and many more cultures, and its food is consequently incredibly varied, but quite unique…

The book is divided into the following sections:

Introduction: Jerusalem food; The passion in the air; The Recipes; A comment about ownership; History

Vegetables: Sweet potatoes & fresh figs; baby spinach, dates & almonds; roasted butternut squash, red onions with tahini & za’atar…

Pulses and grains: Maqluba; couscous with tomato and onion; mejadra; musabaha and toasted pita, hummus…

Soups: Seafood and fennel; pistachio soup; burnt aubergine and mograbieh soup; tomato and sourdough soup…

Stuffed: Stuffed artichokes with peas and dill; stuffed aubergine with lamb and pine nuts; stuffed potatoes…

Meat: Braised quail with apricots, currants and tamarind; roasted chicken with clementines and arak; chopped liver…

Fish: Pan-fried mackerel with golden beetroot and orange salsa; cod cakes in tomato sauce; fricassee salad…

Savoury Pastries: Acharuli khachapuri; ghraybeh; mutabbaq; brick; red pepper and baked egg galettes…

Sweets and Desserts: Muhallabieh; semolina coconut and marmalade cake; set yoghurt pudding with poached peaches…

Condiments: Harissa; dukkah; zhoug; preserved lemons; pickled lemons; pilpekchuma; labneh; baharat…

Another fascinating journey into a delightful cuisine, I dip in and out of it constantly…

You can buy your copy here >

 

FrontPage

Wild Rice and Roasted Vegetable Soup

Autumn is a glorious time for cooks, although we’ve had the bounty of spring and summer, it’s now time for pumpkins, squash, and spicy soups in front of a roaring fire. This recipe is very definitely a two for one – it begins as a roasted vegetable and wild rice salad, and the following day becomes a delicious soup!

Ingredients:
1 tsp garam masala
2 cloves garlic
300g soffritto or mirepoix (2 red onions, 2 carrots, 2 large celery stalks, all  fined diced)
olive oil to fry the vegetables
1kg mixed vegetables (king oyster mushrooms, butternut squash, heritage carrots, heritage tomatoes, 2 courgettes)
1 large lemon, cut into wedges
1 large bunch of chervil or parsley
100g mixed salad

Method for the salad:

  • If you’re using wild rice, you’ll need to put this on first, as it takes 40-50 minutes to cook. The ratio for rice to water is usually 1 part rice, to just over 2 parts water or stock. My one cup of rice was more than sufficient for four portions of salad
  • Fry the soffritto in the olive oil, with the garlic and garam masala. If your using mushrooms, you can cut the stalks into dice or matchsticks, and add them to the soffritto, as I have done
  • Prepare your vegetables into quills, or a shape of your choosing. For quills, cut your carrot, for example, into a slanted wedge, then cut that into half
  • Incorporate your vegetables with the fried mixture, and pop them into a 180ºC oven for around 30 minutes – you’re not looking to roast the colour or flavour out of them, just to add some additional flavour through caramelisation. I also added the stalks of the chervil, finely chopped, and lemon wedges
  • When the rice is ready, combine the salad, roasted vegetables and rice into a bowl, and dress with a little more chervil.  You may need to rinse the rice in a little water, if it looks as though it is going to become too starchy

Although I was eating the salad on my own (Hubby having cooked meat for the others), I made a full portion so that I could make soup the following day. You do have to be careful using pre-cooked rice, as it can contain bacteria.  I  blended mine in my Thermomix for 10 minutes, 100C, initially at speed 10, but then reducing it to speed 4.  If you’re blending it normally, you will need to bring it back to the boil as a precaution.  Swirl a little creme fraiche onto the top and snuggle up!

Roast Vegetable Soup

A mixture of heritage tomatoes, carrots, and quash.

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Pink Peppercorn Salad

I adore the scent and tang of pink peppercorns.  I can distinctly remember the first time I tasted them in a sauce in Frederick’s Restaurant in Islington, nearly thirty years ago.  These little berries of the South African baies rose plant aren’t related to peppercorns at all.  Their flavour is very complex, both aromatic and sweet, and though I can’t find them listed at the Umami Information Centre, I’m certain they have a high umami level.  I’ve used them in everything from panacotta’s to venison stew, and their scent and flavour profile are immediate identifiable…  Here I wanted to enliven a warm green salad with a spicy little dressing, but not overwhelm the flavour of the veggies in the way, say, chilli might.  The crushed peppercorns were a vibrant addition to the salad.

Ingredients:
100g of mixed green salad
200g of green vegetables (I used broccoli, and asparagus)
1 small shallots, finely diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 little olive oil

For the salad dressing:
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons pink peppercorns, crushed in a pestle and mortar
1 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Fry the shallots, cumin and garlic in a little olive oil
Prepare and cook your vegetables (c’mon, you don’t need me to tell you how to cook broccoli!)
Crush the peppercorns, and then incorporate the remaining vinaigrette ingredients
Toss all of salad, vegetables and dressing together in a bowl

Et voila! Welcome to the wonderful world of pink peppercorns… Now you can use them to infuse cream for a panna cotta, to impart flavour to white chocolate, in marinades for meat, even in cocktails – a pink peppercorn martini anyone?

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