Ottolenghi

February 2, 2015 Recipe

Saffron Chicken

My Ottolenghi obsession continues: this saffron chicken salad with fennel has the warm notes of saffron, and the bright piquancy of blood oranges. There’s something about Middle Eastern cooking that fascinates me at the moment. Though I’m normally firmly routed in an Italian sensibility, for the last couple of years Hubby has increasingly cooked dishes from the Indian subcontinent. As a result we’ve become attuned to the subtlety of spices and herbs. Curries and the like can still be a little overwhelming for my Mediterranean palate, but Middle Eastern cuisine sits very comfortably between the two: bright herbs and warm spices, the food is flavoursome, colourful and healthy. Though this dish isn’t a traditional Israeli one, it was born out of that food culture. It can be served on its own, or for a more substantial meal, you could pair it with Persian Jewelled Rice.

Ingredients:
1 orange ( I used two small blood oranges)
50g honey
½ tsp saffron threads
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
about 300ml water
1kg skinless chicken breast
4 tbsp olive oil
2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
15g picked coriander leaves
15g picked basil leaves, torn
15 picked mint leaves, torn
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 red chilli, thinly sliced

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas Mark 6.
Trim and discard 1cm off the top and tail of the orange and cut it into 12 wedges, keeping the skin on. Remove any pips. Place the wedges in a small saucepan with the honey, saffron, vinegar and just enough water to cover the orange wedges. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about an hour. At the end you should be left with soft orange and about 3 tablespoons of thick syrup; add water during the cooking if the liquid gets very low. Use a food processor to blitz the orange and syrup into a smooth, runny paste; again, add a little water if needed.
Mix the chicken breast with half the olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper, and place on a very hot, ridged griddle pan. Sear for about 2 minutes on each side to get clear char marks all over. Transfer to a roasting tin and place in the oven for 15–20 minutes, or until just cooked. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, but still warm, tear it with your hands into rough and quite large pieces.
Place in a large mixing bowl, pour over half the orange paste and stir well. (The other half you can keep in the fridge for a few days and would make a good addition for herb salsa to serve with oily fish such as mackerel or salmon.)
Add the remaining ingredients to the salad, including the rest of the olive oil, and toss gently. Taste, add salt and pepper and, if needed, some more olive oil and lemon juice.

February 1, 2015 Recipe

Saffron Jewelled Rice

As a pescetarian, vegetarian dishes are a substantial part of my diet, but when I need to feed a large number of people this is ideal, and is generally a crowd-pleaser. Because it’s one dish that’s fantastic to serve alone, with meat, or fish, it suits so many diets. For our school Quiz Night {amazingly one of the highlights of the social calendar, as we’re all so laughably inept} I served it with Ottolenghi’s Saffron Chicken.

Jewelled rice is a Persian {Iranian} dish, usually saved for weddings and celebrations. Although mine is perhaps not the most authentic version, it seems there is no definitive recipe {or rather everyone thinks their version, is the definite version}. I can’t even spot a consistent difference between the two names: Morasa and Javaher Polow – both seemingly meaning jewelled rice.

Amongst the dozens of recipes I’ve read, there appear to be two distinct variations: one which uses spices and saffron, and a whiter version which omits them. Beyond that, I’ve seen every combination of ingredients and techniques. A few remain common: both nuts and dried fruit feature heavily, with the fruit usually being barberries. These are a sour berry not dissimilar to cranberries in appearance, but as I don’t always have them to hand, I’ve found dried physalis, and sour cherries to be a decent substitute. The physalis particularly has a sour but plump effect. The recipe which appealed to me the most came from the Amira site, and this is the one I’ve adapted.
Serves 8 comfortably

Ingredients:
600g long-grain basmati rice
Generous pinch of saffron threads
300g dried fruit (I used cherries, physalis, cranberry and blueberry)
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
60g unsalted butter
A few fine julienne of carrot
Zest of 1 orange
1 cinnamon stick
seeds from 8 cardamon pods
2 tsp cumin seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
100g walnuts, roughly chopped
100g pistachios
seeds of a large pomegranate
Generous handful of parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, very finely chopped

Method:

Run the basmati under water in a sieve to remove the excess starch, and the cover with cold water, setting it aside to soak for an hour
Cover the saffron with three tablespoons of orange blossom water, and leave to steep
Add the dried fruit to a small bowl, and barely cover in boiling water, leave to steep
After 30 minutes, add the oil and half the butter to a frying pan and set over a low heat. Add the spices and the shallot, and soften gently for 30 minutes until the shallots are barely caramalised. Turn off the heat.
Drain the rice into a large saucepan, and pour boiling water over the rice, until it comes approximately 3cm above the rice. On a medium heat, boil the rice for 3 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold running water, draining well.
When cool, mix the basmati into the shallots, along with the carrot strips, orange zest, saffron infusion, the dried fruit, and their soaking water. Season well with salt and pepper, and stir well.
Dot the surface of the rice with the remaining butter
Using a wooden spoon handle, make 5-6 holes through the rice, allowing it to steam evenly
Take a large piece of baking paper, scrunch it up, and soak in a little water. Shake off the excess, and lay over the rice {as a cartouche}. Cover the pan tightly with a damp tea towel, or sheet of foil, and set over a low heat. Cook, undisturbed, for 40 minutes. By this time your rice will be fluffy and a buttery crust will cover the bottom
While the rice is steaming, toast the nuts in a dry pan until they begin to smell ‘nutty’. Tip into a large bowl, and stir in the parsley, orange zest, garlic, carrot strips and pomegranate seeds
Once the rice has cooked, remove the paper, and stir through the nut and herb mixture. Serve the caramelised rice (the tah-dig) over the top.

I combine this dish with Ottolenghi’s Saffron Chicken, which also contains cardamom and oranges {one of my favourite combinations, as I’m sure you will have realised!}. The two dishes have a number of ingredients in common, and echo each other very successfully. I also took along a selection of hummus, with pitta breads toasted with a little olive oil, parsley and dukkah. Our portable pudding was a bento box of fruit, and a few riciarelli {which though Italian, are not hugely dissimilar to Middle Eastern nut treats}. And no. We did not win!

Do let me know what your favourite version of Jewelled Rice is!

October 17, 2014 FrontPage

Giant couscous, vegetables, herbs, pea-shoots

This dish is based very loosely on another Ottolenghi dish from Plenty – in it he combines rocket, onions, couscous and herbs. It struck me that it’s the perfect sort of dish to adapt based on what you love, or have available. Whilst rocket is peppery, for me pea-shoots impart a sweet freshness to the dish, that echoes the sweet and savoury shallots and cumin. I rustled Hubby up some blackened chicken to go with his dish, and the whole thing was done and dusted in the time it took to roast – no more than 25 minutes from beginning to end. This is one dish I’ll make dozens of variations of, and will treat as a method, rather than a recipe to adhere to rigidly.
Ingredients:

2 shallots
1 medium courgette
100g giant couscous
200g boiling water
1 tsp ground cumin
1 large clove of garlic
A handful each of parsley, mint, chives and chervil (whichever you have to hand or love)
80g pea-shoots
50g dried cranberries
olive oil, to fry the shallots in
Juice of one lemon, to dress
Extra virgin olive oil, to dress

Method:

Measure one mug of giant couscous into a bowl, and measure two mugs of boiling water, at the same level, pouring into the bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and set to one side (the couscous will cook in the residual heat of the boiling water – this method is sometimes called the absorption method, and will take around 15 minutes).
Finely slice two small shallots, and add to the pan with the olive oil. Gently fry until they are golden brown. Add a scant teaspoon of cumin powder, and lightly toss the mixture together.
Add the crushed garlic to the pan and soften without browning.
Cut the courgette into diagonal slices (if it pleases you), and if large, cut those slices in half. Cut the broccoli into manageable sections, and add both the broccoli and courgette to the pan. When lightly cooked, set the pan aside to cool a little.
Finely chop (or mince) a large handful of mint, parsley, chives, and chervil – or whichever herbs you prefer.
When everything is ready, combine your pea-shoots, drained couscous, herbs and vegetable together in a bowl. If you don’t mind fruit in your couscous, and I realise it’s not for everyone, add around 50g of dried cranberries, or sour cherries.
Drizzle with a little good virgin olive oil, and the lemon juice

October 13, 2014 FrontPage

Crusted pumpkin wedges, with soured cream

This dish is from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty, and he’s quickly becoming my go-to chef… Though I still blog meat and fish dishes, I’m increasingly eating vegetables, and you can guarantee his recipes still pack enough punch to make up for that. For some reason, an onion squash has appeared in my kitchen… No doubt one of the children has spotted it somewhere, and convinced that halloween is on the way, coerced Hubby into buying it. Little do they know it’s just become my supper… Well, after all, they can always buy another… Though the recipe calls for a larger squash than mine, it still tastes magnificent.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

700g pumpkin (skin on, or any other squash)
50g Parmesan, grated
20f dried white breadcrumbs (panko in my case)
6 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
2½ tsp finely chopped thyme
grated zest of 2 large lemons
2 garlic cloves, crushed
60ml olive oil
120g soured cream
1 Tbsp chopped dill
salt and white pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/Gas Mark 5. Cut the pumpkin into 1cm thick slices and lay them flat, cut side down, on a baking sheet that has been lined with greaseproof paper.

To make the crust, mix together in a small bowl the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme, half the lemon zest, the garlic, a tiny amount of salt (there is salt in the Parmesan) and a little pepper.

Brush the pumpkin generously with olive oil and sprinkle with the crust mix, making sure the slices are covered with a few millimetres of the coating. Gently pack the mix down a little.

Place the tin in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender: stick a knife in one wedge to make sure it has softened and is cooked through. If the topping starts to darken too much, cover loosely with foil.

Mix the soured cream with the dill and some salt and pepper. Serve the wedges warm, sprinkled with the remaining lemon zest with the soured cream on the side.

Notes:

If you have a combination of herbs you prefer, do feel free to use them. On my counter I had chervil, parsley, dill and thyme, and as I like that aniseed hit, I went with that
It would have been nice to use a larger squash to give a larger surface area, but the onion squash worked perfectly well. It also has the advantage of having a delicious skin when cooked
The smell of the garlic and lemon, as soon as this hits the oven, is ridiculous. It’s worth doing as a side-dish for that alone, your kitchen will smell amazing… For vegetarians, this is enough of a dish to satisfy your taste-buds
We dressed ours with a little extra-virgin olive oil, and some lemon juice

October 8, 2014 Book Review

Plenty More… by Yotam Ottolenghi

Mr Ottolenghi has three cookbooks in the top 20 on amazon – no mean feat!! Why is he so popular? Can one person be a zeitgeist in their own right? If they can, then he is… The recipes are clean, full of flavour, use a variety of ingredients, and more importantly for me at the moment, don’t rely on mountains of meat… If we’re going to encourage people to eat a broader variety of food, we have to make it flipping delicious!…