Spinach, Goat Cheese & Beetroot Stacks with Spicy, Caramelised Walnuts

Where did the last month go?  If your life is anything like mine, it's vanished in a heart beat.  During that month in my part of the world daffodils have burst into life, blossom is appearing on the trees, and spring lambs are bounding around countrywide.  My overcoat wearing has almost become a thing of the past, and I'm guessing that it will only be another couple of weeks before I can say goodbye to winter boots for another 8 months.  Yes, spring is definitely on the way.

In an entirely different part of the world, the owner and writer of the Enriching Your Kid blog has been completely oblivious to the fact that I've spent quite a bit of time poking around through her recipes in this last month.  You see, it's Secret Recipe Club time of the month and this was the blog assigned to me.  It was my mission to choose a recipe, make it in secret and post it along with everyone else in the Club on one glorious reveal day.

As its title might suggest, this blog is all about producing recipes which will fortify your kids with dishes that will strengthen their immune systems and stimulate growth.  As such, you will find plenty of recipes here for interesting baby foods and school lunches.

Of course, there's plenty of other good, nutritious stuff, but since I don't have children, I thought I might have a bit of trouble finding a dish here that I would want to make.  Wrong ... in fact I found almost immediately the dish I wanted to make - Beetroot Cutlets.

Now, if you live in my part of the world, when you hear the term beetroot cutlets, you might by thinking "what the heck"?  You see, down here, a cutlet is usually a piece of meat attached to a long bone - such as a lamb chop.

But I knew immediately what the nature of this was going to be.  When I was a kid, one of my favourite dinners was my grandmother's "potato cutlets".  These were spicy, minced meat (usually left over curried lamb), encased in mashed potato, and then crumbed and fried until crispy.  So I knew that here a cutlet was going to be some kind of rissole or croquette.

These beetroot cutlets are "spiced" up with a bit of ginger, garlic and curry powder (the original recipe called for garam masala, but I was all out of it), and I coated them with some panko breadcrumbs for a bit of crunch.

To finish things off, I served them on top of a spinach, lentil and goat cheese salad, with some spicy, caramelised walnuts, and topped them off with a dollop of raita (a combination of cucumber, yoghurt and mint).

This made a wonderful vegetarian meal.  The cutlets had a great combination of taste and texture;  and the salad was the perfect accompaniment, the earthiness of the spinach and lentils with the tangy, salty goat cheese providing a great contrast to the sweetness of the beetroot.  The crowning glory is easily the spicy, caramelised walnuts.

I know when you look at this recipe you might think there's a lot of ingredients and steps.  But, honestly, most of these ingredients are things you will likely have on hand already, and most of the steps involved here can be done well in advance - even the day before if you wanted.  This is a great dish for turning very simple, humble ingredients into a meal that looks and tastes really special.  Even the meat-eater around here declared that he'd pay good money for this dish in a restaurant.  I hope you'll give it a try.

Spinach, Goat Cheese & Beetroot Stacks with Spicy, Caramelised Walnuts Recipe
Inspired by recipe from Enriching Your Kid
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For beetroot cutlets:
2x medium sized beetroot, peeled and grated
1x small leek, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced
1x clove garlic, minced
2.5 cm (1 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and grated
2x medium sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
freshly ground black pepper
flaky sea salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
generous handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
panko breadcrumbs
sunflower oil for frying

For spinach, lentil & goat cheese salad:
1 cup brown lentils
4x generous handfuls of spinach, or mesclun salad leaves
150g goat cheese crumbled
juice of 1/2 lemon
flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

For spicy, caramelised walnuts:
1x generous handful of walnuts
1 teaspoon curry powder
5 teaspoons sugar

For raita:
1/2 telegraph cucumber, peeled, de-seeded, and finely diced
flaky sea salt
3/4 cup Greek style natural yoghurt
dried mint to taste

Begin by making the cutlets.  Heat a small amount of sunflower oil in a shallow pan over medium heat.  Add the sliced leek to the pan, along with a generous sprinkling of sea salt.  Saute for a couple of minutes before adding the ginger and garlic.  As soon as the leek is softened (but not browned) and everything is fragrant, remove from heat.  Tip into a medium sized bowl.

Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender.  Drain and cool slightly before mashing.

Add the mashed potato to the leeks, along with the grated beetroot, curry powder, lemon juice and coriander.  Taste and add flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to your liking.

Use your hands to shape the mixture into patties, approximately 2cm (3/4 inch) thick.  Coat them in panko breadcrumbs, and refrigerate for at least half an hour to firm up.  You could even do this the day before if desired.

To make the raita, place diced cucumber in a small bowl, and sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.  Set aside for an hour or so, then drain off the liquid that has been drawn out of the cucumber.  Add yoghurt, mix well, and add dried mint (or fresh if you are lucky enough to have it in season) to taste.

To make the salad, cook the lentils, place them in a medium sized pot, with plenty of cold water.  Place over high heat and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the lentils are tender.  Drain and place in a medium sized bowl.  While lentils are still hot, add lemon juice, a generous drizzle of olive oil and season to taste with flaky sea salt and black pepper.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.  This is another stage that can be completed well in advance.  Once cooled, toss with spinach or salad leaves and crumbled goat cheese.

For spicy, caramelised walnuts, drizzle a small amount of sunflower oil into a shallow pan over medium heat.  Add the walnuts to the pan, and add the curry powder.  Toss the nuts until they are well coated and allow them to toast for a moment or two.  Add the sugar to the pan, and stir constantly until the sugar is bubbling and the nuts are thoroughly coated in the spicy, sugary mixture.  Remove and allow to cool.  Again this could be done in advance.

Pour a generous amount of sunflower oil into a shallow pan over medium heat.  Add beetroot cutlets to the pan, and fry until crispy and golden all over.

To serve, place a generous amount of salad on a plate, and sprinkle a few of the spicy, caramelised walnuts around.  Stack the beetroot cutlets on top, and drizzle over a little of the raita.

Hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did, and visit the links below to check out all the other great dishes my Secret Recipe Club friends made.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake

It's Secret Recipe Club time again, and this month I was assigned to Rebkah's delightful blog Making Miracles.  And Rebekah does indeed make miracles.  Rebekah began her blog several years ago to share her experiences through surrogacy, a journey which enabled her to bring four beautiful girls into the world for couples who desparately wanted babies but were unable to do so without help.  If that's not miraculous I don't know what is.  Since then Rebekah's blog has continued to share stories of her own son, her day to day family life, and of course recipes from her kitchen.

I found lots of dishes I wanted to make and share with you:  Bacon, Egg & Potato Breakfast Tacos (who wouldn't want to start the day with those);  as a salmon addict, I cant wait to try this Molasses Glazed Salmon;  the Shrimp Lemon Pepper Linguine is totally my kind of dish;  and I've lost count of the number of times I've made these insanely good Roasted Brussels Sprouts in the last month.  But feeling, as I did, the need for cake today, it was Rebekah's Cinnamon Coffee Cake that won out.

Rebekah adapted this recipe from another source, and I too made a few minor changes.  Like Rebekah, I halved the recipe.  I used brown sugar instead of white in the topping, and I replaced sour cream in the recipe with Greek-style natural yoghurt.  Also like Rebekah, I only did two layers to the cake instead of three, because really I'm just a bit lazy and didn't want to be fussing round with it.

This cake turned out to be deliciously moist and flavourful, soft and tender on the inside with a delightfully crunchy exterior.  This was the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon cuppa, and would also be a great cake to take on a picnic.  My only regret ... that I couldn't actually sit down with Rebekah and have a natter about her life and her travels over a good brew and a piece of this cake ... maybe one day.

Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake Recipe
Adapted from recipe from Making Miracles
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For filling & topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

For cake:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup natural Greek-style yoghurt

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F).  Lightly grease a 20cm (8 inch) springform or loose-bottomed cake tin, and line the base with non-stick baking paper.

Combine filling and topping ingredients together in a small bowl, and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until fluffy. Add the vanilla, then add the eggs one at time, beating well after each addition.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the yoghurt to butter, sugar and egg mixture, beating after each addition just enough to combine.

Spoon half the batter into the prepared cake tin and sprinkle with 1/2 of the filling mixture. Spread with the remaining cake batter, and top with the remaining filling mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes or until centre is done.

Allow cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

Hope you enjoy this cake as much as I did, and visit the links below to check out all the other great dishes my Secret Recipe Club friends made.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spinach, Orange & Goat Cheese Salad

This week, at I Heart Cooking Clubs, we're getting cheesy - cooking up Nigel Slater dishes that feature cheese as an ingredient.

After last week's Gnocchi with Chorizo, Gorgonzola & Spinach, which really knocked it out of the ball-park for full-on creamy, cheesy indulgence, I thought I would bring you something a little lighter this week.  Nigel's spinach, orange and feta salad from "Tender, Vol. I, A cook and his vegetable patch" seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

Of this dish, Nigel says, "A favourite salad of mine is one where the spinach leaves are matched with oranges and feta.  Lush, salty, refreshing, I use it to lift the spirits."  And he's right.  It is all of those things, and the "sunny" burst of tangy orange slices amongst the velvety spinach leaves, spiked with sharp, salty goats' feta, cannot fail to be uplifting on a gloomy late autumn day.

This salad of course would make a great side to just about anything you can think of, but it can just as easily make a meal on its own.  You can easily "trick it up" with a few add-ins to make it a little more substantial if you like.  Nigel suggests toasting some torn up bread or a few sprouted seeds as possible additions.  Since I happened to have some beautiful fresh beetroot from a friend's garden on hand, I chose to add some roasted beetroot along with some toasted walnuts. Satsuma mandarins are also available here in abundance right now, so I included some mandarin segments as well.   Some black olives would also be a nice addition I think, and you could of course swap the goat cheese for some other cheese such as a gorgonzola or other blue cheese.

This recipe is more of a guideline than anything too specific.  It is infinitely variable, and you really don't need to be too fussy with quantities.  I do hope you try it.  This is really perfect for a simple lunch, and I will definitely be making it again.

Spinach, Orange & Goat Cheese Salad Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Nigel Slater
from Tender, Vol. I
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For each person you will need:
1x medium-sized beetroot
olive oil
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2x generous handfuls of baby spinach leaves
1x medium-sized orange
1x mandarin
1x handful of crumbled goat cheese
1x handful walnuts, toasted
walnut oil
red wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Wash and dry beetroot, and cut into wedges.  Place beetroot wedges on a large piece of tinfoil, drizzle liberally with olive oil, season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Close up tinfoil, place package in a shallow baking dish, and roast in the preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes or until beetroot are tender.  Remove from oven and leave to cool.

Remove skin and all white pith from the orange and cut crosswise into slices.  Work over a bowl or a plate to catch as much of the juices as you can.  Remove all skin and pith from the mandarin, and divide into segments.

Arrange spinach leaves on a serving platter.  Tuck orange slices, mandarin segments and beetroot wedges in amongst the leaves.  Sprinkle goat cheese over the top.

Make a dressing by mixing together the reserved citrus juice with walnut oil, in approximately equal parts.  If you don't have much juice from the oranges, top up the "acidity ratio" with a little red wine vinegar.  Season with freshly ground black pepper, and drizzle over the salad.

Top with a sprinkling of toasted walnuts and serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater a little better, and to see all the other cheesy dishes that are on the menu this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... or check out Tender, Vol. 1 and Nigel's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum, and at Cook Your Books hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours.

               

Roasted Beetroot, Leek & Walnut Salad with Tamarind Dressing & Pomegranate

Here's a post that's short and sweet

It's all about the humble beet

At IHCC, it's potluck week

A chance for the beet to meet a leek.

At Tasting Jerusalem** this month we're all about tamarind ...

When teamed with beet and leek, it's a match made in heaven

It's sweet and sour tang makes this dressing sing

From the man who may be rightfully called the "salad king".

Another triumph from my favourite cook

Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem, A Cookbook.

Ok, so I'm never going to win any prizes for my poetry.  But what I lack in literary skills, my favourite chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, more than makes up for with yet another winning salad.  This is, as is typical of so many of Ottolenghi's dishes, a triumph of tastes and textures and has become a regular in our household over the last few months.  The combination of earthy beetroot with sweet, delicate leeks, peppery rocket, and crunchy walnuts is great even before you douse it all in a bold, garlicky, tangy dressing and finish it off with pomegranate seeds that explode in your mouth with their tangy juice and crunch.  In the original recipe Ottolenghi describes the pomegranate seeds as being optional - I say if it is at all humanly possible for you to include them, then do so.  Their tangy, slightly sour flavour reinforces the sweet-sour tang of the tamarind in the dressing, and the extra texture they bring should not be overlooked, and if that's not enough to persuade you, just take a look ... don't they look like little jewels strewn all over your salad.  That jewel-like look seems to elevate such humble ingredients as beetroot and leeks into something quite special.

Cooks Tip:  Pomegranates are in season right now.  Buy three or four, remove all the seeds, spread them out on a baking sheet and pop in the freezer till frozen.  Remove sheet and put the seeds into a snaplock bag.  Return to the freezer.  You will have a supply of pomegranate seeds all year long - just take out a spoonful or two for a salad whenever you need them.

Roasted Beetroot, Leek & Walnut Salad

with Tamarind Dressing & Pomegranate Recipe

Adapted (slightly) from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem, A Cookbook

Serves 3-4 as a side, or 2 as a light meal

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

3x medium beetroot

1x large leek

small handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

large handful rocket leaves (arugula)

seeds from half a pomegranate

generous handful of toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

Dressing:

2x garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1-1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F).

Wrap each of the beetroot in tin foil and bake in the preheated oven until tender - about 60 minutes.  Remove from the oven, unwrap foil and leave to cool.  Peel, cut into wedges, and set aside in a medium sized bowl.

Wash leek and cut into pieces about 6cm (2-1/2 in) long.  Put into a small saucepan, cover with water and a generous pinch of sea salt, and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until just tender, but not falling apart - about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain and refresh under cold water.  Once cooled, cut each piece into 2 or 3 smaller pieces, and set aside in a small bowl.

To make the dressing, whisk all ingredients together until well combined, and set aside for 10 minutes for the flavours to fully develop.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Pour dressing over the beetroot and leeks in their separate bowls and toss until vegetables are well covered with the dressing (you want to keep them in the separate bowls until after they have been dressed so that the beetroot doesn't stain the leeks).

To assemble the salad, arrange half of the beetroot on a serving platter.  Top with some of the rocket, a sprinkling of the coriander and walnuts and all of the leeks.  Arrange the remaining beetroot over the top.  Sprinkle over the remaining rocket, coriander and walnuts, and finish with the pomegranate seeds.

If you would like to see what else my friends have cooked up for Potluck Week, then do go and visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

**Tasting Jerusalem is a virtual cooking community exploring the vibrant flavors and cuisine of the Middle East through the lens of Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Ottolenghi and Tamimi published by Ten Speed Press. You can follow along and cook with us by subscribing to omgyummy.com, following the hashtag #TastingJrslm on Twitter and Instagram, liking our Facebook page or joining our Google+ Community and finally checking out all of our groups’ dishes on Pinterest.

I'll also be sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo, hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Food on Friday:Beetroot hosted by Carole at Carole's Chatter, at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam, and at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.

                             

Sweet Potato Galettes

This has been a week of surprises.

First of all I discovered how incredibly easy it is to make your own sour cream.  Simply add the juice of one lemon to one cup of cream.  Stir and you will feel it begin to thicken slightly almost immediately.  Leave out on your kitchen bench for three or four hours, giving it a bit of a stir from time to time.  It will become noticeably thicker during that time.  Now line a sieve with a clean piece of muslin.  Pour the cream into the cloth-lined sieve and set over a small bowl.  Put into the fridge overnight.  The next morning you will be rewarded with beautiful thick, tangy sour cream.

Speaking of rewards, my second surprise this week came in the form of a rolling pin.  Ever since losing my rolling pin in the Christchurch earthquake, I've been making doing with a wine bottle.  Now a wine bottle does a passable job, but it does have its limitations.  For example, you can't use a wine bottle as a substitute meat tenderiser to bash the bejeezus out of a chicken breast, or to smash up a bag of cookies for a cheesecake base.  I am a huge fan of Joseph Joseph kitchen gadgets - I love the range of gorgeously stylish products, that work every bit as well as they look.  I'm so enamoured of the "form meets functionality" of their products, that I have several items in my kitchen cupboards, and have for ages been coveting the adjustable rolling pin.  So it was a wonderful surprise when I was gifted this rolling pin as a reward for my efforts at work.  (For the record, although we sell these products in my workplace, no-one is paying me to tell you this - I'm sharing this with you solely because I absolutely love these products).  Oh, and by the way, for the benefit of my New Zealand readers, you can buy Joseph Joseph products at Stevens Homewares.

You'd think that two surprises in one week would be enough.  But no, surprise number three came in the form of these Sweet Potato Galettes from, you guessed it Yotam Ottolenghi.  Of course I should not have been surprised - I know well enough by now, and you will too if you've been visiting here for a while, that Ottolenghi is capable of taking a few seemingly unsurprising ingredients and turning them into a flavour and texture explosion which is so much greater than you might expect.

At I Heart Cooking Clubs this week we're sharing A Little Bit of Sunshine with Ottolenghi dishes in sunny hues of orange and yellow.  These gorgeous galettes seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

As usual, I've added a little bit of a personal twist to the recipe.  Flaky puff pastry is smeared with sour cream, which was homemade.  Also, remembering how well the hit of lime worked with sweet potatoes in this recipe, I couldn't resist adding some freshly grated lime zest.  I also subbed in some blue cheese instead of goat's cheese, and replaced pumpkin seeds with walnuts.

The end result is a sensation - full-on flavour, and fantastic contrasting textures.  Crisp, flaky, buttery pastry, smothered in tangy sour cream, given a bit of extra zip with a hit of lime;  softness and sweetness of the potatoes meets creamy, salty blue cheese, and crunchy walnuts;  all topped off with a bit of heat from chilli and garlic and a touch of freshness in the parsley.  Now, who wouldn't find that surprising?

Sweet Potato Galettes Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook

Makes 4

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2x medium sweet potatoes

250g puff pastry (I used store bought)

1x free-range egg, lightly beaten

sour cream

grated zest of 1x lime

blue cheese, crumbled

walnuts, coarsely chopped

1x red chilli, finely chopped (remove seeds if desired)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1x clove garlic, finely chopped

handful freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).

Bake potatoes in their jackets until they soften, but are still firm in the centre - about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, roll pastry out on a lightly floured surface to about 2mm (1/16 inch) thick.  Cut into four rectangles, approximately 7cm x 14 cm (3 in x 6 in), and prick them all over with a fork.  Place the pastry rectangles on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and rest in the fridge for about half an hour.

Once sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove skins and cut into 3mm (1/8 in) thick slices.

Remove pastry from the fridge, and brush lightly with the beaten egg.  Place a spoonful of sour cream on each piece of pastry, and spread leaving a small border on all edges.  Sprinkle a little grated lime zest over each one.  Arrange sweet potato slices over the top, keeping the border clear.  Season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Sprinkle a little blue cheese, walnuts and chilli over the top of each one.

Bake in the oven until the pastry is golden and cooked through - about 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together olive oil, parsley and garlic, and brush pastries with the mixture as soon as they come out of the oven.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Two of these per person, accompanied by a simple salad, make a delicious light meal, or serve one per person as an appetiser.  And if you're lucky enough to be enjoying some real sunshine and summer weather where you live, these would make sensational picnic food.

If you would like to get to know Yotam Ottolenghi a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Ottolenghi: The Cookbook and Ottolenghi's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

I will also be sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

Green Tomato Cake with Maple Mascarpone Frosting

I was surprised to notice the other day that I've been blogging for a little over three and a half years now - where did that time go?!  Less surprising though, was the realisation that I've learnt a thing or two in that time.  Not to sound big-headed, mind you - I do know that what I don't know still massively surpasses what I do know.  But I have picked up the odd thing along the way.

For example, I now know that if you come up with a great idea for a cake that you just know you're going to want to write a blog post about, then it's not such a good idea to bake your cake in the middle of the night and thus not be able to take a decent photo of said cake.  I also know that having decided to set the cake aside in order to capture a good photo in the morning, you shouldn't let someone cut a big hunk out of the cake for supper!  I also know that trying to hurriedly snap off a good photo at 7.00am, before getting ready for work, is going to be no more successful than capturing a decent photo the night before - not only is the light still poor, but working in haste will render 9 out of 10 photos shaky and out of focus.

All these things I know, and yet somehow I still came to break every single one of those rules in the preparation of this post.  I tell you this for two reasons.  Firstly, so that hopefully you won't make the same foolish mistakes I did;  and secondly, and really more importantly, in the hope that you will not judge this cake harshly on the basis of my mediocre photos.  After all, the idea of a green tomato cake might be a little scary to some of you, and it's really going to take some kind of killer photo to sell it. 

Well, I clearly failed on the "knock-out" photo front, but I'm urging you to look beyond the photos, and give this cake a try, for, scary though this may sound, I can promise you that this cake is a stunner.  Trust me on this.

Pedestal cake plate courtesy of Stevens Homewares, Nelson (see details below)

I stumbled upon this idea after I'd been staking up my abundant tomato crop, and a whole lot of green tomatoes fell off the vines.  I did a bit of a google search on green tomatoes, thinking maybe I would come up with a good chutney recipe, when I stumbled upon this recipe from Paula Deen for a green tomato cake.  That definitely peeked my curiosity, and made me think it would be similar in many ways to a carrot cake.  So then I turned to my Mum's recipe for carrot cake,  tricked it up a little, and added a maple and mascarpone frosting using the mascarpone cheese I made last week.

The result is surprisingly light, definitely lighter than your average carrot cake, and incredibly moist.  I served this to several people without telling them what it was, and no-one picked that it had green tomatoes in it.  In fact, once cooked the green tomato becomes almost like apple in both taste and texture.  This was so good I've had requests for a repeat performance, and trust me when I tell you that does not often happen with my baking.  Personally, I can't wait to give it another try, and I think that next time I might make it into little mini cakes.  Might even get a decent photo next time!!

Green Tomato Cake with Maple Mascarpone Frosting Recipe

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g (9 oz) plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of salt

100ml (3.5 fl oz) sunflower oil

100ml (3.5 fl oz) olive oil

250g (9 oz) soft brown sugar

3x eggs

2x green tomatoes, finely diced

juice of 1/2 a lemon

100g (3.5 oz) toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

For the frosting

2x cups mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup maple syrup

extra toasted walnuts, a generous handful

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).  Lightly grease and line a 23cm (9 inch) cake tin.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Set aside.

In a separate, large bowl, using an electric beater, cream together the oil and sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after adding each one until the egg is fully incorporated.  Add the diced green tomatoes, lemon juice, and walnuts, and stir to combine.

Add the sifted dry ingredients, and gently fold in until everything is well combined.

Tip the mixture into the prepared cake tin, smooth the top, and bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Prepare the frosting, by beating together the mascarpone cheese and maple syrup until smooth, then spread over the top and sides of the cooled cake.  Decorate the top with toasted walnuts.

Props courtesy of Stevens Homewares Ltd 

Stevens Delicious Cake Pedestal 

This will be a submission to Sweet New Zealand, inspired by Alessandra Zecchini and hosted this month by Michele at Greedybread.

Baked Figs with Walnut Tarragon Cream & Rocket Salad and Cookbook Sundays # 23

Props courtesy of Stevens Homewares, Nelson (details below)

My neighbour has a good sized fig tree which fruits quite prolifically - lucky neighbour!  My neighbour doesn't eat figs and, although the birds do, if I'm really vigilant I can get a fair share of them before my feathered friends swoop on them - lucky me!

As luck would also have it, I recently picked up a copy of Karen Martini's book "Where the Heart is" for an absolute song on TradeMe (the New Zealand equivalent of eBay).

I had been wanting this book for ages, and when it finally arrived and I prised the package open, the first page it fell open at was this recipe for Baked Figs with Walnut Cream and Tarragon.  With all those figs ripening on the tree I knew that Karen and I were going to get along famously.

Karen Martini describes herself as an "intuitive cook" and, in the introduction to the book, talks of the challenge of bringing together her recipes of the last 20 years as one which made her reflect on her past.  She says ... "My recipes were sometimes typed, often handwritten and frequently scrawled on endless sheets of paper, on the back of old menus, gas bills, invoices and business cards.  They reflect times shared with family and friends, at home and on holiday, barbecues, raucous parties, romantic moments and solitary dinners.  They articulated my obsession with particular ingredients - artichokes, fennel, the unloved pea.  They traced my journeys to the source of special ingredients, recorded triumphs over unavailability  and celebrated the seasons.  Most of all, they seemed to chart my life."

The book is packed full of recipes which are just made for sharing with family and friends.  Recipes are uncomplicated and inspirational, rather than relying on a lot of "cheffie" techniques that need to be slavishly followed.  Most of all these are recipes which make the most of fresh, seasonal produce, and I know that I will be doing a lot of cooking from this book.

I have a couple of other fig dishes in my repertoire - this Grilled Fig, Haloumi & Pomegranate Salad, Fig & Blue Cheese Wontons, Blue Cheese, Fig & Walnut Flatbread, and a Caramelised Fig Pavlova - but this dish just rocketed to the top of my list of things to do with figs.  A divine dish, and I'm going to be watching that fig tree like a hawk over the next week to make this a few more times before the season is over.

I made a few adjustments to the recipe.  Firstly, the original recipe called for the inclusion of fresh tarragon in the salad.  I couldn't find any fresh tarragon, so I used a little dried tarragon in the "stuffing" for the figs instead.  Now, there are not many things in which I use dried herbs, but in this case the slight "earthiness" of the dried tarragon worked well with the walnuts and the figs.  Use judiciously though - tarragon has a strong flavour and too much can be a ghastly thing.  I suggest adding a pinch, taste, add a pinch more, taste again, etc, until you get the flavour right.  I also added some grated lemon zest to the mascarpone filling - the lemon cuts through the creaminess and also balances out the sweetness of the figs.  Make sure that you use the best extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar that you can afford here.

This recipe would be a perfect appetiser for two people, or for one greedy person like me makes a fabulous light lunch.

Baked Figs with Walnut Tarragon Cream & Rocket Salad Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Karen Martini from

"Where the Heart is"

Serves 2 as an appetiser

Serves 1 as a light meal

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4 ripe figs

1/2 cup mascarpone

3/4 cup walnuts, toasted

dried tarragon, pinch or two

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon, zest & juice

2x large handfuls of rocket (arugula)

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees C (340 degrees F).

Put the mascarpone into a small bowl.  Add 1 dessertspoon of cold  water and whisk till loosened and smooth.  Put 1/2 cup of the walnuts into a mortar and pestle and pound until finely crushed - alternatively you could do this in a food processor.  Add to the mascarpone, along with the grated lemon zest, flaky sea salt, ground black pepper and pinch of dried tarragon.  Mix well and taste.  Adjust lemon, seasoning and tarragon to taste.

Cut figs into quarters, almost to the base - enough to "open up" the figs like petals, but making sure that they stay intact.

Squeeze a little of the lemon juice over each of the figs, and then "stuff" each of the figs with a dollop of the mascarpone mixture.

Place the figs in a small ovenproof dish and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the figs are soft and the filling is starting to get "oozey" and melty.

Pile the rocket leaves in a serving bowl and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and the rest of the lemon juice.  Nestle the figs amongst the rocket leaves, spooning any of the mascarpone mixture that might have oozed out of the figs back over them.

Sprinkle the remaining walnuts over the top, and drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar.

Props courtesy of Stevens Homewares Ltd 

Pepper & salt mills, 15cm, red 

"Prepare" individual tea towel 

"Munich" serving forks
"Diamond" rimmed bowl, 30cm

I'm sharing these figs this week at Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes.  Do keep reading to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

I'm also sharing this post at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace, and at Gallery of Favourites hosted by April at 21st Century Housewife.

 

If you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants - you can even "Like" your favourites. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

"End of Spring" Ministrone with Rocket, Spinach & Walnut Pesto and Cookbook Sundays # 2

It's been a funny old week.  It may be the start of summer here but, with torrential rain and heavy flooding in many parts of Nelson, it's felt rather more like winter.  Many families in our city had to be evacuated from their homes, either because of flooding or because of danger from hillside slips.  Thankfully, we live high enough on a hill to escape flooding and were lucky enough not to be subjected to any slips either.  A special thanks also to so many of you for your kind thoughts and concerns for my safety - your thoughtfulness never ceases to warm my heart and is a constant reminder of the joys of belonging to this food blogging "family".

So, after all that rain something warming, nourishing and comforting seemed to be called for, but at the same time I wasn't wanting anything too heavy.  When I came across this recipe for Spring Ministrone in Super Natural Cooking (one of my favourite cookbooks) by Heidi Swanson it seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  I also knew that this would be perfect for my contribution this week to Cookbook Sundays (read more about that at the end of this post).

For this soup brown rice is cooked in a light vegetable broth, with spring vegetables (I used asparagus, zucchini, and peas) added right at the end, so that the vegetables are still bright green and crispy.  I made a pesto from some spinach and rocket (arugula) I'd harvested from my garden, and topped the soup with a generous dollop of that, along with some freshly grated lemon zest and shaved pecorino cheese.

I know that there are amongst you those who love soup and could eat it (or should that be drink it) just about every day of the week.  I am not such a person.  I don't mind a bowl of soup now and again, but you know maybe 6-8 bowls of soup in the whole year is probably about my fix.  It is not something I would ever order in a restaurant, unless of course it's an Asian restaurant of some sort, in which case there is a very strong possibility that I would order the noodle or wonton soup.  This doesn't count as one of the 6-8 bowls of soup previously mentioned, as I think of this as noodles, not soup - those are the rules!  My other soup rule is that I almost never have soup in summer.

Now, I've got to say this .... this soup just broke all of my soup rules.  This is quite possibly the best soup I've ever tasted - at least, the best one that I've ever made, and you know what?  This soup is definitely going to have me exceeding my annual soup quota - in fact there is a good chance I'll exceed that before the week is out.  This is a soup that I could really eat every single day - of course, things like asparagus and fresh peas won't be around for much longer, but I will be making the most of it while they're still here.

The nuttiness and chewiness of the brown rice gives that little bit of "comfort factor" and enough substance to be able to make a meal out of this.  The crisp, green vegetables provide a lovely textural balance to the rice, while the hit of fresh lemon and fragrant pesto keeps the spring-like freshness in this dish.

Of course, you could swap out the vegetables I used with all sorts of other alternatives:  green beans, snow peas, broad beans, artichoke hearts, edamame, cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy.  Just keep it green would be my mantra here - save the carrots, pumpkin, corn, etc, for something else.  I urge you to try it - I know you won't be disappointed.

"End of Spring" Ministrone with Rocket, Spinach & Walnut Pesto

Adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson from

Super Natural Cooking

Makes 4 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Vegetarian

For the soup:

2x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2x shallots, thinly sliced

1x garlic clove, minced

1x cup brown rice, rinsed

6x cups vegetable stock

2x zucchini, thinly sliced

8x asparagus spears, cut on the diagonal into 2.5 cm (1 in) lengths

1x cup freshly shelled green peas (frozen is fine too)

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the pesto:

3x large handfuls of rocket (arugula) & spinach leaves

1x large handful of toasted walnut pieces

2x cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

flaky sea salt

To serve:

freshly grated zest of 1x lemon

pecorino cheese, freshly shaved

Begin with the soup.  Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the shallots and garlic to the pan, and saute for a couple of minutes until the shallots have softened and the garlic is fragrant.  Add the rice, and cook for a minute, stirring constantly until every grain of rice is coated in the oil.  Now add the stock to the pan, bring up to the boil, then cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 to 45 minutes until the rice is tender.

Meanwhile make the pesto.  Put the walnuts, rocket, spinach, garlic and salt into a food processor and pulse until the leaves and nuts start to break down. Then leaving the motor running, begin to add the oil in a steady stream until you have a smooth paste. Remove to a bowl, stir in the grated pecorino, taste and add a little more salt if necessary. Set aside.

Now back to the soup.  Once the rice is tender, add the vegetables and season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Simmer for just 2 or 3 minutes, so that the vegetables are still bright green and crisp, add freshly grated lemon zest, and serve immediately.

Ladle into bowls, add some fresh shavings of pecorino cheese to each bowl, and top each with a generous dollop of the pesto.

 

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, if you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

I'm also sharing this post at Souper Sundays, hosted by the lovely Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, at My Meatless Mondays, hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savory; and at See Ya in the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace.