Roasted Cauliflower & Almond Salad

This post is going to be brief, very brief.  Right now I'm packing to go on holiday for a month and, as is my usual bent, I have left just about everything to the last minute ("why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?" has long been my motto), so the fact that I'm doing a post at all is something of a miracle.

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs our theme is Pot Luck - normally a week when I like to go a bit "all out" and do something special - but for reasons mentioned above that's just not happening.  Over the last week, as I get myself ready for departure, quick and easy has most times been the order of the day.  And this roasted cauliflower salad from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem: A Cookbook has become a regular stand-by in my kitchen of late.  It's no secret, if you visit here regularly, that one of my favourite meals (summer or winter) is a salad, and in the middle of the southern hemisphere winter this salad is easy to put together (in the absence of leafy greens), and substantial enough for the cooler weather.  It also just so happens that at Tasting Jerusalem this month our theme is salads, so this post is doing double duty.

This quantity would probably feed four people as a side dish, and indeed I think it would be delicious with a bit of lightly roasted salmon or grilled lamb chops, but I love it as a meal all on its own and, as such, this makes two fairly substantial meal sized portions.

Ever one to gild the lilly, I've tricked the original recipe up a little with the addition of some preserved lemon and black olives, as well as a touch of pomegranate molasses.  I also used salted almonds instead of the roasted hazelnuts called for in the original recipe.  I've made it with the hazelnuts too, and even though hazelnuts are frequently my "preferred" nut in so many salads, somehow in this one I think I like the almonds just a little better.

Like every Ottolenghi recipe I've tried so far, this one offers a sensational combination of flavours and textures.  I urge you to try it.  'Nuff said ... I need to get on with the packing.  

Roasted Cauliflower & Almond Salad

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem:  A Cookbook

Serves 2 to 4 people

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1x head cauliflower, cut into small florets

olive oil

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1x large stick of celery, thinly sliced

generous handful roasted, salted almonds, roughly chopped

generous handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

1/4 of a preserved lemon, flesh discarded & skin finely chopped

handful kalamata olives

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses

extra parsley leaves to garnish

handful pomegranate seeds

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

Toss cauliflower florets with a generous slosh of olive oil (2-3 tablespoons), and season liberally with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Tip into an oven dish, ideally in a single layer, and put into the preheated oven.  Cook until the cauliflower is tender and golden (about 25 minutes).  Remove from the oven, transfer to a large bowl, and set aside to cool.

Add another 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the cauliflower, along with the celery, almonds, parsley, preserved lemon, olives, cinnamon and allspice, vinegar, and pomegrante molasses.  Toss to combine everything well.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your taste. 

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 Jerusalem and Ottolenghi's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

I am also sharing this post at Tasting Jerusalem, 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, and liking our Facebook page.

I'm also, because it would be rude not to, I'm sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays hosted by my good friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, at Cook Your Books, hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours, and at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory.

                     

Pear & Chocolate Clafouti

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue our journey with the highly inspirational Yotam Ottolenghi, our theme is "Fruitfull".   Time to choose an Ottolenghi dish which features fruit, whether it be fresh, dried or frozen, and let me tell you there are many.  I love the way in which Ottolenghi combines fruit with savoury ingredients in many of his dishes - it's one of the many things that I find incredibly appealing about his food - but this week I just decided to run with dessert.

When it comes to dessert, much as I like to eat a nice "fancy-schmancy" dessert, making them is not my idea of fun ... no latent pastry chef in this girl.  No, dessert making for me has to be simple and fuss-free - the kind of thing that you can knock together in a few minutes, but which still looks elegant and most of all tastes great.  And one of my favourite desserts, both to make and to eat, is a clafouti - after all, what's not to love about fruit baked in a light and delicate egg custard?  Although it is traditionally made with cherries, and only cherries, you can really use any fruit which is seasonal - I know French housewives everywhere are probably throwing their hands up in horror at this suggestion, but really you can.  I was inspired by the recipe for Individual Plum Clafoutis in Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, but with stone fruit being out of season here right now, pears seemed like a good option.  And, of course, if you're having pears, you might as well have chocolate, right?  The two are after all made for each other.

This dessert is a doddle to make, and although these servings look quite substantial, the clafouti is in fact quite light, so this is certainly not the kind of dessert that is going to weigh you down at the end of a meal.  A nice alternative to a fruit tart or crumble in that regard I think, and infinitely quicker and easier to make.  At the risk of shocking a few French housewives, I hope you'll throw caution to the wind and give this a try.

Pear & Chocolate Clafouti

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook

Makes 4 large individual servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2x large ripe, but not soft, pears (I used Beurre Bosc)

3x large free-range eggs

70g (2-1/2 oz) caster sugar

70g (2-1/2 oz) plain flour

1 teaspoon vanilla paste (I used Heilalla)

150ml (5 fl oz) cream

pinch of salt

100g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate, roughly chopped (I used Whittaker's Dark Ghana)

icing sugar to dust

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C (340 degrees F).  Use medium sized individual, ovenproof dishes or tins - I used some gratin dishes which were 14 cm (5-1/2 in) in diameter, and 4 cm (1-1/2 in) deep.  Lightly brush the insides of the dishes with a little vegetable oil and set aside.

Peel the pears, cut in half, and remove the cores.  Now slice thinly lengthwise, without slicing all the way through, so that the slices remained attached to each other at the stem end.  Fan out the slices from the stem and place half a pear in the base of each dish.  Sprinkle one quarter of the chocolate over each one.

Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a medium sized mixing bowl and the whites in a small one.

Add the caster sugar to the egg yolks and, using an electric mixer, beat until the mixture is thick and pale.  With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour, then gently mix in the vanilla paste, cream and salt.

Whisk the egg whites to stiff, but not dry, peak stage.  Then gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Pour the mixture over the pears and chocolate, and bake in the preheated oven until puffed and golden, and skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean - about 20 minutes.

Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

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 submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.  This month, Sweet New Zealand is hosted by my friend Nicola at Homegrown Kitchen.

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

Braised Eggs with Lamb, Tahini & Sumac

We all know the situation ... You've just finished preparing dinner for two, when all of a sudden a couple of friends drop by.  Before you know it the words "Would you like to stay for dinner?" have fallen from your lips and, horror of horrors, your friends said "We'd love to".  Now how to stretch that meal from a two-person feed to something satisfying for four people.

Now, that's not what actually happened to me here, though this is a dish that could easily be stretched to feed a couple of extra mouths with the simple addition of some extra eggs and a bit of flat bread on the side.

No, my problem was, being a little time deprived at the moment, finding a way to stretch one post to cover several bases.

I needed a post to showcase some of my preserved lemons for our Tasting Jerusalem challenge.

I needed to "Paint the Town Red" with some red foods for this week's theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

Plus, I also needed to make and feature some harissa for this month's community recipe at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

I'd bookmarked this recipe from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem: A Cookbook ages ago, and now it seemed to tick all the boxes for me.  It uses preserved lemons - tick;  there are tomatoes and red meat (lamb) = red food - tick;  and it uses harissa - final tick.  Talk about a win:win.

Now many ingredients in the original recipe are out of season here right now - decent tomatoes, peppers for making harissa, fresh herbs, etc.  Fortunately, when such things are plentiful I slow roast tomatoes in big batches and freeze them.  I also make big batches of both regular harissa and green harissa which I also stash in the freezer.

Preserved lemons are something that I make loads of at this time of year, and then replenish my supply a couple of times during the year.  So this recipe turned out to really be a relatively simple assembly of a whole lot of my store cupboard ingredients - I love dishes that come together in this way.

I made a couple of small changes to this recipe.  I used leek instead of onion, as they are usually the allium of choice in this household, and also because I got a good deal on a big bunch of leeks at the market last week.  The original recipe called for the inclusion of both pistachios and pine nuts, but given the price of pine nuts and the deliciousness of pistachios, I decided to leave out the pine nuts and double the quantity of pistachios.  I also added in a little Sami's Kitchen za'atar, just because I love it.  The original recipe called for finishing with fresh coriander or zhoug (a paste made with fresh coriander and parsley, green chillies, cumin, cardamom, cloves, and garlic),  for which I thought my green harissa would be a perfect substitute.

This dish was quick and easy to put together, and if those extra guests decide to stay for dinner, you could easily pad this out with extra eggs, chunks of roasted eggplant, a tin of chickpeas or canellini beans - the possibilities are endless.  As I've come to expect from Ottolenghi, this dish is an absolute explosion of wonderful flavours and textures - soft, sweet lamb;  crunchy nuts;  sweet/salty hits of preserved lemon; a bit of heat from the harissa;  sweet, juicy tomatoes;  tangy, tahini-spiked yoghurt;  and oozy, gooey eggs.  When I told you that last week's Hummus Kawarma with Lemon Sauce was "one of the most sensational things you can put in your mouth", I wasn't joking and I didn't think that dish could be eclipsed.  But I think this dish may have just edged it out and become my favourite Ottolenghi dish, ever ... so far.  Hope you'll give this a try.

Incidentally, wondering how else you might use some of those preserved lemons or harissa?  Check out some of these other great recipes.

Watermelon & Feta Salad with Preserved Lemon Dressing
Shakshuka
Pasta with Sardines
Moroccan Chermoula Fish Kebabs with Couscous
Green Harissa Paste
Italian Sausage with Gnocchi & Red Peppers
Roasted Aubergine, Green Olive & Mizithra Salad
Fish & Caper Kebabs with Burnt Aubergine & Quick Pickled Lemons
Celeriac, Lentil & Hazelnut Salad

Now on with the recipe ...

Braised Eggs with Lamb, Tahini & Sumac Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Serves 2 as a substantial meal on its own

Serves 4 as a smaller meal with sides

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

3x oven-roasted tomatoes, or 1 cup fresh cherry tomatoes

olive oil

1x leek, halved lengthwise, washed, then thinly sliced crosswise

4x cloves garlic, thinly sliced

300g lamb shoulder, minced

2 teaspoons sumac

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon za'atar

salt & black pepper

2x generous handfuls roasted pistachios, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon harissa paste (store-bought would be fine)

1/2 preserved lemon, flesh discarded & skin finely diced

1 cup chicken stock

4x free-range eggs

Yoghurt Sauce:

1/2 cup Greek yoghurt

1 tablespoon tahini

juice of half lemon

1 tablespoon water

pinch sea salt

To finish:

sumac

1 tablespoon green harissa, or handful fresh coriander, coarsely chopped

If using fresh cherry tomatoes, heat a small, cast iron, grill pan over high heat until very hot.  Add the tomatoes and cook over high heat, for about 4-5 minutes, until starting to blacken on the outside.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat a generous slosh of olive oil in a heavy based fry pan over medium heat.  Add the sliced leeks and garlic to the pan and saute, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften and turn slightly golden.  Add the lamb to the pan, increase the heat slightly, and cook for a further 5 minutes or so, until the lamb is browned.  Add the sumac, cumin, za'atar, pinch of flaky sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.  Stir to make sure everything is well coated with all the seasonings, and cook for a further minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the chopped pistachios, harissa paste and preserved lemon.  This dish could be prepared ahead up to this stage.

Return the pan to the heat, adding the tomatoes and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat to low, make four small wells in the mixture, and break an egg into each well.  Cover the pan, and continue to cook over low heat until the egg whites are set but the yolk is still runny - about 5 minutes.

While the eggs are cooking, make the yoghurt sauce by mixing all the ingredients together and whisking until smooth.  Mixture should be quite thick, but thin with a little more water if it's too thick.

Once eggs are cooked, remove pan from heat, dot dollops of the yoghurt sauce over the top, sprinkle over a little sumac, and finish with a drizzle of green harissa or sprinkling of fresh coriander.

Serve immediately.

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 Jerusalem and Ottolenghi's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

I am also sharing this post at Tasting Jerusalem, 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, and liking our Facebook page.

And, just because I really like to spread the love around, I'm also sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, and very amusing, Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

Hummus Kawarma (Lamb) with Lemon Sauce

There is much that I could say to preface this post.  But I'm going to keep it simple.  As I mentioned yesterday, today my blog turns four.  No-one could be more surprised about that than me - I'm not particularly good at sticking to things.  In fact, this blog and my yoga practice are the only things I've ever stuck at for any length of time in living memory.  There is much I could probably say about the "journey" this blog has taken, but most of all I just want to say thank you to all of you for continuing to read my posts and leave your kind and generous comments.  The friendship and thoughtfulness I've discovered in complete strangers humbles me deeply, and there really are no words to express my gratitude.  'Nuff said.

Now back to food.  Our June Community Recipe at I Heart Cooking Clubs was Ottolenghi's hummus, and I did plan to bring you this last week to coincide with our "Got A Pulse" theme, but life got in the way and it just didn't happen.  Not in a bad way mind you.  A highlight of my week was a visit for the last four days of my oldest and dearest friend.  Friends for the last 35 years, but not having had the opportunity to spend time together like this since we flatted together in our twenties, I can tell you we had a wonderful weekend ... good food and good wine (both of which were infinitely superior to what was consumed back "in the day"), shopping, movies, and talking till the wee small hours, picking up where we left off as though it was yesterday.  So I'm sure you'll forgive having had to wait a few extra days for this post.

Needless to say, this is another gem from Yotam Ottolenghi.  Warm hummus (yes, warm ... who'd have thought), topped with spicy lamb, a piquant, garlicky lemon sauce, and (the icing on the cake) buttered pine nuts.

I've got to say that this is not a "throw it together in five minutes" kind of dish.  There are quite a few steps involved.  But most elements of the dish can be prepared in advance, and if you're suitably prepped, the final dish actually can come together in just a few minutes.

I took a couple of shortcuts.  The original recipe called for a number of different spices for marinating the lamb.  I took the easy option, using some of my favourite Sami's Kitchen spice blends:  Shawarma spice blend (a combination of pepper, pimento, mustard, cumin, ginger, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves), and Za'atar (a blend of thyme, sesame, sumac, salt, coriander and cumin), and I must say (though I'm not paid to do so) that these represent no shortcut in flavour.  I know that these spice blends are readily available in New Zealand and Australia (not sure about elsewhere), but I do highly recommend them if you can get your hands on them.

And a word about the hummus.  Ottolenghi's hummus is a little different from what I've made before.  In fact, I kind of have my "go to" hummus recipe which I pretty much make now with my eyes closed, so I almost wasn't going to bother - I was thinking I'd just make my usual hummus and putting the toppings on it.  But then my friend and IHCC co-host Kim at Stirring the Pot posted this dish and hooked me in when she described the "cloudlike and velvety" qualities of the hummus.  After I shared Kim's post on my Facebook page, my friend Martine made it and said it was the smoothest, best hummus she'd ever tasted.  And when the lovely Joanne at Eats Well With Others described it as "the hummus to end all hummus", it was a no-brainer ... I had to try it.  So, all I can say is - don't just take my word for it.  When I tell you this hummus is wonderful, I've got back-up!

Of course the hummus on its own is heavenly - still warm and velvety with more tahini than I would have imagined - but top that with the spicy lamb, lemon sauce, and buttered pine nuts, and you have, as Ottolenghi says, "one of the most sensational things you can put in your mouth".  Nothing else needed but a few warm pita breads and a simple salad.  Eat with your hands!!

Hummus Kawarma (Lamb) with Lemon Sauce Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem:  A Cookbook

Serves 4

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Basic Hummus Recipe

1 cup dried chickpeas

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup tahini

4 tablespoons lemon juice

4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

100ml (or so) (1/4 cup) chilled water

generous pinch of salt

Wash chickpeas well and place in a large bowl.  Cover with at least twice their volume of cold water, and leave to soak overnight.

Next day, drain the chickpeas and place in a medium-sized saucepan along with the baking soda.  Set the pan over high heat and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes.  Add 6 cups of fresh water and bring to the boil.

Continue to cook until the chickpeas are soft enough to crush between your fingers, but not completely mushy.  This could take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending somewhat on your chickpeas and also how long they soaked for in the first instance.  Mine took just a little over 20 minutes.

Drain the chickpeas, and reserve a handful or so for garnishing the finished dish.  Put the rest of the warm chickpeas into the food processor and blitz until you reach a stiff paste.  Then add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt.  Blitz it up again, and then with the motor still running, slowly drizzle in the iced water, and keep processing for about 5 minutes until completely smooth.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rest for about half an hour before serving.

For the lamb:

300g boneless lamb shoulder

2-1/2 teaspoons Shawarma Spice Blend

1 teaspoon za'atar or dried oregano

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon dried mint

generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

generous pinch flaky sea salt

olive oil

For the lemon sauce:

generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch flaky sea salt

To serve:

flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

large handful pine nuts, fried in a little butter

Chop lamb very finely.  This is easiest done in the food processor, pulsing just until finely chopped but not quite minced.

Remove lamb to a bowl and add the shawarma spices, za'atar, vinegar, mint, parsley and salt.  Mix well to make sure all of the meat is covered with the seasoning.  Cover the bowl and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

Prepare the lemon sauce, just before cooking the lamb, by simply putting all the ingredients into a small bowl, and mixing well.

Set a large skillet over medium heat and add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Once the oil is hot, add the lamb in a couple of batches, stirring as you cook.  It will only take a couple of minutes - take care not to overcook.

Serve in shallow bowls, spreading a generous portion of hummus in each bowl.  Make a hollow in the centre of the hummus, and serve the warm lamb into the hollow.  Scatter with the reserved chickpeas, and drizzle with the lemon sauce.  Sprinkle over extra parsley and the buttered pine nuts to garnish.

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 Jerusalem and Ottolenghi's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

           

I'm also sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, and very amusing, Michelle at Ms. enPlace.