Fried Cauliflower with Tahini & Pomegranate and How To Use Pomegranate Molasses

Sadly for those of us who play at I Heart Cooking Clubs, our six-month journey with the amazing Yotam Ottolenghi ends this week.  To a person, we've been inspired, surprised and amazed by dish after dish of incredible flavours and textures, by "new to us" ingredients and by new ways to use them.  I've been cooking on a regular basis with Ottolenghi for about 3 years now, but he still never ceases to surprise me with taste and texture combinations that are a pure delight, and although we are effectively farewelling him this week, his dishes will continue to play a starring role in my kitchen.

I had planned to share a round-up this week of my favourites, but of the 20-plus Ottolenghi dishes I've made over the last six months, I just couldn't narrow it down to four or five, instead I'm going to celebrate the way in which he has opened my eyes to wonderful ways with cauliflower.  I've always loved cauliflower - it's one of my favourite vegetables - but until my introduction to Ottolenghi I was always at a bit of a loss for interesting ways to prepare and eat it.  In the past, it's always just been a bit of a side dish, enjoyable but not particularly remarkable unless smothered in a cheese sauce!!  Now, thanks to some of these wonderful dishes, I'm happy to make a meal of cauliflower.

There was Chargrilled Cauliflower, Tomato & Fennel Salad ...

... and Roasted Cauliflower & Almond Salad ...

... and the Saffron Cauliflower from Plenty, a dish which, although I'm yet to share with you, I've made many times.  Trust me, if you happen to have Plenty in your cookbook collection, you need to make this dish.

Then there was the Fried Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Capers & Chillies which my friend, Michelle at Ms. enPlace made.  I haven't had a chance to make this one yet, but it's high on my must-make list.

And, today's discovery from Jerusalem: A Cookbook, this recipe for Fried Cauliflower with Tahini & Pomegranate.  I made a few small changes to the original recipe.  Now I'm sure that a whole bunch of cauliflower fried in two cups of sunflower oil would taste amazing, but looking for a healthier version I used a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil instead.  Still tasted amazing and went a beautiful golden brown in no time.  The original dish was designed to serve six as part of a mezze feast, but I cut quantities back to make a substantial meal for one, and adjusted all the sauce quantities accordingly.  I also left out spring onions, as I didn't really feel the need for them, and I finished off by tossing a few pomegranate seeds in at the end.

I'm also sharing this dish at Tasting Jerusalem, where our theme for the month is pomegranate molasses.  I've used pomegranate molasses in a number of different Ottolenghi dishes in the past, such as Lamb-Stuffed Quince with Coriander & Pomegranate, ...

Shakshuka, ...

...  and the earlier mentioned Roasted Cauliflower & Almond Salad.

You might also be interested in a few other ideas for using pomegranate molasses.  I actually posted some of these suggestions way back in one of my very first posts on this blog, but that was before anybody ever read this blog, so they bear repeating:

Make a refreshing drink by mixing 1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses with lemon juice and sugar; then add water or soda and adjust to your taste. You could also turn this into a cocktail by adding the alcohol of your choice – vodka and rum both work really well with this.

Use to glaze the skin of a chicken or duck breast before cooking – skin will be crispy and a little sour.

Glaze a rack of lamb before cooking, or use to dip barbecued lamb cutlets.

Make a marinade for salmon fillets by combining: 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup dry sherry, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 clove of garlic, crushed. Marinate up to 4 hours, remove from marinade and bake in a 160^oC oven for 10 minutes. While fish is baking pour marinade into a saucepan, and reduce over low heat to about half. Drizzle reduced pomegranate marinade over fish to serve.

Baked fish parcels – place pieces of firm fleshed fish in centre of piece of tinfoil or parchment paper, drizzle over pomegranate molasses, slivers of garlic, sliced lemon, and finely sliced fennel. Complete with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, close up parcel, and bake at 180^oC till cooked through.

Make a dressing using pomegranate molasses, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt and freshly ground black pepper, add chopped flat leaf parsley and mint. Use this dressing over any of the following combinations:

*  Char-grilled eggplant and courgette, roasted tomatoes and carrots, black olives and feta cheese

*  Roasted pumpkin and mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, baby spinach and grilled haloumi

*  Mesclun leaves, toasted hazelnuts, sliced apple, dates and goats cheese

Drizzle pomegranate molasses over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers. 

Do you have any other great ideas for using pomegranate molasses?  If so, I'd love to hear about them.  In the meantime, on with today's recipe ...

Fried Cauliflower with Tahini & Pomegranate

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem:  A Cookbook

Serves four as part of a mezze table

or serves two as a generous side dish

or serves one as a substantial meal

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1/2 a head cauliflower, cut into small florets

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/4 cup tahini paste

1/4 cup natural Greek-style yoghurt

1x garlic clove, crushed

handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

handful mint leaves, finely chopped

1x lemon, zest and juice

1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses, plus extra to finish

water

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

handful of pomegranate seeds

Heat oil in a large skillet set over medium heat.  Add cauliflower to the hot oil and saute until golden and tender.  Remove to a plate covered with a paper towel to drain, and sprinkle liberally with flaky sea salt.  You will probably have to do this in two batches.  Set aside to cool slightly.

In a small bowl mix together tahini, yoghurt, crushed garlic, parsley, mint, lemon juice and zest, and  pomegranate molasses.  Add sufficient water to thin to a smooth, pourable sauce - about the consistency of runny honey.  Taste and add flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Arrange cauliflower in a bowl or serving platter, drizzle over the tahini sauce.  Finish with an extra drizzle of pomegranate molasses, a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds and a sprig of mint.

Delicious served warm or at room temperature.

If you would like to get to know Yotam Ottolenghi a little better, and to see what everyone has cooked up for our final feast together, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... 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, 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 Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Friday, hosted by Designs by Gollam.

                     

Caramelised Fennel with Goat Cheese

When I first saw this recipe in Yotam Ottolenghi's wonderful book Plenty, I was a little skeptical.  It looked gorgeous, but the idea of sweetening fennel with sugar somehow sounded a bit off to me.  But then after the lovely Joanne at Eats Well With Others made it a while back, and raved about it, it had to go on my "must make" list.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that it's a very long list indeed, but just to prove that things on the list do eventually get made, when I saw beautiful little fresh fennel bulbs at the local farmers market the other day, I knew the time had arrived to move this dish off the list and on to a plate.  What's more this seemed like the perfect dish to share for our Pot Luck theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

I made a couple of small changes to the original recipe.  I left out butter since I am on a "no dairy" kick at the moment.  Now, I'm sure it would taste fantastic with the butter - of course, anything sizzled in butter does.  Heck, you could probably caramelise a piece of boot leather in butter and it would taste great.  But seriously, this dish was great without it, and I didn't miss it at all.  I also replaced sugar with honey.  And, when it came to serving time, I tossed in a little thinly sliced preserved lemon and a handful of olives, and called it dinner.  I think a handful of toasted pine nuts or hazelnuts would also make a good addition if you felt so inclined.

The honeyed fennel is definitely a surprising combination, but a delightful surprise and I'll certainly be making it again.  The sweetness with the aniseed flavour of the fennel somehow really works and, partnered with the crunch of fennel seeds and the slight saltiness of the goat cheese, Ottolenghi has come up with another winning combination of tastes and textures.

Caremelised Fennel with Goat Cheese Recipe

Adapted (slightly) from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi

from Plenty

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4x small fennel bulbs

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 clove garlic, crushed

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

goat cheese, as much as you like

extra virgin olive oil to finish

Remove any tough outer leaves, and a little bit of the woody stem from the base of the fennel bulbs.  Remove the fronds from the tops, and reserve a generous handful of the fronds.  Cut the fennel bulbs lengthwise into 1cm (1/2 in) slices.

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan set over medium heat.  Add slices of fennel in a single layer to the pan, and cook until lightly golden on both sides.  You will probably have to do this in a couple of batches.  Remove cooked fennel slices to a plate.

Add honey to the pan, along with the fennel seeds, garlic, a generous pinch of flaky sea salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.  Stir to dissolve the honey.  Then return the fennel to the pan, and toss gently for a few minutes to ensure every piece is coated in the honey sauce, and the fennel is cooked through to tender, but still retaining a little bite.

Remove to a serving platter, and allow to cool a little before sprinkling over some of the crumbled goat cheese, and a good handful of the roughly chopped reserved fennel fronds.  Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Equally delicious served still warm or at room temperature.

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 Plenty 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 Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory, and Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

              

Black Pepper Tofu

I used to often say that there wasn't room for me and tofu to share the same planet, and I wasn't joking.

Imagine my horror then when a couple of years back my lovely friend, Alli of Pease Pudding, invited me over for dinner and, after I'd already accepted the invitation, told me she was going to try a tofu recipe.  Not exactly possible at that stage to suddenly remember a prior engagement, is it?!

So, being the polite person that I am, I was faced with having to suck it up and feign enjoyment of Alli's tofu.  I cannot begin to the describe the feeling of dread which engulfed me for the ensuing few hours leading up to that dinner date.

Alli announced that it was an Ottolenghi recipe she was trying, which I must say did go a tiny way towards quelling my fears, but I was still extremely apprehensive as I took my first bite.  I'd kind of hoped that the pieces might be small, giving me the option to potentially swallow it straight down, thus avoiding the necessity to bite and chew, in the same way that people who don't like oysters eat them.  Unfortunately, this tofu was in big chunks, so that idea wasn't going to fly ... there was no way of getting around the fact that it was going to have to be both bitten and chewed.

It surprises me to this day that, not only did I survive that first bite, but I actually found that it was great.  In no time at all I was chowing it down, and actually asking for seconds - yes, I asked for seconds.

Not only did I go back for seconds on that occasion, but I loved it so much that this dish has become one of my most frequently made Ottolenghi recipes.  I've had this one in draft for quite a while now, and since our theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs is "You Made Me Love You", this seems like the perfect time to finally get around to sharing it with you.

I know for a lot of people the thing they don't like about tofu is the texture, but for me it's always been the taste.  I have to confess that I still can't eat those little cubes of slippery tofu lurking around in the bottom of a bowl of miso soup, but this dish packs such a powerful flavour punch with its fiery, spicy sauce that it easily hides the flavour of the tofu itself, and also it's fried and it's crispy - what's not to love about golden, crispy, fried cubes of anything?

I've made a few minor changes to the recipe over time.  Firstly, since I usually only make this for myself, I've cut the quantities back to make enough for me for two meals.  I use rice flour instead of cornflour to coat the cubes of tofu before frying, because I think it makes it a little bit crisper.  I use leeks instead of shallots, because who can be bothered peeling and slicing half a dozen shallots, when you can chop up one leek in a fraction of the time.  If you feel like putting yourself through all that peeling and slicing though, then go right ahead.  I use about half the amount of garlic in the original recipe, as I'm often teaching yoga classes, and having strong enough garlic-breath to keep the vampires away is never a good look in a yoga teacher.  I've adjusted the proportions of sweet, light and dark soy sauces to suit my personal taste, and I use honey instead of sugar.  Lastly, I like to finish the dish with fresh coriander rather than spring onions.

If you're as skeptical about tofu as I once was, I hope you'll take the leap of faith and give this recipe a try.

Black Pepper Tofu Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi

from Plenty

Makes 2 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

450g (1lb) firm tofu

rice flour (approx 1/4 cup)

vegetable oil

1x leek, halved lengthwise, washed and thinly sliced

3-4x fresh red chillies, fairly mild, thinly sliced

(I used 1x large mild one and 2x small hot ones)

3x cloves garlic, crushed

2.5cm (1 in) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 tablespoon kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons coarsely crushed black pepper

(mortar & pestle makes a great job of this)

4 tablespoons butter

generous handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Cut tofu into large 2.5cm (1 in) cubes, drop them into a plastic bag, add the rice flour, and shake well until all the tofu is lightly coated in the flour.

Set a large frying pan over medium-high heat,  and add enough oil to generously coat the base of the pan.  Shake excess flour off the tofu, and add pieces to the hot oil - depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in batches.  Fry the tofu until golden brown and crisp on all sides.   Once cooked, remove from pan and drain on a paper towel.

Drain any remaining oil from the pan, and wipe out any sediment with a paper towel.  Add butter to the pan, and return pan to a low heat.   Add leek, chillies, garlic and ginger to the pan, and saute over low heat, stirring from time to time, until everything has softened completely.  Add the honey, soy sauces and black pepper to the pan, and stir to combine will.

Return the tofu to the pan and stir to coat well with the sauce and warm it through.  Sprinkle over the chopped coriander, and serve immediately with steamed basmati rice.

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 Plenty 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 Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory, and at Cook Your Books, hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours.

              

How to Make Beetroot Pesto

Beetroot is one of our favourite vegetables and roasted with a bit of olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and fresh thyme is hands down my favourite way to eat it.  Once so roasted, it finds its way into all kinds of delicious salads, such as this Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Pink Grapefruit & Pumpkin, or this Ruby Salad, or this Salad of Asparagus with Artichokes, Arugula, Pomegranate & Beetroot.

Roasted beetroot also often finds its way into a warm salad with lentils and walnuts, with a red wine vinaigrette dressing - a great accompaniment to good sausages.  But one of our favourites is my recreation of a salad we often used to enjoy when we lived in Christchurch at a cafe called Holy Smoke.  I never seem to get around to photographing this salad when I make it, so I don't have a picture to show you, but it's pretty simple and is best composed as individual servings - strategically place a few dollops of beetroot pesto and a few dollops of ricotta around each plate;  artistically arrange florets of steamed broccoli, wedges of roasted beetroot, wedges of sweet potato and shards of crispy bacon atop and around the pesto and ricotta;  drizzle over a simple vinaigrette sweetened with honey, and sprinkle over some pine nuts toasted in butter.   So good!

To make up for the fact that I don't have a photo of this salad to show you, I am going to share my recipe for beetroot pesto.  Not only is it great in this salad, its also a wonderful spread to add to an antipasto platter, and the best part of all is that you can pretty much make it all year round.

Beetroot Pesto Recipe

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Note - quantities given here are approximate - you can adjust everything to suit your taste

4x medium sized beetroot

6x cloves garlic, unpeeled

generous handful walnuts, roasted

1 cup Pecorino cheese, freshly grated

(substitute with Parmesan if Pecorino is not available)

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

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

Wash beetroot, top and tail them, and cut into eighths.  Place a sheet of tinfoil on a baking sheet, and place the beetroot in a single layer on the foil.  Scatter over the whole garlic cloves, season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  Close up foil around the beetroot to make a package, and place it on the baking sheet into the preheated oven.  Cook until the beetroot is tender - will take around 50 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow beetroot and garlic to cool to room temperature.

Squeeze cooled garlic cloves out of their skins, and put the garlic and beetroot into the bowl of your food processor.  Add toasted walnuts and Pecorino cheese, and blitz up until a rough paste begins to form.  Now, with the motor running, pour olive oil through the tube until you reach a fairly smooth, spreadable consistency.  Give it a taste and then add salt and pepper to your liking, also adding more cheese or oil according to your taste.

Enjoy!

I'll be sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, and very amusing, Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam, at Hearth & Soul Blog Hop hosted by April at 21st Century Housewife, at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory and at Food on Friday:Beetroot hosted by Carole at Carole's Chatter.

                  

Maqluba

As we start to near the end of our incredible journey with Yotam Ottolenghi, our theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs is "New to Me" - an opportunity to explore ingredients, cooking techniques or cuisines which are new or relatively unfamiliar to us.

This happily coincided with our Tasting Jerusalem challenge to use the spice blend known as baharat, which is definitely a new to me ingredient.  According to several sources I found, baharat is a blend of several spices, very common in Middle Eastern cooking, for flavouring fish, meat and stews, as well as grains and pulses..  The spices which are included will vary geographically, and no doubt from one household to another as well, but you will most likely find a combination of the following spices: black pepper, coriander, paprika, cardamom, nutmeg, cumin, cloves, and cinnamon.  Some of you maybe be able to find baharat at your local Middle Eastern store, but I had to make my own.  I found numerous recipes (I'm sure there are a gazillion out there), but since I was going to use it in an Ottolenghi dish, I used Ottolenghi's version from "Jerusalem:  A Cookbook".  This version didn't include paprika as I had seen in some other versions, and I also found that many of the other versions I check out had considerably more pepper than Ottolenghi's.  I think next time I would definitely like to try the inclusion of paprika, and probably double the amount of black peppercorns.  I would probably also increase the cinnamon slightly and reduce the cloves a bit.  But that's just me.

The Maqluba is a sensational dish - definitely what I would call family celebration fare.  There's a little bit of effort involved in prepping this dish, so it's not a mid-week throw it together in 15 minutes kind of dinner.  But I did take a couple of little shortcuts to make life easier, and to also make a slightly healthier version.  The essence of the dish is layers of tomatoes, fried aubergine, fried cauliflower, poached chicken, rice and spices all cooked in a stock made from the chicken, until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and you can turn the dish out like a giant "cake".

Turned out it looks pretty impressive, if not exactly "beautiful" - certainly not the most photogenic dish I've produced.  Like every Ottolenghi dish I've tried so far though it is a triumph of taste and textures, and delicious on its own (even better the second day), and a side of yoghurt and cucumber sauce turns it into sublime.  I hope you can find the time and occasion to make this dish - it's definitely worth the effort.

Some changes I made to the original recipe:  Fresh tomatoes are not a happening thing in these parts right now, so I used some slow-roasted tomatoes from my freezer, along with a couple of tinned tomatoes, torn into pieces.  Aubergine are not exactly seasonal here right now either, and worth a king's ransom, but I did push the boat out to splurge on one of these beauties instead of the two called for in the recipe - the one I had was largish (that is, bigger than what I would call medium, but smaller than what I would call large - can you tell I'm not a black or white person), and I think it was enough.  Instead of frying the aubergine in oil, I brushed with a little oil and baked the slices in the oven until golden - less oil, less mess, and less of my time standing over a frypan!  The recipe also called for frying the cauliflower, but I blanched it instead - once again, less mess, no standing over a frypan, and healthier.  No doubt, there is an extra dimension of flavour that comes from frying these ingredients that I would have lost (of course fried food tastes better!), and if you feel inclined to stand around over pots of hot oil, flipping and turning, then knock yourself out - personally, it was a small sacrifice I was prepared to make for a healthier, more fuss-free version, and there is so much going on in this dish that I don't think I missed out on much.  I also used a bit less chicken than called for in the original recipe, simply because that was what I had on hand, and I didn't find that the extra was needed.  Another observation I did have ... you may have seen my recent post, in which I enjoyed this dish at a delicious lunch I shared at Ephesus Restaurant with Beth Lee.  That was my first experience of this dish and, as such, became my benchmark for it.  In that version, cinnamon was definitely a dominant flavour, and I found that was less so in Ottolenghi's version - I missed that, and I would definitely increase the amount of cinnamon next time.   

Maqluba Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem:  A Cookbook
Makes 4 to 6 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

olive oil

1x large or 2x medium aubergine, cut crosswise into 0.5cm (1/4") slices

1-1/2 cups basmati rice

500g (1 lb) skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 leek, halved lengthwise, washed, and cut into chunks

10 black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 medium cauliflower, cut into medium sized florets

8x slow-roasted tomato halves, plus 3x whole canned tomatoes roughly torn,

or substitute 3-4 medium fresh tomatoes, cut into 0.5cm (1/4") slices

4x large garlic cloves, halved

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (next time I would double this amount)

1 teaspoon ground allspice (next time I would halve this amount)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon baharat spice mix (store-bought, or see recipe page 299 of Jerusalem: A Cookbook)

generous handful of walnuts sauteed in butter until golden

1 cup natural Greek style yoghurt

1/2 telegraph cucumber, peeled, deseeded & finely chopped

large handful fresh coriander, finely chopped

generous pinch of salt

Wash the rice thoroughly and soak in cold water with 1 teaspoon of salt for at least 30 minutes.

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

Spread aubergine slices out, in a single layer, on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.  Brush aubergine slices with olive oil on both sides, and put tray into the preheated oven.  Bake until the aubergine is golden, turning them over half way through.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a small amount of olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add the chicken to the pan and sear until golden brown on both sides.  Add the chopped leek, bay leaves, peppercorns and 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes.

Remove chicken from the liquid and set aside.  Strain the stock and reserve for later.

While the chicken is cooking, bring a medium sized pot of lightly salted water to the boil, add the cauliflower, and cook until only just fork tender.  Remove from heat and drain.

Lightly oil the base and sides of a saucepan or casserole dish that is 24-26cm (9-10") in diameter and 12cm (5") deep (I used a cast iron Dutch oven).  Line the base with a circle of non-stick baking paper, and then begin to layer up the dish.

To begin with, arrange tomatoes in a single layer over the base of the casserole, and top with the aubergine slices.  Arrange the cauliflower florets over the aubergines, and top with the chicken thighs (roughly sliced).  Drain the rice, spread over the chicken, and top with the garlic halves.  Add all the spices and 1 teaspoon of salt into 3 cups of the reserved stock, whisk to mix well, and pour over the rice.  Press firmly down with your hands to make sure all the rice is submerged in the stock, adding a little more stock or water if necessary to cover everything.

Set the casserole over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmering, cover the casserole, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes (don't be tempted to lift the lid during that time).  At the end of the cooking time, remove the pan from the heat, take off the lid, put a clean tea towel over the top, and quickly return the lid.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix yoghurt, cucumber, coriander and salt together, and set aside.

Remove the lid of the casserole, place a large serving plate over the top, and quickly invert the dish onto the plate.  Leave the casserole dish there for a couple of minutes, before slowly lifting off.  Sprinkle the buttered walnuts over the top, and serve with the yoghurt and cucumber on the side.   

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.

         

Have a look also at what my "Tasting Jerusalem" friends have been doing - you'll find plenty of other great uses for the baharat you now have in your spice cupboard, along with other interesting ingredients as well. (“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, and very amusing, Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam.