Sunday, November 9, 2014

Anchoiade with Chargrilled Vegetables

Anchoiade with Chargrilled Vegetables 3

Like most of my fellow countrymen, I love to travel.  Sadly, living as we do at the bottom of the world, traveling anywhere is expensive, so jumping a plane and jetting off to places afar doesn't happen as often as I would like it to.

Fortunately, however, keeping a pantry well-stocked with a few interesting and exotic ingredients means I can transport myself to any far flung corner of the globe without even leaving my kitchen.

There is literally a whole world (pardon the pun) of ingredients out there which will transform everyday dishes from ordinary to extraordinary.  And, although, many of these things sound extravagant, if you hunt them out at Asian and Middle Eastern specialty stores, they are generally surprisingly inexpensive.  Many of them too are incredibly easy to make yourself.

My pantry and/or freezer always contain these homemade ingredients:  preserved lemons, harissa, green harissa, hummus, pesto or tapenade, ricotta or mascarpone, chilli jam, pasta sauce, and a variety of chutnies.  I always have on hand a variety of homemade jams, bottled beetroot and roasted red peppers, and vegetables which have been pickled during the height of the season.  A few other ingredients, which I consider pantry staples - spices, fresh herbs, vinegars (red wine, sherry, balsamic, cider, rice wine), mustards (Dijon and whole-grain), pomegranate molasses, sweeteners (honey, date syrup, agave nectar, maple syrup), fish sauce, soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake, oyster sauce, to name just a few, are also always on hand.  With ingredients like these in the store cupboard, you can literally have breakfast in Turkey, lunch in Italy, and dinner in Thailand.

I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting ingredients to keep in my pantry, so I was pretty excited that our theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs is "Stock Your Exotic Pantry".  Actually I've been pretty excited ever since I got my hands on Diana Henry's "Salt Sugar Smoke".  This is seriously one of the most inspirational books to grace my kitchen for a long time, so I knew that this was exactly the place I was going to turn to meet this week's challenge.

Anchoiade

Diana's anchoiade seemed like the perfect dish to make.  The fact that I could make it using only ingredients I already I had on hand, and turn them into another great ingredient to always have around, seemed very serendipitous.

Anchoiade with Chargrilled Vegetables 2

Loaded with anchovies, garlic, almonds, parsley, lemon, and good extra virgin oil, this "dip" takes just moments to make, and packs a major flavour punch that will still be on your mind hours later.  I teamed this with some chargrilled peppers, aubergine, and asparagus straight off the barbeque, and even though I ate this feast sitting at my kitchen bench, in my mind I was sitting on the sun-drenched terrace of a French villa overlooking the Mediterranean.  This would also be great dished up as a dip with fresh, raw vegetables, or served antipasto-style with sourdough croutons, cos lettuce, baby boiled new potatoes, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, olives, green beans, and chunks of grilled tuna - a kind of deconstructed nicoise salad.  With a jar of this in the fridge, there is always a Mediterranean feast in the house.

Anchoiade with Chargrilled Vegetables Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Diana Henry
from Salt Sugar Smoke

24x anchovies, packed in oil
large handful of roasted, unsalted almonds
3x cloves garlic, roughly chopped
large handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
grated zest and juice of 1x lemon
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
1x red pepper, cored, deseeded, and cut into quarters
1x bunch asparagus, woody ends removed
1x medium sized aubergine, cut lengthwise into thick slices

Drain and reserve the oil from the anchovies.

Place anchovies, almonds, garlic, parsley, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper into food processor.  Blitz until mixture becomes a coarse paste.  Add reserved anchovy oil, then with motor running, add olive oil in a very thin stream until you reach a smooth paste.

Toss vegetables with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Heat the barbeque or chargrill pan, and cook until the vegetables are tender and charred.

Serve immediately or at room temperature, with a bowl of anchoiade on the side.

If you want to keep the anchoiade longer, store in the fridge in a sterilised jar, pouring a thin layer of olive oil over the surface.

Anchoiade with Chargrilled Vegetables 1

If you would like to get to know Diana Henry a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links (who knows, you might even want to join the journey and cook along with us) ...

Diana Henry badge 1A

21 comments:

  1. I love anchoiade! I like it the way Elizabeth David writes about it, on toast with a glass of wine whenever you are a bit peckish.

    BTW - only the last picture on this is showing up for me, all the others have the broken image thingy.

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    1. Hi Alicia. It sounds like Elizabeth David definitely has the right idea about this. I'm making pizza for dinner tonight with a topping of chargrilled vegetables - I'm thinking a drizzle of this anchoiade is going to be great over the top of it.

      Thanks for letting me know about the broken images, though I'm not sure why that is and I have even less idea how to fix it.

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  2. The anchovy dip sounds and looks fantastic, Sue. Bet the dip would be lovely to dress some kale salad too.

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    1. Thanks, Angie. I agree, I think it would be make a great dressing for a kale salad. Great with broccoli and pasta too I think.

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  3. Hi Sue, your stocked pantry is impressive! I really must address my "anchovies" issue, I think I am missing out on some delicious food...............

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    1. Hi Melynda - I know lots of people have anchovy issues, and yes in my mind anyway you are missing something very delicious. This pasta with broccoli and anchovy sauce is a great way to explore anchovies in a very "unscary" way. I promise that you would never know there are anchovies in the sauce, but they really bring a magical kind of savouriness to the dish that you don't get from any other ingredients.
      http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.co.nz/2010/08/orecchiette-with-broccoli-anchovy-sauce.html

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  4. What an interesting dip. I am very impressed, what you are doing on your own, ricotta and mascarpone. I have to admit, that I buy it, Italy is not far away, but the other things you mentioned are also home made in my house

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    1. Thanks, Ulrike. I must admit, I get such an enormous amount of satisfaction from making these ingredients at home, not to mention the fact that it saves a lot of money!

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  5. I am not familiar with Anchoiade, but it sounds like flavor and I'm all in for that.

    Madonna

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    1. Madonna, I think anchoiade is exactly the kind of thing you would love - definitely packed with flavour.

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  6. I've also never heard of anchoiade; it sounds so full of flavour and worthy of a spot in my pantry.

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    1. Yes, Zosia, I think it is a very worthy ingredient to keep on hand. The recipe makes quite a good sized quantity - I got two of those little bowls in the picture, and it will keep at least a couple of weeks in the fridge.

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  7. looks so tasty, and healthy love grilled veggies

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    1. Rebecca, I adore grilled vegetables too - really makes me feel like summer has arrived.

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  8. I caved and bought the book and I am a bit in love with it too. I am definitely tagging this one to make. It looks so yummy with the grilled veggies and I can just imagine slathering it all over a piece of bread as well. Great pick! ;-)

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    1. I'm sure you won't regret buying the book, Deb - there are just so many things I want to make from it - I have little post-it notes on nearly every page. I agree, this would be great just slathered all over some good sourdough bread.

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  9. Hi Sue,
    What a lovely delicious meal! I would be happy to join you at your kitchen bench!
    The anchoiade sounds really good, and I love anchovies! But then, anchovies are extremely expensive over here. This book has been on my wishlist and keeping my fingers crossed that I'll find other Diana Henry's books at the coming book sale in December!

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    1. Joyce, I would love to have you join me in the kitchen - wouldn't that be special :-)
      Hope you get lucky with finding this book at the book sale - there are so many great recipes in it that I know you would love - especially some of the pickles and chutnies.

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  10. HI Sue, The anchoiade is a new dip to me, sounds delicious! Always on the lookout for good cookbooks, this looks like a good one.

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    1. Cheri - definitely recommend putting this book on your wish list, and hope you give the anchoiade a try :-)

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  11. Love anchoiade and also Diana Henry. You continue to inspire Sue.

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