Three of the Best - Salad Days # 9, 10 & 11

Out there in blogland I often hear some of you talk about dishes in your "regular rotation", but I seriously don't have any kind of regular rotation going on in my household.  I sometimes think it might make life a little bit easier if I did, but I just don't.  Truth is, even though I often say things like "this was so great, I'll definitely be making this again" - I usually don't.  I get seduced by some new idea and seldom make the same thing twice.

That said, there is a small selection of salads in my repertoire that I really have made several times because they were that good, and so I thought that it bears reintroducing them to you.

Roasted Eggplant, Mango & Soba Noodle Salad

This is a salad, unsurprisingly, from my food hero - Yotam Ottolenghi - and with mangoes (albeit imported ones) and eggplant being in abundance right now, this is a great time for this salad.  Because we don't grow mangoes in New Zealand, they are one of the few imported items in the fruit and veggie department in which I allow myself to indulge over summer, and I really make a feast of it.  Lush, juicy mangoes alongside smokey, roasted aubergines is not a combination I would have ever thought of, but it really works.

Green Tea Soba Noodles with Soy Roasted Salmon & Broad Bean-Radish Salad

Adapted from a recipe by Donna Hay, this is probably one of my favourite dishes I've posted of all time, and one I really have repeated numerous times.  Try this once, and I'm sure it will become one of your regulars too.  A visually stunning dish, packed with great punch of flavour from the wasabi-ginger dressing, and yet quick and easy to prepare.  This is the perfect maximum impact - minimum effort dish.

Baby Spinach Salad with Dates & Almonds

When we had our time over at I Heart Cooking Clubs cooking with Ottolenghi, this was one of my favourite dishes I made.  I know several of my fellow participants, and several of my friends in the Tasting Jerusalem group also loved, so don't just take my word for it - this is a salad you definitely need to have in your "rotation".

This is salad numbers 9, 10, and 11 in my Salad Days, 28 days of salad project.   What's that you ask?  Well,  I've said it here a dozen times or more ... I love salads.  A big bowl, substantial salad is hands down my favourite meal any time of the year.  Such is my love of salad, that I'm challenging myself to come up with a different salad every day for the month of February - that's 28 days of salads - and I plan to share as many of them as I can with you.  I'll also be doing some flashbacks to some of my favourite salads I've shared in the past.

What's more, I'm giving you the opportunity to share some of your favourite salads with me too.  Have a favourite salad you'd like to share?  Simply link up your salad recipe using the linky tool at the bottom of this post.  The linky will be open all month, and you can join in any day or every day, and link as many recipes as you like.  Feel free to grab the Salad Days badge from the sidebar to include in your post if you'd like to.  There's really no rules around linking up, other than please, use your manners and link your post back to this one.  Linking old posts is fine too, just please edit them to include the back link.  Thanks for sharing your favourite salad with us.

Anchoiade with Chargrilled Vegetables

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.

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.

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.

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) ...

Roasted Aubergine, Red Pepper & Garlic Dip

This is always one of my favourite times of the month - Secret Recipe Club reveal day.  That day when I, along with all my fellow participants, get to reveal our assigned blog (that person we have been "cyber stalking" for the last month) and the dish we have made from their blog.

But I do have a confession to make.  You see, I have committed the worst possible SRC crime - yes, I was supposed to post this a couple of weeks ago, but made a total mix up of dates and left my assigned blog hanging - Amy, how will you ever forgive me?  Thankfully our host, Sarah, has allowed me to atone for my sins by putting up my post this week with a different group.

Anyways, enough about that.  My assigned blog this month was Fearless Homemaker, hosted as you are now aware by Amy.  Raised in Boston, and now living in Nashville, Amy is a self-described food and cocktail lover, enthusiastic entertainer, and crafty DIYer.  Amy has a masters degree in Positive Psychology, and works as a co-ordinator for Cultural Care Au Pair.  She is passionate about cultural exchange, and working with the American host families and their international au pairs to ensure a positive experience for everyone.

Amy had so many recipes I wanted to try (every one of them beautifully photographed), and a number of them have now been pinned for me to make at a later date, like this Slow-Cooker Chicken & Mushroom Farro Risotto, Spaghetti with Oven Roasted Tomatoes & Caramelised Fennel, and this Glazed Lemon Pound Cake.  Actually it was the lemon pound cake that I was intent on making, but with an aubergine hanging around in the veggie bin which was in dire need of being used up, it was Amy's Roasted Eggplant, Red Pepper & Garlic Spread that won the day.

This was quick and easy to prepare, particularly using some ready roasted red peppers as I did - I roast loads of them during the season, and then bottle them in olive oil.  Just perfect for adding to salads, antipasto platters, casseroles, and pasta sauces throughout the rest of the year.  I skipped the onion, since we're not much fussed on it around here, and I added in a little bit of chilli paste for an extra kick, and a bit of paprika for it's lovely smokiness which I think is perfect with eggplant.

This dip is wonderful used, as Amy did, as a spread on fresh bread.  It would also be great served as a dip for other vegetables.  We used it as a rich, flavourful sauce for pasta, and would also be wonderful used as a pizza sauce - a great alternative for those who are sensitive to tomatoes.  This was so good, I made a second batch, which I've now stashed in the freezer ready for a quick mid-week meal.

Roasted Aubergine, Red Pepper & Garlic Dip
Adapted from this recipe at Fearless Homemaker
Click here for the free recipe card

1x medium sized aubergine, cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) cubes
olive oil
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
3x roasted red peppers, preserved in olive oil, drained and roughly chopped
(or 2x fresh red peppers, deseeded and cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) chunks)
2x cloves garlic, unpeeled and left whole
2 teaspoons chilli paste
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste (leave this out if you are sensitive to tomatoes)

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

Toss eggplant cubes and garlic cloves with a generous slosh of olive oil, and a good seasoning of flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  (If you're using fresh red peppers, toss them in as well.)

Line a shallow roasting tray with baking parchment and spread vegetables in a single layer over the tray.  Place tray in the oven and roast until tender and golden - about 20 to 30 minutes.  (Keep an eye on the garlic - it can burn quickly, so you may want to remove it half way through.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

Squeeze garlic cloves out of their skins, and add them to a food processor, along with the eggplant and peppers.  Blitz to a coarse paste.  Add the chilli paste, paprika, tomato paste, and a generous slosh of olive oil (I used the reserved oil from the roasted peppers).  Process until you reach a spreadable consistency.  Taste and season with extra sea salt and pepper if desired.

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.

Also shared at Hearth and Soul, hosted by the lovely April J. Harris.

An InLinkz Link-up

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.

         

Burnt Aubergine with Garlic, Lemon and Herbs

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, we're all about Mezze - those delicious "small plates", which might be served on their own as a single appetiser, or as part of a whole spread of small dishes.  Such eating lies at the very heart of many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food cultures and is, to my way of thinking, a sublime way to eat.  Dish after dish of wonderful flavours and textures;  hours of conviviality around the "shared table";  what's not to love?!

No such repast would be complete without a bowl of hummus or some of this deliciously smoky, garlicky, lemony, herby aubergine dip.

Now, I'll be the first to admit, that this dish wins no prizes in the looks department - in fact it bears more than a passing resemblance to something the cat brought up.  Serve this up and, to a person, everyone will regard the bowl somewhat suspiciously before recoiling in horror and asking "What. Is. That?!!"  Of course, I know that this is not really the kind of reaction with which you want your food to be met.  But it's worth it to see that look of disgust transformed into a look of transcendent joy, and sighs of deep satisfaction, at the first mouthful.  I promise you, before you know it, the bowl will be empty and everyone will be fighting over the last mouthful.  I have even known those who claim to not really like aubergine, to be amongst those trying to just about scrape the pattern off the bowl in their efforts to get every last morsel of this.

This recipe is adapted, only slightly from Ottolenghi's recipe for Burnt Eggplant with Garlic, Lemon & Pomegranate Seeds from Jerusalem: A Cookbook.  The garnish of pomegranate seeds would be a wonderful addition, and one I would definitely have gone for, but for the fact that they are out of season right now.  And since I am presently holidaying in California (yes, I know, pinch me), I didn't have ready access to the stash of pomegranate seeds I keep in my freezer for dipping into in the off-season.

Burnt Aubergine with Garlic, Lemon & Herbs

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

3 large aubergine

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1x lemon, finely grated zest and juice

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

generous handful mint, finely chopped

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Begin by burning the aubergines.  Cut a few long slashes through the skin of each one,  and put onto the grill of a hot barbeque.  Turn regularly and cook until the skin is black and flaky, and the flesh is soft - about 15- 20 minutes.  This is my preferred method for doing this - by far the easiest and least messy.  Alternatively, after slashing the aubergine skins, place them on a baking sheet in the oven under a hot grill (you may call it a broiler in your part of the world).  This will take about an hour in the oven, and you should turn them every 15 to 20 minutes so that they become blackened all over.

Remove the aubergines from the heat and leave until cool enough to handle.  Cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the soft flesh in long strips and discard the blackened skin.  Put the flesh into a sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain for at least an hour - longer if you have the time.

Put the drained flesh into a medium-sized bowl, mash with a fork, and add in the chopped garlic, grated lemon zest (reserving a little for garnish), lemon juice, olive oil, a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and a good grind of black pepper.  Set aside and allow to stand for a good hour or more at room temperature for the flavours to develop.

Stir in the herbs, adjust the seasoning as necessary, and pile into a serving bowl.  Drizzle over a little extra olive oil and garnish with the remaining lemon zest.

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.

Quick Pickled Lemons and Fish & Caper Kebabs with Burnt Aubergine

New Zealanders as a people are sports-mad in general, and rugby-mad in particular.  It is without doubt our national sport, and it's importance is so deeply embedded in our national psyche, that details of some amazing triumph on the rugby field or, shudder the thought, devastating defeat (heads must surely roll), will often be lead story in our national news broadcast ahead of child kidnappings, murders, parlimentarians in trouble, or earthquakes in China.  We know here what's really important!

At the end of a rugby match, the captains of each team are always interviewed for their comments.  And I can wager, a pound to a pinch of the proverbial, that their statement will always begin with the words, "Well, it was a game of two halves, and full credit to the other team ... blah, blah, blah".

Why, am I telling you all this.  Because this is going to be a post of two halves, with once again full credit to Yotam Ottolenghi.

In the first half of this post, I'm bringing you Ottolenghi's Quick Pickled Lemons.  At I Heart Cooking Clubs, our Monthly Community Recipe for the month of May was preserved lemons, either the traditional method which takes 4-6 weeks of curing, or this quick pickled version, ready in 24 hours.  As I have already posted preserved lemons here before - in fact they were the very first thing I ever posted on this blog - I decided to give the quick pickles a try.  These quick pickles, I have to say, are incredibly moreish and I know that these just became a "refrigerator staple" for me to accompany all manner of things.  I would still urge anyone to have a go at preserved lemons as well.  I always have at least a jar or two in my fridge - they are incredibly easy to make (and very cheap compared to bought ones), and they are invaluable for bring wonderful flavour to stews, casseroles, couscous, salads, and even dressings.  If you do a search of preserved lemons on this blog, you will find a number of recipes in which I've used them.

In the second half of the post, the Quick Pickled Lemons are served up with Fish & Caper Kebabs and Burnt Aubergine, from Ottolenghi's book Jerusalem: A Cookbook.  I'd had this recipe bookmarked for a while, and with out theme this week of "Pattycake, Pattycake" at I Heart Cooking Clubs, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to give these a try.

The fishcakes - light and delicate (no stodgy fishcakes, these babies), with the little hits of briny capers - were an absolute hit around here.   The burnt aubergine accompaniment - sumptuous smokey flavour, enhanced with garlic and herbs - may possibly have been an even bigger hit.  With the pickled lemons on the side, this was a stunning meal.  Apart from a bit of work involved in preparation of the lemon and aubergine, both of which could be done well in advance, this makes a quick and easy meal to put together for a midweek supper - a great dish for entertaining too.

Quick Pickled Lemons

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

from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1x smallish red chilli, roughly chopped

juice of 1x lemon

3x medium lemons

(halved lengthwise, then sliced widthways as thinly as possible)

35g caster sugar

1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

1x clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon smokey paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Grind the chilli to a rough paste with juice of 1/2 lemon in a mortar and pestle.  Transfer to a large bowl with the juice of the other half of the lemon, and all the remaining ingredients.  Mix everything together well, massaging all the flavourings into the lemons.  Cover the bowl and leave on the bench overnight.  Next day transfer to a clean, sterilised jar and refrigerate.  Will keep for approximately 2 weeks.

Fish & Caper Kebabs with Burnt Aubergine Recipe

Adapted, slightly, from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Burnt Aubergine

3x medium aubergine

1/4 cup natural, unsweetened yoghurt

1x garlic clove, roughly chopped

generous handful flat-leaf parsley leaves

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Fish Kebabs

430g white fish, skinned & boned (I used tarakihi)

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 medium free-range egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons capers

generous handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

grated zest of 1x lemon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

sunflower oil for frying

Begin by burning the aubergines.  Cut a few long slashes through the skin of each one,  and put onto the grill of a hot barbeque.  Turn regularly and cook until the skin is black and flaky, and the flesh is soft - about 15- 20 minutes. (* See note below)

Remove the aubergines from the heat and leave until cool enough to handle.  Cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the soft flesh in long strips and discard the blackened skin.  Put the flesh into a sieve set over a bowl for any water to drain out of the flesh while you prepare the fish kebabs.

Cut the fish into very thin slices, and then into very tiny dice,  Put the diced fish into a bowl.  Add the breadcrumbs, egg, capers, herbs, lemon zest and juice, and spices.  Season generously with flaky sea salt and pepper.  Mix everything together well, and using your hands shape into small patties - you should get 10-12 patties depending on the size you make them.  Place the patties in a single layer on a plate or tray, cover and refrigerate for about half an hour to firm up.

Meanwhile finish off the burnt aubergine.  Put the drained aubergine flesh into the bowl of a food processor, along with the garlic, parsley, and yoghurt.  Add a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and a good grind of black pepper.  Pulse in the food processor a few times, just until everything is roughly chopped and combined.  Make sure that you keep a bit of texture - you don't want a smooth paste.  Set aside.

Set a frying pan over medium-high heat, and cover the base with a thin layer of oil.  Cook the kebabs in batches, until golden all over and cooked through - only a couple of minutes on each side.  They are very delicate, so do take care putting them into the pan and turning them.

Serve hot, with a generous dollop of the burnt aubergine on the side and a small amount of the quick pickled lemons.

*Note:  Ottolenghi offers a method for burning the aubergines of lining the base of a gas hob with tin foil and then blackening them directly in the flame. This smacks to me of "mess" and also having to stand over the flame and keep moving the aubergines around.  His alternative suggestion is doing them in the oven under a hot grill. My method of choice is doing them on the barbeque - altogether less mess and less fuss, and works perfectly.  You do want to make sure first of all that you make a few long slashes through the skin in each one - helps to prevent any possibility that they might explode!!

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.

Burnt Aubergine & Mograbieh Soup

A "new to me" blog I discovered recently is Blue Kale Road.  I was lured in when I came across this post for a Persian spice blend called Advieh and a Kidney Bean and Barberry Kuku, an adaptation of an Ottolenghi dish.  By the time I'd read to the end, I was hooked - after all, any woman who cooks Ottolenghi is a woman after my own heart.  I've continued to enjoy Hannah's posts ever since, and when she recently stopped by my blog and suggested that I join the Tasting Jerusalem group (a group dedicated to cooking their way through Ottolenghi's book, Jerusalem:A Cookbook), I was in.

The challenge this month is couscous, and we had the option of making Couscous with Tomato & Onion or Burnt Aubergine & Mograbieh (Israeli couscous) Soup.  I had all good intentions of making the couscous with tomato and onion, but as it happened I had a pile of aubergines in the veggie bin which needed using up, so soup it was.  Besides, I'd had this one bookmarked for a while, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to make it.

This week is also Potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue our journey with Yotam Ottolenghi, so this post is doing double duty.

Now I did take quite a few liberties with the recipe, and what follows is my adaptation.  If you want the original recipe you'll find it on page 141 of the book.

Firstly - "burning" the aubergines.  Ottolenghi offers a method for doing this of lining the base of a gas hob with tin foil and then blackening the aubergines directly in the flame. This smacks to me of "mess" and also having to stand over the flame and keep moving the aubergines around.  His alternative suggestion is doing them in the oven under a hot grill. My method of choice is doing them on the barbeque - altogether less mess and less fuss, and works perfectly.  You do want to make sure first of all that you make a few long slashes through the skin in each one - helps to prevent any possibility that they might explode!!

Secondly, the recipe calls for slicing onions, chopping tomatoes and mincing garlic.  As it turns out I have on hand several batches of homemade sauce, which contains all of those ingredients, inspired by this sauce from the lovely Nicola at Homegrown Kitchen.  Although I love making things from scratch, I can also be incredibly lazy, so it made no sense to me to go through all that chopping and slicing again, when I could just bust out a cup of that sauce.

Thirdly, in addition to the burnt aubergine which gets blitzed into the soup base, Ottolenghi fries additional aubergine which serves as a garnish to the finished soup.  Fried aubergine, I have to say, just doesn't happen in my world - although it is undeniably delicious, I don't have the patience for standing over pans of frying aubergine, not to mention the amount of oil that it uses.  Much easier, less messy (and no doubt healthier) to toss with a little olive oil and bake in the oven.

The final dish exceeded all my expectations.  The flavour is deep, smoky and intense, and the mograbieh (also known as Israeli couscous) along with the chunks of roasted aubergine add great textural interest.  Now I know that there are those amongst you who could eat soup every night of the week - I am not one of those people.  Soup is something I do on occasion, but it's definitely not a "go-to" dish for me.  Well let me tell you that this is the soup that could potentially change all that - this is so good that I feel like I want to eat this every night for the rest of my life ... or at least until the next great Ottolenghi dish comes along.

Burnt Aubergine & Mograbieh Soup Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem:  A Cookbook

Makes 4 generous servings

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

3x large aubergine

olive oil

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup roasted vegetable sauce (see above)

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

zest & juice of 1x lemon

100g (3-1/2 oz) mograbieh (Israeli couscous)

2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

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

Cut one aubergine into large dice, toss generously with olive oil, and spread in a single layer in a shallow, parchment-lined baking dish.  Season liberally with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Put into the hot oven and bake until the aubergine pieces are golden brown and cooked through.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, cut a few long slashes through the skin of the remaining two aubergine, and put onto the grill of a hot barbeque.  Turn regularly and cook until the skin is black and flaky and the flesh is soft - about 15-20 minutes.

Remove the aubergines from the heat and leave until cool enough to handle.  Cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the soft flesh in long strips and discard the blackened skin.  Put the flesh into a sieve set over a bowl for any water to drain out of the flesh while you continue with the rest of the dish.

Now heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the cumin seeds and as soon as they are fragrant and sizzling, add the tomato paste.  Cook for a moment or two, stirring constantly, until the tomato paste is "caramelised".  Add the roasted vegetable sauce, chicken stock, water, lemon juice (reserve the zest), salt and pepper.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, set a small pan of water over high heat and bring to the boil.  Salt the water liberally, and add the couscous to the boiling water.  Cook exactly as you would any pasta, until al dente.  Drain and refresh under cold water.

Now add the burnt aubergine flesh which has been draining to the soup.  Remove from the heat and, using a stick blender, puree till smooth.  Reserve some of the oven-baked aubergine and couscous for garnishing and add the rest to the soup.

Simmer for another few minutes to heat everything through.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Serve immediately in warm bowls, with a sprinkling of the reserved aubergine and couscous on top.  Garnish with a little lemon zest and basil, and finish with a generous swirl of your very best extra virgin olive oil.

Lip-smacking, drooling and orgasmic sighs as you devour this are all totally permissible.

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 Tasting Jerusalem (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, and liking our Facebook page), at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, and often hilarious, Michelle at Ms. enPlace, and at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays hosted by my friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.

          

Lake Palace Hotel Aubergines Cooked in the Pickling Style (Baigan Achari)

I've owned my copy of Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery for about 26 years now, and in all that time, whenever I open the book it falls open at exactly the same page - at the recipe for "The Lake Palace Hotel's Aubergine cooked in the pickling style".  I always thought it sounded like a great dish, and I guess it was always inevitable that I was going to make it one day.  As it turned out, it was so awesomely good I'm just disappointed that it took me so long to get around to making it.

Now I must warn you, that like many other Indian dishes (and most "brown" food), this doesn't look nearly as appealing as it tastes.  So, although this is not exactly a feast for the eyes, you're going to have to take a giant leap of faith when I tell you that this is probably my favourite dish I've made so far since I, and my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs, have been cooking with Madhur Jaffrey.

Madhur describes this dish as being "not unlike a spicy ratatouille", and she is exactly right.  It does have a most unusual "pickled" taste.  Madhur says this comes from the black onion seeds suggested in the recipe;  but I didn't use those, so it's obviously not as simple as that.

I ate this as a meal on its own, with just some steamed basmati rice, but it would also make a great accompaniment to all sorts of other dishes.  Madhur recommends it as being particular good with lamb, either Indian style or just simply roasted, and I can imagine that working really well.  She suggests it is also good cold and served with cold meats.

The original recipe serves 6 people as an accompaniment.  I adjusted quantities to make a main meal for myself, with a small amount leftover for the next day's lunch.  Despite reducing the quantity of vegetables in this dish, I kept most of the spices as the original recipe.  Also, instead of frying the aubergine slices, I opted for a healthier version, by roasting the aubergines slices in the oven.  It's also a lot easier than standing over batches of frying aubergines.

This is my contribution to this week's Pot Luck theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs, and I certainly won't be waiting another 26 years to make this again.

Lake Palace Hotel Aubergines Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Madhur Jaffrey in

Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery

Makes 1 main meal with leftovers, or

Serves 2 as a light meal, or

Serves 3 as an accompaniment

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1x medium/large aubergine (about 350g (12 oz))

neutral-flavoured vegetable oil

2.5cm (1 inch) piece ginger, peeled & coarsely chopped

3x cloves garlic, peeled & halved

1 cup water

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1x large tomato, peeled & finely chopped (see note below)

1/2 tablespoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3/4 teaspoon salt

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

Cut aubergine into 1cm (1/2 inch) thick rings, and place in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush them all liberally with some vegetable oil and put into the hot oven.  Once they are beginning to brown (about 10 minutes), flip them over and brush the other side generously with the vegetable oil.  Return to the oven until golden brown - about another 10-15 minutes.  Turn them again if you feel you need to.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Now place garlic, ginger and water in a blender and blitz until smooth.

Heat some more vegetable oil (about 2 tablespoons) in a deepish frying pan over medium heat.  Once the oil has heated, add the fennel and cumin seeds.  As soon as the seeds begin to look toasty and smell fragrant, add the chopped tomato,  the whizzed up garlic and ginger, turmeric, coriander, cayenne pepper and salt.  Cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture reduces a bit and becomes like a thick sauce.

Add the aubergine slices to the pan, stirring gently to make sure all the slices are bathed in the sauce.  Lower the heat slightly and cook very gently for about 8 minutes.

Serve over steamed rice, as a side dish, or cold as a salad.

Note:  For ease of peeling a tomato - cut a small cross in the base of the tomato, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water.  Allow to stand for about 30 seconds, remove and plunge immediately into a bowl of cold water.  The skin will slide straight off.

If you would like to get to know Madhur 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 Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking and many of Madhur's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

Clafoutis Provencal & Cookbook Sundays # 11

My goodness where did the last week go to?  It seems to have vanished in a flash, and here we are at Saturday evening again and time for another Cookbook Sundays.  If you've been delving into your cookbooks lately, I'd love you to share your post with me and my friends who are trying to get those cookbooks down off the bookshelves and onto the kitchen bench.  Keep reading for full details on how to participate.

In the meantime ... what did I conjure up from my cookbooks this week?  In actual fact my recipe this week comes from "The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook".  This book is not in my collection, and is probably not the kind of book that I would buy.  But I was at the library the other day, and it was out on display.  Don't really know what made me pick it up, but the book immediately fell open at this recipe and I knew that I just had to make it.

Now, one glimpse at my photos, and you won't need me to tell you that this dish is not going to win any beauty contests.  It's brown food, people, and not even Lord Lichfield could have made this look good.  Still, for all its wallflower looks, this dish delivers on flavour.

In the introduction to this recipe, the author says, "Clafoutis usually refers to a dessert preparation, but in Provence it can be a savory yet still rich dish with cheese, eggs, and bread."  The sweetness of peppers in this dish, with the pungency of garlic, the salty brininess of black olives, the earthy herbaceousness (probably not a real word, but you know what I mean) of basil, and the nutty, tangy Parmesan makes a great combination.  If I had a disappointment in this dish it was probably the aubergine.  Now I love aubergine - it's one of my favourite vegetables - but in this dish it somehow didn't shine and didn't do anything to enhance the dish.  I would definitely make this dish again, but I think I would use red peppers instead of yellow - I think red have just a bit more sweetness and more flavour, also the bright colour I think would look a bit more appealing.  Other changes I would make ... I think some slow roasted tomatoes would be great in here, for both colour and flavour, and I feel inclined to swap the aubergines out for some courgette - again I think the colour and flavour would be better here.  But, hey, really you could put just about anything in here.  You could even take this in a totally different direction using some Italian sausage or chorizo, with sweet potato or pumpkin, some spinach and blue cheese ... mmmmm, think I just might have to try that.

A funny thing ...  The recipe stated that it would serve 4 and I have to say that when I got it out of the oven, my first thought was "Well that's obviously why French women don't get fat - this would barely feed two".  I was wrong - I served this as a main meal with a light green salad, and it would easily give 3-4 servings.  I think this dish would really shine served for a late summer lunch, followed by a long siesta.

Clafoutis Provencal Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Mireille Guiliano from

The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook

Serves 3 to 4

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1x medium aubergine, cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) dice

1x yellow pepper, deseeded & cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) dice

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1x slice of bread, crusts removed

2x garlic cloves, peeled

1 cup ricotta

3x large free-range eggs

2 tablespoons fresh basil, roughly chopped

1/2 cup black olives, stones removed and halved

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

fresh basil to garnish

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Grease a 20 cm (8 in) square baking dish with butter and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in pan set over medium heat, and saute the yellow pepper and aubergine until softened and just starting to caramelise.  Season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Set aside to cool.

Put bread, garlic, eggs and ricotta into a food processor, and process until smooth.  Remove to a bowl;  add the basil, olives, Parmesan, and the cooled aubergine and pepper mixture;  season with more flaky sea salt and black pepper;  and mix everything together gently.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and put into the hot oven.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly golden on top.  Take care not to overcook.

Remove from the oven and serve warm, garnished with extra basil.  A crisp green salad makes a good accompaniment.

Now read on to learn more about Cookbook Sundays.

 

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.

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