Shaved Sprout Salad with Figs & Hazelnuts

We've had a spectacular summer in my part of the world, but literally like a switch going off autumn screamed in right on the 1st of March, bringing with it cool, nippy mornings, gloomy days and chillier evenings.  After a couple of weeks of decidedly autumnal weather, however, summer returned this weekend (hopefully for a few weeks to come) with clear blue skies and loads of sunshine.

Since recently moving back to Christchurch, I have of late been enjoying reacquainting myself with the local farmers market, and yesterday was the kind of day that makes it a real joy to venture out - the sun was shining, music played, all the stalls were flat out busy, and plenty of market goers were taking the opportunity to grab something to eat and enjoy "brunch" sitting in the sunshine on the river bank.

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, we're going green and healthy, celebrating the spirit of St Patricks Day with our current IHCC guest chef, Ellie Krieger.  I had picked up some brussels sprouts at the supermarket earlier in the week, and was thinking that Ellie's recipe for Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Hazelnuts and Dried Apricots from "Weeknight Wonders" seemed like a good jumping off point.  The original recipe combines thinly shaved brussels sprouts with hazelnuts and dried apricots (probably obviously enough);  however, I was really feeling the autumnal vibe and was thinking that fresh figs would be a great complement to the brussels sprouts.  I had great hopes of finding fresh figs at the farmers market, but it seems I was a bit premature - no figs around yet.

I still liked the idea of incorporating figs though, so used some nice plump dried figs that I found, and actually I liked the slightly more "chewy" quality of the dried fruit with the shaved sprouts.  Other changes I made were including a large handful of flat leaf parsley leaves ( I love to use the leaves whole like another salad green, rather than chopping them up), and because I wanted to turn this into a substantial meal for myself I also included some blue goats cheese and some beautiful big, fat, green Sicilian olives that I picked up at the farmers market.  Rock melon too have been abundant of late, and with plenty of melon on hand to be used up I thought this too would work perfectly with the sprouts and figs, and would deliver the juicy succulence that I had been hoping for in fresh figs. I also tweaked the dressing a bit really just to suit ingredients that I had on hand.

Here is my version of Ellie's salad, given its "autumn makeover".  Actually this was the first time I'd ever eaten brussels sprouts raw - won't be the last!  This salad packed plenty of great flavours, and lots of interesting textures - certainly delivers enough on both fronts to potentially get this one past even those who claim to hate sprouts.  I was very happy to make a meal out of this and would certainly make it again.  The other great thing about this salad, unlike a lettuce salad, is that it's not going to go all "wilty" on you, making this perfect to pack up and take outdoors for a picnic or barbeque.

Shaved Sprout Salad with Figs & Hazelnuts Recipe
Inspired by recipe by Ellie Krieger
from Weeknight Wonders
Serves 1 as a substantial meal or
Serves 2 as a light meal or side dish
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

large handful of hazelnuts
8x brussels sprouts, washed and outer leaves removed
large handful flat leaf parsley leaves
3x plump dried figs, cut into thin strips
1/4 of a rock melon, skin and seeds removed and cut into cubes
large handful of Sicilian olives
approx 75g (2.5 oz) blue cheese, crumbled

dressing:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Place hazelnuts in a small dry frying pan, set over medium heat and toast, tosssing from time to time, until the nuts are golden brown.  Remove pan from the heat, tip the nuts out onto a clean tea towel, wrap them up and rub vigorously to loosen the skins.  Set nuts aside to cool.

Meanwhile, cut the sprouts in half lengthwise, remove the hard "core", and then with a very sharp knife cut them crosswise very thinly.  Place the shave sprouts in a bowl along with the parley leaves, dried figs, cubed rock melon, crumbled blue cheese, green olives, and roughly chopped hazelnuts.

To make the dressing, place all ingredients into a small jug or bowl and whisk until well combined.  Pour over salad ingredients and toss until everything is just coated with the dressing.

Serve and enjoy.

Note:  As with so many of my recipes you don't need to be too fussy about quantities here, or even use all of these ingredients - just follow your instincts and your taste buds to come up with your own creation

For example try using:
broccoli instead of brussels sprouts
feta instead of blue cheese
cranberries instead of dried figs
orange or pink grapefruit instead of rock melon
almonds instead of hazelnuts
The possibilities are limitless - just use your imagination

If you would like to get to know Ellie Krieger a little better, and to see all the wonderful "Green Eating" dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, and at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

   

Autumnal Farro, Fig & Blue Cheese Salad

Over the last few weeks, I've missed out on a bit of our culinary journey with Diana Henry over at I Heart Cooking Clubs, but I felt I couldn't miss the opportunity to join in this week as we bid our fond farewells to Diana.  She is definitely an inspirational cook and I have loved cooking from her culinary tomes in which I have invested - A Change of Appetite and Salt Sugar Smoke.  I love a cookbook which is as much a joy to sit down and read as it is to cook from, and I have certainly found that in both of these volumes.  Sitting down with one of Diana's cookbooks to have a read and find a little dinner inspiration is like sitting down with a good friend, and I know that I will continue to enjoy her company in my kitchen.

Right now my neighbour's fig tree is literally groaning under the weight of its ripening crop, and it's a constant vigil to get to the fruit at just the right time before the birds do.  Must be the spectacular summer that we've had in my part of the world this year, but the fruit seems to be bigger, fatter, sweeter and juicier than ever before, and I knew that my farewell dish to Diana would have to include this much coveted autumn treat.

Inspiration came from Diana's recipe in A Change of Appetite for her salad of farro, hazelnuts, grapes and figs.  I changed things up a little bit to use ingredients I had on hand, but I think the spirit of this dish remains the same.  I tweaked the dressing a bit using red wine vinegar instead of white balsamic vinegar, leaving out hazelnut oil because I didn't have any, and adding in a bit of pomegranate molasses because ... well, just because.  I swapped out red chicory and watercress in favour of baby kale leaves which I had on hand;  I used roasted almonds instead of hazelnuts, blue cheese instead of goat cheese, and plump golden raisins instead of grapes.  I also pan roasted the figs in honey before adding them to the salad.

This salad is the ultimate ode to autumn on a plate.  The nutty flavour and texture of the farro is the perfect foil to the soft, sweet figs, the tangy dressing, the crunch of the almonds, and the salty hits of the blue cheese.  This was easily satisfying enough for me to make a meal out of it all on its own, but would also make a great accompaniment to perhaps a roasted chicken or some great sausages.

A glass of shiraz or a great pinot on the side, and you have a meal made in heaven.  I hope you'll give it a try.

Autumnal Fig, Farro & Blue Cheese Salad Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Diana Henry
from A Change of Appetite
Serves 2 as a generous meal or 4 as a side dish
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1x cup farro
juice of 1/2 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
baby kale leaves
generous handful roasted almonds
generous handful plump golden raisins, soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes
3-4 plump, fresh figs
1 tablespoon honey
50g blue cheese, crumbled

Dressing
3x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1x tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Put farro in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer the farro until tender but still with a little bite - about 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain well and add lemon juice, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, and season liberally with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile make the dressing.  Place all ingredients in a small jar and shake vigorously until everything is well combined.  Taste and adjust flavourings to your taste.  Set aside.

Cut figs in half.  Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a small saute pan and add the tablespoon of honey.  Add the figs to the pan, cut side down, and allow the figs to soften and warm through in the pan.  Remove from pan, cool slightly, and cut each half in half again if figs are large.

Now that the farro has cooled, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.  Add the kale leaves, almonds and plumped-up raisins to the farro, and toss to combine.

Arrange farro mixture on a serving platter, nestle fig pieces into the mixture, and strew nuggets of the blue cheese over the top.  Serve immediately.

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) ...

... or check out A Change of Appetite and Diana's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

And make sure to come back next week as we begin a new six month culinary journey of cooking with French chef Jacques Pepin.

I'm also sharing this at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays, hosted by my very lovely friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.

Black Cherry & Blue Cheese Salad with Basil & Almond Gremolata - Salad Days # 6

Today's salad is my take on this Goat's Cheese and Macerated Cherry Salad recipe from Diana Henry.

As Diana says, there's nothing new about the combination of goat's cheese and cherries, but she goes on to say that this takes it to a whole new level.  And she's right - it seriously does.  Actually I didn't have any goat's cheese, but I did have some blue cheese which I subbed in instead, and which made for an equally sensational combination.  The cherries and the cheese don't just marry together nicely, they actually really enhance each other, so that somehow each ingredient seems to taste even better in the company of the other than on its own.  Between these two fabulous ingredients, and the flavour packed almond and basil gremolata sprinkled over the top, this has just become a summer favourite that I fully intend to repeat as many times as I can before fresh cherries are gone for another year.

I had this flavour packed salad with a simple piece of pan-fried fish, but I think it would also be great with some barbequed lamb chops or a classic roast chicken.  Whatever it's served with, I urge you to try this - you won't be disappointed.

And come back tomorrow for a sensational seafood salad with tomatoes, avocado and roasted lemons.  You won't want to miss that one!

This is salad number 6 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.

Farewell Nigel, and a Round-up of My Favourites

If you've been following here for a while then you will most likely know that I am a regular participant and co-host at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where each six months our members elect a new chef with whom we will spend the ensuing six months cooking according to a variety of weekly themes.  You will also know that for the last six months we have been cooking with British cook, Nigel Slater, and this week is time to say our goodbyes.

This is always a bittersweet moment - a little hint of sadness as one journey comes to an end, tinged with the excitement and anticipation of welcoming in a new chef.  You'll find out more about that next week, but for now I wanted to share with you a round-up of my favourite Nigel Slater dishes of the last six months.

Warm Lentil, Leek & Lemon Salad with Prawns & Roasted Tomatoes

This dish was actually inspired by Nigel's "Lentil soup, with lemon, pancetta and mint".  It turned out to be one of those dishes which, in its entirety, was so much greater than the sum of its parts, and was not just every bit as good as I expected it to be, but in actual fact exceeded all my expectations.

Roasted Potato Salad with Black Olive & Roasted Garlic Gremolata

This was a dish which not only drew inspiration from Nigel, but also from my friend Toby at Plate Fodder.  Potatoes are par-boiled, then smashed and oven roasted with rosemary and garlic.  That in itself is a pretty good thing, but then the crispy roasted potatoes are drizzled straight from the oven with a mustardy vinaigrette, and then topped with a gremolata of black olives, rosemary, garlic and lemon zest.  A taste sensation, and the perfect accompaniment to the Sunday night roast chook.

Curried Carrot, Lentil & Roasted Tomato Soup

In many ways carrots are one of my least favourite vegetables, so I'd always been a bit dubious about carrot soup.  This stunning soup, loaded with red lentils, spicy curry powder, fragrant coconut milk and slow roasted tomatoes helped me overcome all my carrot soup fears!

Pumpkin, Date & Chocolate Scones

I turned Nigel's slightly savoury warm pumpkin scones into an ever so slightly sweeter treat with the addition of dates, date syrup and chocolate - just perfect for a leisurely Sunday brunch, or to accompany an afternoon cuppa.

Roasted Pumpkin Laksa

This laksa is perfect for a cold winter evening.  The sweet, soft, nutty pumpkin, silky rice noodles, crispy bok choy and bean sprouts, all bathed in a gorgeously fragrant, coconut-rich broth, makes for a symphony of flavours and textures.

Gnocchi with Chorizo, Gorgonzola & Spinach

This is the ultimate one-pan wonder.  A dish for those occasions when only a big helping of carbs, smothered in cream and cheese, and topped off with a bit of fried sausage, will satisfy, and just enough spinach to assuage the guilt - slightly!

Pumpkin Pangrattato with Merguez Sausage & Black Olives

This was easily my favourite Nigel Slater dish, and in fact one of my favourite dishes I've ever posted.  Chunks of steamed butternut pumpkin, spicy nuggets of merguez sausage, and black olives, are baked under a topping of cheesy, garlicky breadcrumbs.  Seriously, if you only ever try one dish from my blog, this would be a good place to start.

With that, it's time to say "Cheerio" to Nigel, and don't forget to come back next week to see who we'll be welcoming as our next IHCC chef.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater 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 ...

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

Gnocchi with Chorizo, Gorgonzola & Spinach

For the first two years of writing this blog, I didn't have a proper kitchen.  I churned out all my meals using nothing more than a small toaster oven (just big enough to roast a chook, if you spatchcocked it first), a single hot plate, a Breville benchtop grill, a crockpot, and a kitchen bench the size of a postage stamp (does anyone remember those?).  Of necessity then, I became the self-proclaimed queen of the "one pan wonder", and a quick and simple one pan meal is still my benchmark of the ideal mid-week dinner.

At I Heart Cooking Clubs this week, we're all about "weeknight favourites", cooking up Nigel Slater dishes that are perfect for those nights when you have neither the time nor the inclination to come up with anything other than something simple and fuss-free.

Leafing through "Tender, Vol I, A cook and his vegetable patch", a simple dish of gnocchi with spinach, cheese and cream looked promising.  It didn't hurt either that the recipe was titled "A filling, carb-rich supper for a winter's evening".  Seriously, how inviting does that sound, and let's face it, who of us doesn't like to load up on a few carbs on a chilly autumn evening?!  And, although I rarely go in for creamy pasta sauces, once in a while a serving of those aforementioned carbs smothered in cream and cheese is a delightful thing.

As is my usual bent, I did make a few minor changes to the recipe.  Firstly, I added some chorizo because, well ... if you're going to have all that pasta and cream and cheese, you might as well throw all calorie-counting caution to the wind and throw a bit of sausage into the mix.  I also simplified the cooking process a bit.  Nigel firstly has you pre-boil vacuum-packed gnocchi in one pan of water, and steam the spinach in another pan, then assemble all the ingredients and cook them in another dish.  I say "fiddle-dee-dee" to all of that - I was pretty confident I could do all of this in one pan, and I think I pulled it off.  Fear not, between a bit of time hanging out in a saute pan and then half an hour baking in the oven, with plenty of liquid, the gnocchi will cook perfectly well without needing to be boiled first.  I didn't have as much cream on hand as was called for in the recipe, but I did have some creme fraiche, so I changed things up a bit there.  Lastly, I used quite a bit less blue cheese than called for and found the amount that I used to be more than enough.  Nigel says, that this makes two servings.  Personally, I found that this was pretty rich and satisfying and with a bit of salad on the side this made three decent sized portions - and, honestly, I have a pretty voracious appetite, so if I say you can feed three out of this you can believe it.  I really do recommend a simple but fresh salad to go with this, as it will help to cut through the richness of all that cheese and cream.

This is definitely not the kind of dish I would eat on a regular basis, but, like an itch that needs to be scratched, every once in a while nothing less than something so decadent and deeply satisfying will do.

Gnocchi with Chorizo, Gorgonzola & Spinach recipe
Adapted from recipe by Nigel Slater
from Tender, Vol I
Serves 3
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
1x chorizo sausage - about 110g (4oz), thinly sliced
500g (1 lb) vacuum packed gnocchi (I use De Cecco)
200g (7 oz) creme fraiche
1/2 cup cream
150g (5 oz) baby spinach leaves
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
100g (3-1/2 oz) Gorgonzola (or blue cheese of your choice), crumbled
freshly grated Parmesan, plenty of

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

Heat olive oil in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium heat.  Add chorizo to the pan and saute until golden and beginning to crisp.  Add gnocchi to the pan, and saute until the gnocchi are coated in the oils released from the chorizo (there's loads of spices and flavour in that oil), and beginning to brown a little.  Add cream and creme fraiche to the pan, and stir until the creme fraiche is melted and bubbling.  Remove from heat, season with flaky sea salt (not too much as the blue cheese will be salty) and freshly black pepper, add spinach and stir until the spinach is evenly distributed and wilted.  Add Gorgonzola to the pan, and poke it into the crevices around the gnocchi.  Grate Parmesan cheese liberally over the top.

Place pan in the preheated oven and bake until bubbling and golden - about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater 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 ...

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

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum, and at Cook Your Books hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours.

                                 

The Best & Worst of the Internet and Gorgeously Green with Ottolenghi

As the title of this post suggests, this week I've experienced the very best and worst of what the internet has to offer.  I've been the victim of some unwanted and rather "creepy" attention - a sad reminder that not everyone out there uses the internet with the same decency and respect that you or I might.  However, I'm not going to dwell on that.  At the same time, I've been reminded just how much the internet in general, and the food blogging community in particular, can enrich our lives.

When I first started my blog, a little over four years ago, it was really to find an outlet for expressing my food and travel experiences, and a place to record the food that I love to share with family and friends, so that others may be able to share it too.  It never for one moment occurred to me that this would become an avenue for meeting some truly wonderful people and developing great friendships.

The very first time I arranged a meeting with a fellow blogger, it seemed a little strange.  The lovely Sasa and I had been visiting each other's blogs for a little while, and exchanged a few tweets.  When we both happened to be visiting family in Auckland at the same time we decided to meet for a coffee.  I have to say, I hadn't gone out to meet a complete stranger since the last time I'd gone on a blind date (most unsuccessfully I might add), almost 30 years earlier.  So I was nervous.  What would she be like?  Would we find plenty to talk about?  You know ... the usual stuff.  I needn't have worried.  From the instant we met there was never an awkward moment.  And what do two food bloggers meeting for the first time talk about?  Well, you might reasonably expect that it would be about food, right?  But no.  We talked about relationships, both past and present;  our families, and our relationships with them;  travel;  yoga;  studying and making a new start;  old jobs and old habits;  hopes for the future;  and so on.  In short, all the things that a couple of friends who'd known each other for years might talk about.

And so it has been with every food blogger that I have gone on to meet since.  I know now, without a shadow of a doubt, that a passion for food and generosity of spirit go hand in hand.  I know now that the common denominator in this food blogging community is not just the obvious love of good food - it's warmth, passion, kindness, compassion, generosity, a zest for life, humour, creativity, and so much more.

Through my love of all things Ottolenghi, which you're all by now very well aware of, I came across Beth Corman Lee's blog OMG! Yummy and, through her blog, discovered the wonderful Tasting Jerusalem community, hosted by Beth and her long-time friend Sarene Wallace.  From the outset, I was impressed not just with Beth's lovely food, but also her warmth and enthusiasm, her genuine excitement at discovering and experimenting with new ingredients as we cook together, and her very obvious hunger (pardon the tragic food pun) to learn more.

So, once I planned this trip to the Bay Area of San Francisco, and discovered that Beth lived nearby, I knew that I wanted to meet her.  And, despite her busy family life, and my fairly busy holiday schedule, we managed to connect this week and arrange to meet for lunch in Mountain View (the small city in Silicone Valley where I am staying).

The main street of Mountain View is a lovely tree-lined boulevard, with probably half a mile of side by side cafes (both sides of the street), covering just about every type of cuisine you can imagine.  I can tell you that the smells wafting up the street, come midday, are absolutely amazing.  So as you might expect, we agreed to meet outside a cafe, and then we strolled, eyeing up the many choices on offer.  It didn't take us long to discover a Mediterranean cafe called Ephesus, with predominantly Greek and Turkish influences, that looked promising.  When the menu revealed to us a number of dishes that, through our shared love of Ottolenghi's food, we had either tried or have on the "must try" list, we knew this was the place for us.

Of course, starting our meal with the hummus was a no-brainer, and discussion of its merits by comparison to those of Ottolenghi's naturally ensued.  On the recommendation of our waiter, Beth opted for The Alexander - a veritable mountain of shaved lamb and beef in a rich tomato sauce, served over chunks of bread, with a cooling pool of yoghurt on the side.  As soon as I noticed Maqluba on the menu, I couldn't not have it.  Maqluba is a layered savoury "cake" of tomatoes, aubergine, chicken, cauliflower, rice and spices, and I've had this one marked to try in my Jerusalem book since the day I bought it.  I loved the way at Ephesus they had made the dish in individual moulds, and now I can't wait to get home and try making this dish.

So, food aside, just as in the case of every other food blogger I've ever met, my conversation with Beth revolved around family, children, growing up, our travels - places we've been and places we hope to go, work history, our hopes for the future, and our time together ran out long before we ran out of things to talk about.  It was such a joy to meet Beth and lovely to make a new friend.

Speaking of Ottolenghi, at I Heart Cooking Clubs this week our theme is Gorgeously Green.  Now I've been cooking like a mad thing this week - lasagne, shepherds pie, fish and caper kebabs, Jamie Oliver's fantastic fish pie, a batch of Nigella's flourless chocolate brownies, a batch of chocolate caramel crispy cakes, a batch of these divine raw lemon & coconut truffles, and numerous big batches of roasted tomato pasta sauce - all to stock up the freezer for my daughter before I head back home to New Zealand.  But in terms of coming up with something gorgeously green to share with you this week, well I'm afraid I just dropped the ball and somehow it didn't happen.  To compensate, however, I thought I'd give you a little bit of a round-up of a few gorgeously green Ottolenghi dishes I've made and shared in the past.  Hope you find something you enjoy.

Baked Artichokes & Broad Beans:  This was one of the first Ottolenghi dishes I ever made, and still one of my favourites.  The use of artichokes and broad beans makes this a quintessentially spring dish, but with both vegetables being readily available jarred and frozen this is a great dish to bring a little bit of the lightness of spring to the table any time of the year.  Leftovers I found kept well for a couple of days.

Broccoli, Leek & Blue Cheese Pie:  This pie got rave revues in my house when I first made it - so much so that I was called upon to make it twice in one week.  It is both easy and economical to make, tastes great both hot and cold, and reheats well should you be lucky enough to have leftovers.  In actual fact the leek filling tastes so good that half of it usually doesn't even make it into the pie, and I imagine it could be used as a great accompaniment to some grilled or roasted chicken.

Fried Zucchini, Pea & Quinoa Salad:  This is one of those great recipes that you can play around with to suit what you have on hand.  Apart from the fried zucchini, which is really the hero of the dish, anything else goes.  In this instance I used peas instead of edamame, quinoa instead of pasta, and feta instead of buffalo mozzarella.  Get the picture?! 

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.

           

Sweet Potato Galettes

This has been a week of surprises.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sweet Potato Galettes Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook

Makes 4

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2x medium sweet potatoes

250g puff pastry (I used store bought)

1x free-range egg, lightly beaten

sour cream

grated zest of 1x lime

blue cheese, crumbled

walnuts, coarsely chopped

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

1 tablespoon olive oil

1x clove garlic, finely chopped

handful freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Serve warm or at room temperature.

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

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

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

         

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

Lentils with Cherries, Sausage & Gorgonzola and Cookbook Sundays # 29

Apart from roast chicken, which would probably be my "death row" meal (should I ever find myself in such a hapless position), my next favourite meal would probably be some kind of "big bowl" salad.  A salad which is substantial enough to constitute a main meal, be it warm or cold, will find favour with me any time of year.

Right now, when temperatures are plummeting, a warm, substantial, hearty salad is much more likely to find its way to my table than any kind of braise or casserole.  I often find inspiration for such dishes in one of my Heidi Swanson cookbooks (Super Natural Cooking: Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Ingredients and Super Natural Every Day: Well Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen), or one of my Ottolenghi cookbooks (Ottolenghi: The Cookbook and Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi).

So it was that leafing through Ottolenghi: The Cookbook the other day, I came across a recipe for puy lentils with sour cherries, bacon and Gorgonzola, which seemed to tick all the right boxes for me.  The book describes this dish as a starter, but I knew that it would easily be hearty enough for me for a main meal.  I made a few minor changes to the recipe to suit both what I had on hand and what was readily available.  Firstly, I didn't have any puy lentils in the house (and not easy to come by at my local supermarket either, for that matter), but I did have some green lentils which I knew would make a good substitute.  The recipe also called for dried sour cherries which are not available here, so I subbed in some tinned black cherries and left out the sugar called for in the recipe.  I also had some beautiful pork, spinach and pine nut sausages from a great little French butchery we have here in Nelson (Phillipe Butchery & Deli), which I knew would make a great alternative to the bacon.

Now this may sound like a really odd combination of ingredients, and it's probably not going to win any prizes in the looks department either, but somehow it really works.  The musky, earthiness of the lentils makes a great "backdrop" to the little "hits" of the tangy cherries, the porcine deliciousness of the sausage or bacon, and the salty Gorgonzola - for a vegetarian option, I think mushrooms would make a great alternative to the sausage.  The recipe suggests this will make a starter for 2 to 4 people - I found that this made a huge meal for me two days in a row (and, yes, it was just as good on the second day).

Lentils with Cherries, Sausage & Gorgonzola

Adapted from recipe from

Ottolenghi: The Cookbook

Serves 2 as a meal or 4 as a starter

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

125g (4.4 oz) green lentils

2 bay leaves

2 shallots, finely chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons water

1/2 of a 400g (14 oz) tin of black cherries, drained

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 pork sausages, casings removed and crumbled into small pieces

2 very generous handfuls baby spinach leaves

120g (4 oz) Gorgonzola

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil for serving

Put lentils into a sieve and run under cold water until the water runs clear.  Transfer the lentils to a medium saucepan, and add enough cold water to cover them by three times their depth.  Add bay leaves to the pan, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes - until lentils are cooked through, but still have a little bit of bite to them.

While lentils are cooking, make the sauce.  Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.  Add shallots to the pan and saute until golden.  Add the water, cherries and vinegar, and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes until you have a thickish sauce.  Remove from heat, taste, and season with salt and pepper.

Drain the cooked lentils and immediately add to the sauce.  Stir together so that the lentils can soak up all the flavour.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  You will need to add quite a lot of salt, but do keep in mind that the Gorgonzola you will be adding later is quite salty.  Set aside to cool.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a saute pan and fry the pieces of sausage until browned all over.  Remove to a paper towel to drain and cool.  Then add the sausage pieces and spinach leaves to the lentils and mix well.  Taste once more to see if you need to further adjust the seasoning.

Transfer to a serving platter, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, and strew chunks of Gorgonzola over the top.

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

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

 

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

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

The rules for joining in are simple:

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

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

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

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