Blue Cheese, Fig & Walnut Flatbread

Seven months after our lives were turned upside down by the Christchurch earthquake, we have finally settled into our own home in Nelson.  The last of the boxes (well, all bar two) have been unpacked;  the guest bedrooms have been painted in readiness for anyone who wants to come for a visit;  a new hot-water cylinder has been installed so that a decent shower is now a possibility; paintings have been hung;  and plans are underway for a new kitchen.

We are beginning to feel "at home" in our house and in this new community, and with that my inspiration to find my way back to the heart of my home - the kitchen - has returned.  I have unpacked all my cookbooks and spent hours pouring through them all, enjoying coming back to ones that I haven't opened for a long time, and I'm inspired by the abundance of beautiful fruit and vegetables and great small producers that I find at our local market.

This weekend I picked up some beautiful local cheeses and chorizo at the market, and was inspired by a recipe from Return of the Naked Chef, by Jamie Oliver, to make this Blue Cheese, Fig & Walnut Flatbread to accompany them.  Although it didn't quite start out that way - it was going to be a cheese, chilli and paprika flatbread, but when I went to the pantry looking for dried chillies and paprika, somehow dried figs and walnuts were what jumped into my hands.

This bread was easy to make, has great texture, keeps well, and the filling turns this into a great "stand alone" bread.  Hope you'll give it a try.

Blue Cheese, Fig & Walnut Flatbread Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Jamie Oliver

Return of the Naked Chef

(Makes 2 large loaves)

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the bread:

3 teaspoons dried yeast

1 tablespoon honey

625ml (1-1/4 pints) tepid water

1kg (2.2 lbs) high grade flour

2 teaspoons salt

extra flour for dusting

For the filling:

6 dried figs

200g (7 oz) blue cheese

1 cup walnuts

Dissolve yeast and honey in half of the tepid water, and set aside until a thick foam forms on top of the water.

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl, making a well in the centre.  Pour the frothy yeast mixture into the centre and then, using your hand, stir in a circular motion, gradually drawing more flour into the centre until all of the yeasty liquid has been absorbed.  Pour in the remaining tepid water and continue mixing until all the flour has been incorporated and you have a nice moist dough - use more liquid if necessary.

Dust a board or bench top with some extra flour, turn your dough ball out and knead vigorously for about 8 minutes. 

Flour your hands well, and sprinkle a little flour over the top of the dough.  Form into a ball and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.  Score the top of the dough with a sharp knife, cover with a clean tea towel, and set aside to prove until the dough has doubled in size.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling.  Soak the figs in a little hot water until soft and plump, then chop coarsely.  Toast the walnuts until golden;  chop coarsely.  Put the chopped figs and walnuts into a small bowl, crumble in the blue cheese, and mix together well.  Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F).

When the dough has doubled in size, punch the air out of it and knead again for a minute or so.  Cut the dough into four equal sized pieces.  Set three pieces aside and cover with a tea towel, while you work with the first piece.

Roll the first piece of dough out into something vaguely resembling a large oval shape, and about the length of your baking sheet.  Place the rolled out dough onto the lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle half of the fig, walnut and cheese mixture over the top, leaving a 2 cm (1 inch) border. 

Roll out the second piece of dough to roughly the same size and shape (you don't need to be too precise), and drape this piece of dough over the top.  Press the edges together.  Make three or four deep slashes down the length of the bread, and stretch to open up the slashes exposing the filling.

Now repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

Set loaves aside to prove for another 20-30 minutes, then bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

This would be a great addition to an antipasto platter, or tear into chunks and serve with your favourite soup.

I'm sharing this post at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where this week we have our final week of cooking with Jamie.  Do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up for our farewell to Jamie, and find out who we'll be cooking with for the next six months ....

.... and check out Jamies Italy and many of his other great titles, available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this post with Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory, Bake with Bizzy, and the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop hosted by April of The 21st Century Housewife.

Roasted Aubergine, Mango & Soba Noodle Salad

Sad to say that my posts have been a bit thin on the ground over the last week. Oh, I've been cooking plenty, but I have been trying to get used to a new camera and all of my photos so far have been diabolical, rendering any potential posts completely unblogworthy.

Perhaps I should go back a bit. A few months ago my neighbour, Alli of Pease Pudding and The Gourmet Gannet cooking school, organised a photography workshop with Sean Shadbolt for some enthusiastic Auckland bloggers. To a woman, we were all greatly inspired, no-one more so than I to discover that there was a good deal more to my little point and shoot camera than just turning it on and off. Talk about the scales falling from my eyes - all of a sudden a whole new world of possibility (albeit it still a rather confusing one) opened up before me. The terms aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance had previously meant nothing to me, and the notion that these were things that I could manipulate even on my point and shoot was a complete revelation.

Fast forward a little now. You know that I have just recently been overseas for several weeks, and having been smitten by the photography bug I decided, since I would be passing through Singapore on the way home, to invest in my first DSLR camera. So ever since I got back, I have been playing with this new toy - exploring it, and trying to get some understanding of what different settings will achieve. The results have not been flash. Until yesterday - I went out for a few hours with my camera, took a whole lot of photos, rushed home to download them, and actually felt reasonably happy with my results. They weren't fantastic photos, but I did feel as though a penny had dropped somewhere, and I could see and understand the outcome of different things I had done.

Buoyed up by my new-found confidence, I got cooking and photographing and these are the results. Not brilliant photos by any stretch of the imagination - there is such a long way to go. However, I can safely say that since I started my blog, just over two years ago (gosh, I actually just realised my blogoversary slipped by a couple of weeks ago) these are the first photos I have really felt happy with, and certainly the first photos that I haven't had to edit in anyway other than a tiny bit of cropping here or there.

As for the food, waiting for me when I returned from overseas was a nice stack of new cookbooks that I'd ordered before I went away. Amongst them, Plenty from Yottam Ottolenghi which I had been wanting for ages. As I leafed through the book, one of the first recipes that jumped out at me was Soba Noodles with Eggplant and Mango. I love soba noodles, and was intrigued by the combination of aubergine and mango. Whats more, it may be winter here but I would still rather eat some kind of salad any day of the week, than a stew or a casserole. Of course I don't mind a braised lamb shank or a really good osso bucco on a rare occasion, but in the main I am just not a stewy, casseroley kind of girl.

I loved this dish. Even though this is not a hot dish, the aubergine provides enough "meatiness" and substance to compensate. I love the lightness of soba noodles - there is nothing about them that weighs you down - and they are a great vehicle for carrying flavour. The mango is tangy and refreshing, and did indeed complement the aubergine beautifully. All of this is bathed in a bright, tangy dressing which hits all the right notes of sweetness and sharpness, with a little kick of chilli heat. I ate this as a meal on its own - it would be perfect for a light lunch, or would also be great as a starter to a larger meal. On that subject, a note about the quantities - the original recipe claimed to serve 6. Since I was making this only for myself, I halved the recipe (which in theory should therefore have served 3) and anticipated that I would have some leftover for the next day. As it turned out, I ate the lot! I didn't have anything else though - this was my dinner - and if I had been serving this as an appetiser I think it easily would have delivered 3 portions.

Roasted Aubergine, Mango & Soba Noodle Salad Recipe

Adapted from recipe in Plenty, by Yottam Ottolenghi

Vegetarian

Makes 3 appetisers, 2 light meals or 1 generous main

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Dressing:

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small hot red chilli, finely chopped

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 lime, grated zest & juice

1 medium aubergine, cut into 1cm (1/2 inch) cubes

sunflower oil (or other neutral-flavoured oil)

90g-100g (3 to 4 oz) soba noodles

1/2 large mango, flesh diced

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup coriander (cilantro), chopped

Begin by making the dressing: Put the rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt into a small saucepan, and heat gently for about a minute - just until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat, add the garlic, chilli and sesame oil, and then set aside to cool. Once the dressing has cooled completely add the freshly grated lime zest and juice.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F). Line a shallow baking dish with parchment paper and set aside. Cut the aubergine into cubes, add them to the paper lined baking dish, drizzle with oil, and toss well to coat.

Once the oven is hot, put the tray of aubergines into the oven, and bake until golden brown and cooked through - this will take about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. (Note the original recipe called for the aubergine to be fried, but why stand over a frying pan, when you can let the oven do all the work. I think baking them in the oven also uses less oil, which is not really a big deal to me, but it might be to you.)

Now onto the noodles. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, salt liberally. (Note: My packet of soba noodles stated that salting the water is not necessary, but I do it anyway, and I note that Yottam does too.) Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook until al dente - mine only took 4 minutes, but yours may take a minute or two longer depending on your brand of noodles. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse them well under cold running water. Shake well to remove as much of the water as possible, and then spread them out on a clean tea towel to dry.

Transfer the dry noodles to a large mixing bowl, add the dressing (you will probably only use about half of it), the aubergine, mango, onion, and two-thirds of the coriander. Toss together well.

At this point you can either serve the salad immediately, or allow it to stand for a couple of hours and let all the flavours infuse. If you do allow it to stand, you will probably want to add some of the leftover dressing before you serve it. Pile it up onto a platter, sprinkle over the remaining coriander, and serve.

I hope you'll give this one a try - it's definitely on my repeat list.

I am sharing this post at Presto Pasta Nights which will next week be hosted by Debbi Does Dinner ...

I am also sharing this at Let's Do Brunch hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savoury.

Also this post is entered in the July Culinary Smackdown. The challenge this month has been laid down by Eggplant To Go, and the theme ingredient is .... eggplant.

Pasta e Ceci

Sadly the sun has definitely set on my Greek island holiday where, as you know, I have been doing a 5-week yoga retreat with my teachers, Graeme and Leonie Northfield.

From past experience, I have found Graeme and Leonie's workshops to be deeply profound on many levels, and this year was no exception.  For me this was a much needed time of letting go, after all the stresses of the Christchurch earthquakes and their aftermath, and I am enormously grateful to Graeme and Leonie for having allowed the space and the support for me to find a way in my practice to both honour and overcome what I have been through.  I have come home with the inspiration to take a more joyful and compassionate approach to my practice, letting go of much of the judgement that has always "dogged" my practice up until now;  a new-found gratitude for what I can do, rather than harsh judgement of what I can't.  It was wonderful to come together again with special friends made at previous workshops, and to make some new friends too.  The bond which seems to develop between people practising together in this intense way is unlike any other.  Off the mat also, the retreat did not disappoint. We enjoyed glorious, sun-filled days (not a single drop of rain in six weeks), mornings at the beach after practice, leisurely breakfasts, mid-day trips to town for coffee and a bit of shopping (which may or may not have included pastries), afternoon siestas, and long dinners at the local tavernas.  We even managed to take in a cooking class, which was one of the real highlights of the trip for me, and which I will tell you more about in another post.

And now I have returned to wet and wild here on the Auckland west coast.  Day after day the coast has been lashed by fierce winds, bringing with it huge surf.  Even in normal conditions the sea here can be treacherous, but right now we are witnessing mother nature at full force.  Then at night come the electrical storms.

It is of course all very spectacular, and although it has its own dramatic beauty which I love, there is no doubt that being thrust into the midst of wintery storms after weeks of endless 30 degree C days is a bit of a shock to the system.  Crisp, fresh salads and summer fruit have had to move over in favour of more warming food such as soups and pasta dishes, and yet I still want to cling to some of that lightness of summer foods - my body is not quite ready to plunge into heavy stews and casseroles just yet.  In a recent issue of Jamie Magazine, The Italian Issue I came across this recipe for Pasta e Ceci, which seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  The pasta and chickpeas provide just enough substance to provide comfort and warmth;  spinach, herbs and lemon add lightness and brightness to the dish;  and the accompanying mixture of creme fraiche, garlic and paprika adds some extra warmth and creaminess without a trace of heaviness.  Actually in the original recipe Jamie uses a mixture of yoghurt and harissa, but since I didn't happen to have either of those on hand I used a little creative license.

I'm sharing this recipe with my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue to cook with Jamie Oliver.  This weeks theme is Pot Luck, and I think such a dish would be a great contribution to a pot luck dinner anytime of year.

Pasta e Ceci Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Jamie Oliver

Jamie Magazine, The Italian Issue (March/April 2011)

Vegetarian

Makes 3 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g pasta shapes (I used strozzapreti)

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp fresh mint, coarsely chopped

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon, grated zest and juice

4 generous handfuls of baby spinach leaves

200g creme fraiche

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon smoky paprika

Bring a large pan of water to the boil over high heat, salt the water liberally, then add the pasta to the water and cook until almost al dente.

Meanwhile, put the chickpeas into a bowl.  Add the chopped mint, salt, pepper, olive oil, grated zest and juice of the lemon.  Toss well to combine.

Add the spinach to the bowl of chickpeas and toss together.

When the pasta is almost, but not quite al dente, remove it from the heat, and reserve about one cup of the pasta water.  Drain the pasta and then return it to the pan, adding in the mixture of spinach and chickpeas.

Place the pan over medium heat, add the reserved cooking water, and cook until the pasta is fully cooked through and the spinach has wilted.

Remove from the heat, add a little more olive oil, and taste, adding more lemon juice, salt or pepper as necessary.

In a separate bowl mix together the creme fraiche, garlic and paprika and serve alongside the pasta.

I really enjoyed this dish, in fact I ate it three nights in a row - it is certainly not a heavy dish, so could easily be enjoyed anytime of year, and if you're after quick and easy it doesn't get much better than this.

Interested in getting to know Jamie a bit better?  Then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all been cooking up ....

.... or check out Jamie's Italy and many of his other great titles, available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I am also sharing this post at Magazine Mondays (hosted by Cream Puffs in Venice) and at Presto Pasta Nights (which will this week be hosted by Tandy of Lavender and Lime).

          

Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Pink Grapefruit & Pumpkin

I've been meaning to share this salad with you for a couple of weeks now.  This is one that I pulled together from some fridge remains before I left to come away on my trip, inspired by a recipe from Maggie's Kitchen, by Maggie Beer.  Maggie is one of my favourite chefs - I love her down to earth approach to using seasonal, fresh ingredients, putting them together in ways which are sometimes surprising, and presenting them in a simple, no-fuss way.  This salad is a great example of that - the original recipe called for a combination of beetroot, blood oranges and pumpkin, together with witloof and watercress.  I was really intrigued by this combination and had the recipe bookmarked for making when blood orange season comes around, and that I will do, but in the meantime I had some beetroot, pink grapefruit, pumpkin, rocket and goats cheese to use up and so this salad was born - thanks for the inspiration, Maggie.  Maggie's original recipe called for boiling the beetroot, as opposed to roasting them as I've done, and she also serves the salad with a scattering of crispy sage leaves over the top, which I didn't have.  You can find Maggie's original recipe here.

Salad of Roasted Beetroot, Pink Grapefruit and Pumpkin Recipe

Inspired by a recipe from Maggie's Kitchen, by Maggie Beer

Serves 2 as a light meal, or 4 as a side dish

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4 small beetroot, washed, dried & cut into quarters

pumpkin (approx 1/4 of a pumpkin), peeled & cut into wedges

olive oil

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 large pink grapefruit

a couple of generous handfuls of rocket (arugula)

goat's cheese feta, about 150g, cut into cubes

Dressing:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1-1/2 teaspoons maple syrup

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).  Place the beetroot quarters and pumpkin wedges into a roasting pan, drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle over flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Toss everything to coat well, and put into the hot oven for about 20-25 minutes.

After this time, check the vegetables - the pumpkin should be cooked through and coloured, but still firm.  The beetroot may, however, need a little more cooking.  If so remove the pumpkin, set it aside, and return the beetroot to the oven until fork tender - maybe another 10-15 minutes.  Once all the vegetables are cooked, put them into a large bowl.

Remove the skin and all the white pith from the pink grapefruit.  Then, working over the bowl containing the vegetables and using a sharp knife, cut down in between the membranes to remove the segments of grapefruit flesh.  Let each segment drop into the bowl as you work, and then once all segments have been removed, squeeze the remaining membrane over the bowl to extract any juice.

Add the rocket leaves to the bowl.

Make the dressing by combining all of the dressing ingredients in a small screw-top jar.  Shake vigorously until everything is well combined, then taste and adjust any seasoning as necessary.

Pour enough dressing over the salad to just coat everything.  Toss well to combine, and then put everything onto a large serving platter.  Scatter the cubes of goat's cheese over the top and serve.

This is a great autumn salad, best served slightly warm or at room temperature. The earthiness of the roasted beetroot, combines well with the pumpkin, and the peppery rocket, citrusy tang of the grapefruit, and sharp saltiness of the feta compliment the vegetables well.  The inclusion of the feta helps also I think to make this a complete meal.

I am sharing this post with Cookbook Sundays over at Mom's Sunday Cafe - maybe you'll feel inspired to get one of your cookbooks down off the shelves and get cooking!

I'm also sharing this post at Food on Friday:Beetroot hosted by Carole at Carole's Chatter.

Paros Potatoes

Today marked the end of week one of this yoga retreat, and although we have begun by easing ourselves into things very gently, by the end of this morning’s practice we were all feeling ready to embrace the forthcoming rest day tomorrow.  Especially after Graeme’s special workout that he put us through yesterday afternoon - a routine which he has devised to help students develop the strength and fitness which will, in the long run, make our asana practice more effortless - at least that’s the theory anyway.

Of course, such hard work must always be balanced by a certain amount of fun and relaxation, so last night we had our weekly pot luck dinner.  A wonderful variety of dishes appeared, including:  a beautiful mixed salad, zucchini fritters, a torn bread salad (with caramelised onions, garlic and prosciutto), lentils, beetroot in a yoghurt sauce with toasted walnuts, hummus, rice with mushrooms and asparagus, and chicken cooked in a coconut milk and banana curry.  Needless to say, we had beautiful local Paros wines to wash it all down with, and for dessert we had big bowls of fresh apricots and cherries, as well as chocolate-dipped strawberries and Greek pastries.  For my own contribution to this feast I made a big bowl of these crispy paprika salted potatoes - so simple, it is a stretch to really call this a recipe;  however, they were such a huge success that I thought it would be rude not to share them with you as well.

I discovered in the local supermarket the other day this wonderful tin of paprika salt.  Now I would not ordinarily buy something like this - after all it doesn’t take much to mix a bit of salt and paprika together to make your own - but as soon as I lifted the lid of the tin to inspect, I was so captivated by the smell and the colour that I just couldn’t resist.  Besides, this is my idea of the perfect “souvenir” to take home as a reminder, for months to come, of this holiday.

Paros Potatoes Recipe

(Quantities here are not critical, this recipe is really just a guideline)

potatoes (Agria, if you can get them, are best)

olive oil (Greek, if you can get it)

paprika salt (or coarse sea salt and smoky paprika)

dried oregano

freshly ground black pepper

Peel potatoes, and cut into largish dice - about 2.5cm (1 inch).  Put potatoes into a pot and cover with cold salted water.  Set the pan over high heat and bring to the boil.  Boil for about 5 minutes - by this stage the potatoes should be just barely fork tender - not cooked through, but just starting to yield when poked with a fork.

Remove pan from the heat, drain potatoes into a colander or sieve, and shake really well to “rough” the potatoes up.  Set aside for half an hour or so to allow the potatoes to dry completely.

Pour olive oil into a large skillet - enough to completely cover the base of the pan to a depth of about .5cm (1/4 inch) - and set the skillet over high heat.  Once the oil is hot (test by carefully dipping a piece of potato into the oil - if it immediately starts to sizzle it is ready) add potatoes to the pan in a single layer.  You may have to cook them in several batches if you are doing a lot of potatoes.  As soon as you have added the potatoes to the pan, sprinkle over a little of the paprika salt (coarse sea salt and smoky paprika) and dried oregano.  Turn the potatoes over in the hot oil from time to time (depending on your element you may need to turn the heat down a little) and cook until they are golden brown all over, cooked through, and crispy on the outside.

Remove to a paper towel to drain, sprinkle again liberally with the paprika salt, dried oregano and freshly ground black pepper.  Keep warm while you cook the remaining batches.

Once all your potatoes are cooked, put them in a large serving bowl, toss them well to make sure all the potatoes are well coated with the spices.

Serve immediately and try not to be overwhelmed by the sighs of satisfaction from your guests.  One word of advice - bring these to the table last, for I can tell you this - the minute you put these on the table someone will not be able to resist sneaking one, and before you know it the bowl will be empty before you even finish bringing the rest of the dishes to the table.  As you will have already devoured several of these in the privacy of your kitchen as you’ve cooked, you should not be surprised by this!!