Finnish Mustard

 

Of necessity, this post is going to be brief.  Firstly, it's Christmas Eve, and right now I feel more inclined towards settling down with a nice glass of wine than I do towards writing a lengthy blog post.  Secondly, at the risk of repeating myself, it's Christmas Eve, and I'm fairly sure that right now you too feel more disposed to relaxing over a festive tipple than you do towards reading a lengthy post from me.  So brief it shall be.

I am sharing this post at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we continue to cook with the delightful Tessa Kiros, our theme for this week being Holiday Goodies.  Great theme, since I still had a few little treats that I wanted to make to give to friends, but I wanted to come up with something other than all the tooth-aching sweetness that abounds on the net right now.  Don't know about you, but even though I've been managing to avoid the consumption of cookies, cakes, fudge and bucket loads of chocolate, just the sight of so much of it everywhere I look has started to give me that "over-indulged" feeling.  I was looking for something more savory, and when I stumbled upon Tessa's recipe for Finnish Mustard in her wonderful book, Falling Cloudberries, I knew I'd found just the thing.  This would be the perfect gift for friends who almost certainly have enough chocolate already, as well as a great item to keep in my fridge for slathering on those endless summer sandwiches.

This was a breeze to make, has a generous amount of heat, softened with a nice bit of sweetness, and would make a nice accompaniment to all manner of cold meats.  I can imagine it also going well in dressings, or slathered on some nice ciabatta bread with some char-grilled vegetables.

I did make a couple of minor changes to the recipe.  The first change was intentional - I used rice wine vinegar, because I wanted to make it gluten-free, but use any vinegar that you like.  The other change was really accidental - the original recipe called for the inclusion of a tablespoon of olive oil, but I forgot it.    Now, I don't know what difference the olive oil would have made - it seems perfectly fine without it, and in fact I didn't even realise I'd omitted it until I started to prepare this post.  But if you feel so inclined, go right ahead and put it back in.

Hope you'll give this a try.  As a gift I think it makes a nice change from all the sweet stuff going around, which seems guaranteed to make your gift all the more memorable.

Finnish Mustard Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Vegetarian, Gluten Free

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1/3 cup mustard powder

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cream

1 tablespoon olive oil 

(I omitted this, but feel free to include it)

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 

(or vinegar of your choice)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Put the mustard powder, sugar and salt into a small saucepan, and mash with a wooden spoon to get rid of all the lumps.  Now add the cream, oil (if using), vinegar and lemon juice, and set the pan over low heat.  Stir continuously until it comes to a boil.  Then cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until it has darkened and thickened - it will look like caramel.

Remove from heat, and give it a stir from time to time as it cools down.  Pour into glass jars.  Will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

And my tip for getting that last little bit of mustard out of the jar ... when you get down to those last traces of mustard sticking around the corners and sides of the jar, add 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, generous pinch salt, and 1 teaspoon maple syrup to the jar, shake vigorously, and hey presto - vinaigrette and no wasted mustard.

If you would like to get to know Tessa 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 Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

Lastly, in case you're wondering, Cookbook Sundays will be up and running this week as usual, but will just be a day late.

"End of Spring" Ministrone with Rocket, Spinach & Walnut Pesto and Cookbook Sundays # 2

It's been a funny old week.  It may be the start of summer here but, with torrential rain and heavy flooding in many parts of Nelson, it's felt rather more like winter.  Many families in our city had to be evacuated from their homes, either because of flooding or because of danger from hillside slips.  Thankfully, we live high enough on a hill to escape flooding and were lucky enough not to be subjected to any slips either.  A special thanks also to so many of you for your kind thoughts and concerns for my safety - your thoughtfulness never ceases to warm my heart and is a constant reminder of the joys of belonging to this food blogging "family".

So, after all that rain something warming, nourishing and comforting seemed to be called for, but at the same time I wasn't wanting anything too heavy.  When I came across this recipe for Spring Ministrone in Super Natural Cooking (one of my favourite cookbooks) by Heidi Swanson it seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  I also knew that this would be perfect for my contribution this week to Cookbook Sundays (read more about that at the end of this post).

For this soup brown rice is cooked in a light vegetable broth, with spring vegetables (I used asparagus, zucchini, and peas) added right at the end, so that the vegetables are still bright green and crispy.  I made a pesto from some spinach and rocket (arugula) I'd harvested from my garden, and topped the soup with a generous dollop of that, along with some freshly grated lemon zest and shaved pecorino cheese.

I know that there are amongst you those who love soup and could eat it (or should that be drink it) just about every day of the week.  I am not such a person.  I don't mind a bowl of soup now and again, but you know maybe 6-8 bowls of soup in the whole year is probably about my fix.  It is not something I would ever order in a restaurant, unless of course it's an Asian restaurant of some sort, in which case there is a very strong possibility that I would order the noodle or wonton soup.  This doesn't count as one of the 6-8 bowls of soup previously mentioned, as I think of this as noodles, not soup - those are the rules!  My other soup rule is that I almost never have soup in summer.

Now, I've got to say this .... this soup just broke all of my soup rules.  This is quite possibly the best soup I've ever tasted - at least, the best one that I've ever made, and you know what?  This soup is definitely going to have me exceeding my annual soup quota - in fact there is a good chance I'll exceed that before the week is out.  This is a soup that I could really eat every single day - of course, things like asparagus and fresh peas won't be around for much longer, but I will be making the most of it while they're still here.

The nuttiness and chewiness of the brown rice gives that little bit of "comfort factor" and enough substance to be able to make a meal out of this.  The crisp, green vegetables provide a lovely textural balance to the rice, while the hit of fresh lemon and fragrant pesto keeps the spring-like freshness in this dish.

Of course, you could swap out the vegetables I used with all sorts of other alternatives:  green beans, snow peas, broad beans, artichoke hearts, edamame, cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy.  Just keep it green would be my mantra here - save the carrots, pumpkin, corn, etc, for something else.  I urge you to try it - I know you won't be disappointed.

"End of Spring" Ministrone with Rocket, Spinach & Walnut Pesto

Adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson from

Super Natural Cooking

Makes 4 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Vegetarian

For the soup:

2x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2x shallots, thinly sliced

1x garlic clove, minced

1x cup brown rice, rinsed

6x cups vegetable stock

2x zucchini, thinly sliced

8x asparagus spears, cut on the diagonal into 2.5 cm (1 in) lengths

1x cup freshly shelled green peas (frozen is fine too)

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the pesto:

3x large handfuls of rocket (arugula) & spinach leaves

1x large handful of toasted walnut pieces

2x cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

flaky sea salt

To serve:

freshly grated zest of 1x lemon

pecorino cheese, freshly shaved

Begin with the soup.  Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the shallots and garlic to the pan, and saute for a couple of minutes until the shallots have softened and the garlic is fragrant.  Add the rice, and cook for a minute, stirring constantly until every grain of rice is coated in the oil.  Now add the stock to the pan, bring up to the boil, then cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 to 45 minutes until the rice is tender.

Meanwhile make the pesto.  Put the walnuts, rocket, spinach, garlic and salt into a food processor and pulse until the leaves and nuts start to break down. Then leaving the motor running, begin to add the oil in a steady stream until you have a smooth paste. Remove to a bowl, stir in the grated pecorino, taste and add a little more salt if necessary. Set aside.

Now back to the soup.  Once the rice is tender, add the vegetables and season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Simmer for just 2 or 3 minutes, so that the vegetables are still bright green and crisp, add freshly grated lemon zest, and serve immediately.

Ladle into bowls, add some fresh shavings of pecorino cheese to each bowl, and top each with a generous dollop of the pesto.

 

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, 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. 

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.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

I'm also sharing this post at Souper Sundays, hosted by the lovely Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, at My Meatless Mondays, hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savory; and at See Ya in the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

Chicken with Coriander & Spinach Rice

It's a rare thing for me to be lost for words, but right now lost for words I am.  You see, I made this dish way back in October for one of the I Heart Cooking Clubs cooking with Tessa Kiros challenges - may have been the "peasant food" week, don't exactly remember.  Sadly, the week came and went, and I just didn't get a chance to get my post done.  Never mind, I thought, there will be another challenge that I can use it for.  Other suitable occasions came and went, and still it didn't get posted.  Well this week is our Pot Luck week, and I can keep it from you no more.

After all this time, however, what can I tell you about this dish?  Well, I remember enjoying this dish a lot and the other half did too.  I recall that by the time I dished up dinner it was too dark for a photo, so I set a portion aside (the one you see in the picture above) to take a photo the next day.  And I also recall said other half being rightly miffed that he wasn't allowed seconds because this portion had to be saved for the photo.  Such are the joys of living with a food blogger - he keeps threatening to write his own blog about that very subject!  I even marked it in the book (Falling Cloudberries) as being a favourite and one that I would make again.

But, two months later, the subtleties, the various nuances of the dish that I might ordinarily want to share with you are forgotten.  So I can only tell you this - it was a great family style dish, and one that could easily be multiplied to feed a crowd;  I know you will enjoy it and I hope you give it a try.

 

Chicken with Coriander & Spinach Rice

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Makes 3 generous servings
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

small bunch coriander

100g (3.5 oz) baby spinach leaves

1/2 cup water

olive oil

1kg (2.2 lb) bone-in chicken thighs

2x garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/2 red pepper, deseeded and diced

1x red chilli, finely sliced (deseeding optional)

1-1/2 cups short grain rice

1/4 cup frozen peas

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Spiced Yoghurt:

1 cup plain Greek-style yoghurt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons olive oil

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Begin by making the spiced yoghurt - simply mix all of the ingredients together and set aside until you are ready to serve.

Pick the coriander leaves from the stems and put into a small food processor with the spinach leaves and water.  Blitz into a puree and set aside.

Heat olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) in a large, heavy-based frypan over medium heat.  Add the chicken, and fry until golden brown and crispy all over.  Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan if necessary.  Add the garlic, and as soon as it becomes fragrant add the carrot, red pepper and chilli.  Saute for several minutes until the vegetables have softened.

Add the coriander and spinach puree to the pan and cook for two minutes before returning the chicken to the pan.  Season generously with flaky sea salt and pepper.

Saute for another couple of minutes and then add 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes allowing the chicken to cook through and absorb all the flavours.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside, keeping it warm.  Add the rice to the pan, and add enough hot water to cover the rice by about 3cm (1-1/4 inches).  Cook, uncovered, until the rice looks as though it has absorbed most of the water (5-10 minutes).  Add the peas.  Turn heat down as low as it can go;  cover;  and, stirring just once or twice to prevent sticking, cook for around 15 minutes, until the rice is cooked.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Put the rice onto a large serving platter, arranging the chicken pieces over the top.  Drizzle some of the spiced yoghurt over the top, or serve in a separate bowl allowing each person to add their own.

If you would like to get to know Tessa 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 Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this post at Cookbook Sundays, See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace, and Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage.

Chocolate, Almond & Damson Slab, and Cookbook Sundays # 1

 

I'm very excited that today is my first day for hosting Cookbook Sundays (keep reading for more details), so something a little bit indulgent and celebratory to share with you seemed to be in order.  This sweet treat makes the perfect ending to a meal with a coffee or a "sticky", or a lovely handmade festive gift for a special friend.

This recipe comes from "Maggie's Kitchen" by Maggie Beer, but I do confess to having made a bit of a departure from the original recipe which called for the inclusion of prunes soaked in sherry.  You might have seen this post back in February when I made, amongst other things, Damson Gin.  Well, a couple of weeks ago I decided that said Damson Gin would be ready for drinking.  I strained the liquor off into a bottle, but was then left with the gin-soaked damsons themselves.  After sampling a couple of them, I decided that they were far too good to discard.  So they've been sitting in a jar in my fridge waiting for some inspiration, and as soon as I stumbled on this recipe I knew I'd found just the right thing.

 

The damsons, after sitting in alcohol for 10 months impart an almond flavour and fragrance, which I thought would complement nicely the almonds in the slab.  It did occur to me however that I could be setting you all up for cyanide poisoning, but after eating quite a lot of the gin-soaked damsons this afternoon I can tell you that I have come to absolutely no harm - did get a bit tipsy though - just saying! And, of course, it was purely in the interests of public safety - such are the lengths I will go to in order to ensure your well-being.

This was a doddle to make, even in a slightly inebriated state, with the hardest part being waiting the hour for the chocolate to set.  Now, I know not everyone has boozy damsons hanging around the place, so I will give you the directions for the prunes as well.

Chocolate, Almond & Damson Slab

Adapted from a recipe by Maggie Beer

in Maggie's Kitchen

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

100g (3.5 oz) pitted gin-soaked damsons (see notes below for alternative)

(just pull the damsons apart with your fingers until you have 100g of flesh -

they will easily come away from the stones)
100g (3.5 oz) blanched almonds

200g (7 oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

(I used Whittakers Dark Ghana)

1/3 cup cream

20g (.7 oz) butter

Note:  if you don't have the damsons, you will need 100g of pitted prunes and 50ml (1.7 fl oz) of sweet sherry

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).

Spread the almonds in a single layer on a baking tray and roast in the pre-heated oven until they are golden brown - approximately 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven, cool and then chop roughly.

Note:  If using prunes, soak them in the sherry until they have soaked up all the liquid, then chop roughly.

Chop the chocolate roughly, and put into a heatproof bowl with the cream and butter.  Set the bowl over a gently simmering pan of water, stirring occasionally, until melted and glossy.

Add the damsons (or prunes) and almonds to the melted chocolate mixture, and stir to combine.

Pour the mixture onto a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.  Spread evenly into a slab, and refrigerate until set - about 1 hour.

 

Once set, break into pieces and serve with coffee or dessert wine.  I served mine with damson gin - what else?!  Store in a cool, dark place (not the refrigerator) in a sealed, airtight container.

 

Now, at the start of this post I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, 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:  your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from, and your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  That's it really.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.  You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  And remember, 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. 

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.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a> 

 

I am also sharing this post with Sweet New Zealand, a monthly blog event created by the very lovely Alessandra Zecchini, and which this month is hosted by the equally lovely and incredibly talented Bron Marshall. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen.  So, head on over to Bron's and share something sweet.

Stuffed Aubergines

 

When I first started cooking for my partner, there were a lot of things he wouldn't eat.  "Doesn't sound like something I'd want to eat" was an expression he used frequently when I made a variety of dinner suggestions.  However, I'm not stupid.  Two of his favourite things happen to be broccoli and chicken, and it didn't take me long to work out that if I worked either of those two ingredients into a dish, I could also manage to sneak in a couple of other ingredients that he might ordinarily have shunned.

And so it was, that over time, I have managed to get him eating aubergine.  Now I wouldn't go so far as to say that he loves them, and he would probably balk at an "aubergine as hero" kind of meal (such as the Aubergine & Lemon Risotto I posted a few days ago), but as an ingredient in a number of dishes he quite enjoys it.

Thumbing recently through my copy of Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros for one of our I Heart Cooking Clubs challenges, I came across her recipe for stuffed aubergine.  Now I would have quite liked to try a vegetarian interpretation of this, perhaps filling them with rice or perhaps some mushrooms, and that is something I will definitely try on another occasion.  But I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I was going to make this dish fly around here it would have to have the meat filling.  So, "what's for dinner tonight?" he asked me, and I've got to tell you he looked positively stricken when I said "stuffed aubergines".  Clearly a leap too far.  "They're stuffed with mince, and feta, and pecorino cheese, and flavoured with garlic and that smoky paprika that you like", I said.  He looked highly relieved by that and agreed to give them a try, but I could tell that he was nervous about it because several times during the day he asked me "remind me what's in those aubergines again?"

Well moment of truth arrived when the dish was served.  He approached the dish somewhat sceptically, though admitted that it looked pretty good.  A nervous mouthful was taken, and then lo and behold the first serving was scarfed down in no time flat, and seconds were requested.  What's more, there was a bit of filling left over that didn't fit into the aubergine shells, which he asked to have for his lunch the next day.  Now that's what I call progress.

I actually made this for an I Heart Cooking Clubs challenge a few weeks ago, and didn't get around to posting it.  However, while we continue to cook with Tessa Kiros, our theme this week is "A Study in Scarlet", challenging us to come up with red or scarlet-hued food.  This seems to fit the bill perfectly, so I'm thrilled to get this post out of draft.  What's more, it's summer here in New Zealand, and whilst we might normally associate summer with lots of leafy green salads, this dish is so reminiscent of dishes I ate in Greece earlier in the year that it will always be a quintessentially summer dish to me.

This is great hot out of the oven, but is also great served at room temperature.  I urge you to try it.

 

Stuffed Aubergines

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Serves 2 greedy people for a substantial meal

or 4 people for a light meal

or 8 people as an appetiser

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4 small, long aubergines

olive oil for brushing

Tomato Sauce:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

3 cups tomato passata

1 cup water

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Filling:

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

1 teaspoon smoky paprika

400g (1 lb) minced beef

3/4 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

150g (5-1/2 oz) feta, diced or crumbled

generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

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

Begin by making the tomato sauce.  In a medium saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the minced garlic clove, and as soon as it begins to release its fragrance add the tomato passata and water to the pan.  Season generously with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove the stalks from each of the aubergines and cut them in half lengthwise.  Using a spoon, scoop the flesh out of each aubergine half, to give you a boat-shaped shell.  Chop the flesh that you've just scooped out into smallish dice and set aside.  Now liberally brush the "boats", inside and out, with olive oil.  Place on a shallow baking dish, lined with parchment paper, and put into the preheated oven.  Bake until golden brown and softened but still holding their shape.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the aubergine shells are baking, make the filling.  Heat the olive oil and the minced garlic in a large non-stick saute pan set over medium heat.  As soon as the garlic becomes fragrant, add the diced aubergine flesh, celery, and paprika.  Saute until softened and pale golden brown.  Now add the minced beef and cook for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned, stirring from time to time with a wooden spatula and breaking up any clumps of meat.  Season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Stir in 1 cup of the tomato sauce and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.  Stir in the pecorino cheese, feta and flat leaf parsley.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Using a baking dish that is just big enough to fit the aubergine shells quite snugly in a single layer, ladle enough tomato sauce into the baking dish to cover the base to a depth of about 2 cm (3/4 inch).  Fill each of the aubergine shells with the meat mixture.  Pat it in quite well with your hands, but take care not to make it too compact.  Place the filled aubergines on top of the tomato sauce, and drizzle with a little more tomato sauce over the top.

Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and and a golden crust has formed in places.  Remove from the oven and cool slightly before serving.

Serve with a fresh green salad, and some crusty bread.

If you would like to get to know Tessa 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 Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this post at Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage.

Lastly, a reminder that the all new Cookbook Sundays begins here this coming Sunday 11 December.  So dust off those cookbooks and come and join the fun.

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?!

I was very excited then, when a little over a year ago, I discovered the Cookbook Sundays event over at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen.  Brenda is adorable, and like many of us she has a stack of cookbooks on her shelves doing little more than growing cobwebs.  So she began the Cookbook Sundays event to get herself, and others, cooking out of those books that just never seem to get used.  I used to really enjoy participating in this event, and it certainly did encourage me to use my cookbooks more.

More recently the event moved to Mom's Sunday Cafe, where it has been hosted by Melynda (quite simply one of the sweetest bloggers ever, and self confessed custodian of 329 cookbooks).  As I was preparing my post on the weekend, I went over to Melynda's blog to get the links for entering my post only to discover, sadly, that she had decided to discontinue the event.

Long story cut short, I emailed Melynda and asked if she would mind if I kept the event going and hosted it on my blog.  Not only did she agree but, in her inimitably generous way, within hours she had put up a post on her blog letting readers know the event was moving to my blog - thanks Melynda, you're a star!

There you have it - beginning this weekend, Cookbook Sundays will be taking up residence here at Couscous & Consciousness.  This will be a weekly event, and entries will be open for the whole week.  Joining in every week is by no means compulsory - just join in whenever you feel like it.  There are no complicated rules for joining in.  Simply, your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from, and your post must link back to and mention the current week's Cookbook Sunday post.  That's it really.  Including the Cookbook Sunday badge is optional, but always appreciated.  You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.

 So, what are you waiting for - go and dust off a cookbook or two and come back Sunday.

Aubergine & Lemon Risotto

Oh, hello blog - remember me?!  Sad to say, that while I have been busying myself over the last few weeks with major kitchen renovations and the opening of my new yoga school, my poor blog has been suffering from extreme neglect.  Although I have in that time managed to cook several dishes that I want to share with you, actually getting that translated into posts just doesn't seem to have happened.  Time to rectify that!

I am mad for aubergine at the best of times, and I've really been using it a lot lately - grilled on the barbeque, stuffed (post coming soon I promise), in moussaka, and in salads.  One of my favourites has been this aubergine and lemon risotto, unsurprisingly from one of my favourite cookbooks Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi.  The lemon complements the aubergine perfectly, and adds that note of brightness and freshness that transforms this from the wintery comfort food role with which we normally associate risotto into a lighter more summery dish.

Now, since I'm anxious that this post shouldn't spend yet another month languishing in draft, I'm getting straight onto sharing the recipe with you without any further preamble.

 

Aubergine & Lemon Risotto Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi from

Plenty

Makes 3 generous servings

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2 medium aubergine

olive oil

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 generous handfuls arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

3 to 4 cups vegetable stock, hot

1 large lemon, grated zest & juice

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup mascarpone

1/2 cup Parmesan, freshly grated

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

generous handful fresh basil leaves, shredded

Using a sharp knife, pierce the skin of one of the aubergine in several places.  Place on a foil-lined baking tray, and put into the oven under a hot grill until the skin has blackened and the flesh appears to have collapsed and deflated.  Keep an eye on it, turning the aubergine over several times;  it will take between 30 minutes and 1 hour.  Remove from the oven.  Once the aubergine is cool enough to handle, make a lengthwise cut through the skin;  scoop out the flesh, chop it roughly and discard the skin.  Set aside.

Return your oven to its regular baking function, and heat to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F).

Cut the other 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 to cool.

Set a heavy based pan over medium heat, and add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the shallot and garlic to the pan - cooking until the shallot and garlic just begin to soften - take care not to burn the garlic - almost as soon as you can smell the garlic it is time to add the rice to the pan.  Continue cooking the rice with the shallot and garlic, stirring constantly, until every single grain of rice is coated with the oil - it will take on a kind of translucent look around the edges and will start to "squeak".

Now is the time to add the wine, and continue stirring until virtually all the wine has been absorbed by the rice.  Then begin to add the stock, one ladleful at a time - stirring constantly until each ladleful has been absorbed before adding the next. The rice will swell up considerably as it absorbs the stock, and once the rice is cooked through, remove the pan from the heat.

Add half of the grated lemon zest, the lemon juice, the soft flesh that you scooped out of the blackened aubergine, butter, mascarpone, and half of the parmesan.  Also add a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Stir well, cover the pan, and set aside for about 5 minutes for all the flavours to infuse.  Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or lemon juice as necessary.

Spoon the risotto into serving bowls, sprinkle over the golden cubes of oven-baked aubergine, the remaining Parmesan and lemon zest, and the basil.

I'm also sharing this post at See Ya in the Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace and at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory.