Category: Vegetables

Mezze: Baked aubergine with pomegranate and stuffed courgettes

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As always when I go on holiday, i filled my bags with groceries when I was on my way home from Syria. Soon thereafter I bought the fabulous cookbook Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi and he uses alot of the things I brought back in his recipes. Perfect or what?!

These two recipes from Plenty don’t require any strange ingredients though, and I highly recommend you trying them. I utterly adored the aubergine dish, but my boyfriend fell in love with the courgettes. I have followed the recipes, but have veganised them where needed. You find the stuffed courgette recipe here in which I omitted the currants. It is from Ottolenghi’s culumn The New Vegetarian on the Guardian’s website, where many of the recipes in Plenty are from.

And below you find my adapted recipe for the baked aubergines with pomegranate.

Baked aubergine with pomegranate, serves 4 or 6 as a buffet

2 medium aubergines

olive oil

thyme

150 ml soy cream

1 garlic clove

juice from 1/2 lemon

salt

pepper

pomegranate seeds

Cut the aubergines in half lengthways and place them skin down in a greased roasting tray. Cut a diaond pattern in the flesh with a knife, being carfel not to pierce the skin. Brush with olive oil a few times, so it gets soaked up by the aubergine. Sprinkle with thyme leaves and a few thyme sprigs. Add salt and pepper. Bake in 200C for 40 minutes. Leave to cool completely.

Mix the soy cream wuth garlic, lemon, salt and pepper. Pour it over the aubergines just before serving and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Mezze: Hummus, chilli dip and flatbread

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I have grouped the recipes from Friday’s dinner, so this is the first lot.

When eating mezze it is a must to have a few dips for the bread. The most common one is of course hummus, and here is my version:

Hummus, serves 6 as mezze

1 can chickpeas (400 g)

a splash of water

olive oil

2 tbsp tahini

2-3 tbsp lemon juice

salt

white pepper

1/2 clove garlic

Pour lemon juice, tahini, water and drained chickpeas into a food processor (or use a stick blender) and add some oil. Mix and add oil as you go until the hummus has the desired texture. Season to taste with lemon, garlic, salt, pepper and tahini. 

The next dip is almost as common as hummus in the Middle East, but less known here. The proper version is the one I made with ground almonds, but sometimes you can get a cheaper version were the almonds are substituted by breadcrumbs. We learned the rule in Syria, that if you get the almond-version in a restaurant it is a good restaurant, and if you get the bastard-version then of course, it is not as good.

Muhammara, serves 6 as mezze

120 ml ground almonds (or breadcrumbs)

2-4 garlic cloves

1/2 small onion, finely chopped or 1 tsp onion powder

spicy pepper purée (mine is from Syria, but a combination of sambal oelek and pickled peppers will probably work)

70 ml tahini

70 ml pomegranate molasses

salt

ground cumin

aleppo/cayenne pepper if more heat is required

60 ml olive oil

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with cumin and salt. The dip should have she same texture as hummus so adjust accordingly.

Flatbread is another must when it comes to mezze, and the homemade version is miles  better than the storebought option. This recipe is from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage Everyday and it is incredibly easy to make. We had a few leftover and I can happily tell you that they were just as good the next day.

Flatbread, makes 8

250 g plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil/ rapeseed oil

150 ml varm water

Pour the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the oil to the water and pour it into the bowl while stiring with a wooden spoon/fork. Mix thorougly and knead with your hands for a few minutes. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or cling film and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Divide it into eight pieces. Roll each piece flat with a rolling bin with plenty of flour. Heat up a dry frying pan on high heat, then lower to medium heat before cooking each bread for a few minutes on each side.

Fried leeks with paprika sauce

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

We enjoyed a tapas style dinner on Saturday (for a while at least, then I got a tummy ache and had to lie down *sigh*) and I made these nice little things. The recipe is from Ottolenghi’s Plenty, but I didn’t follow it exactly. The sauce I made up myself and it worked really well with the leeks.

Fried leeks with paprika sauce, serves 2

3 leeks, trimmed

1 egg, beaten

 breadcrumbs

salt, white pepper

at least 500 ml vegetable oil

200 ml creme fraiche

juice from 1/2 lemon

salt, white pepper

1-2 tsp paprika

Cut the leeks into 5 cm long pieces. Boil in salted water until soft (about 15 mins). Drain. Heat up the oil in a pan. Dip the leeks first in the beaten egg then in the seasoned breadcrumbs. Fry until golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel.

Mix creme fraiche, lemon juice and spices. Serve.

Salad with beetroot and goat’s cheese

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When I eat a salad I want it to be a substanstial one with ingredients like chicken, bacon, cheeses, avocado etc, so i actually feel full for a long time, otherwise I don’t see the point. Don’t get me wrong, I love salads and vegetables, but they aren’t very filling on their own.

Last week I made this salad with the classic combo of beetroots and goat’s cheese. It is lovely and fresh, but still fills you up.

Salad with beetroots and baked goat’s cheese, serves 2

2 little gem lettuce

chives

4 fresh beetroots

mild chèvre

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 part white wine vinegar

2 parts extra virgin olive oil

salt, white pepper

crema di balsamico

optional: pine nuts and other vegetables

Cut the green off the beetroots and boil them (unpeeled) in salted water until they’re soft, about 30-40 minutes. Leave to cool before rubbing off the skin with your hands. Cut in wedges and leave to cool. Rinse the lettuce and divide between two plates. Cut the chives and sprinkle over the lettuce. (Add other vegetables). Cut the goat’s cheese in two, place on a roasting tray, add salt, epper and crema di balsamico. Bake i 200C for 5-10 minutes. Place in the middle of the salad, and add the beetroots. Mix the dressing, season to taste and pour over the salad. Add some more balsamico. Serve with bread or croûtons. 

Lamb fillet with celeriac gratin and porcini sauce

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We ate like kings on Saturday! First the asparagus with parmesan and wild garlic mayo, then lamb fillet with celeriac gratin and a wonderful sauce with port and porcini mushrooms. It was one of those days when everything came together. The meat, the gartin and the sauce was a great combination that would work any season really. With the lamb rolled in chopped parsley it felt quite spring like, and a celeriac gratin feels so much lighter than a potato gratin. Yum!

Lmab fillet with celeriac gartin and porcini sauce, serves 2

The meat:

2 lamb fillet about 150-200 g each

butter and oil for frying

salt, back pepper

chopped parsley

The gratin:

4/5 celeriac

3 tbsp cream

200 ml milk

2 tsp plain flour

1 clove of garlic, pressed

salt, white pepper

breadcrumbs

3 tbsp butter, in dollops

The sauce:

1 shallot, finely chopped

12 g dried porcini (ceps) mushrooms, soaked and squeezed on th excess fluid, chopped

2 tbsp port

200 ml cream

concentrated game stock

colouring agent

salt, white pepper

Start with the gratin. Peel the celeriac and cut into 5 strips. Slice for of these into thin slices (1-2 mm). Put them in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes. Drain. Grease an oven dish (about 15×25 cm) with butter and add the celeriac. Mix milk, cream, flour, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl and  pour over the celeriac. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and distribute the dollops of butter on top. Bake in 200C for about 40 mins or until the celeriac is soft and the gratin is golden brown on top.

Fry the meat on high heat in butter and oil on all sides. Lower the heat and fry for about 5 minutes longer. Remove to tin foil, wrap it around, and leave to rest.

Melt a knob of butter in a sauce pan and fry the onions soft without browning, add the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes longer. Add the port and let it most of it bubble away. Add the cream, while stiring, bring to the boil. Add colouring agent, stock, salt and pepper to taste. Also add the meat juices from the tin foil.

Roll the meat in parsley and cut each fillet into 3 pieces. Plate and serve with green beans.

Wild garlic mayonnaise

Published on by Hanna5 Comments

On Friday we had a simple dinner consisting of salad, tigerprawns, bread, nice Swedish cheese (gräddost) and the main act – wild garlic mayo.

I had some wild garlic left that I needed to use up and although I knew I wouldn’t be able to re-create the amazing wild garlic mayo I had at Trinity, I still had to give it a go. And it was delicious! Of course not playing in the same league as Trinity but for being homemade on the first attempt, it was pretty awesome! Especially the next day when the flavours had evolved even more.

Because of this lovely mayo we enjoyed the same starter both Saturday and Sunday (and I would happily eat it once a day for the rest of my life); green asparagus with wild garlic mayo, parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Delicious!

Wild garlic mayonnaise

6-7 wild garlic leaves

200 ml vegetable oil, maybe more

2 egg yolks

1,5 tsp dijon mustard

salt

white pepper

Mix the oil with the wild garlic until you have a smooth green oil. In a separate bowl, mix egg yolks, mustard abd seasoning. Start whisking with an electric whisk while adding the green oil bit by bit. If you want the mayonnaise to be even thicker, add plain oil while whisking. I noticed that the mayonnaise was slightly thinner the next da.

Asparagus with wild garlic mayonnaise and parmesan, serves 2

8 sparagus stems

wild garlic mayonnaise

parmigiano reggiano or other matured parmesan

extra virgin olive oil

Maldon sea salt

Break the ends of the asparagus, where it breaks naturally. Steam in salted water for 4-5 minutes. Drain. Place a large dollop of mayonnaise on each plate. Place the asparagus next to it, add shavings of parmesan, drizzle some olive oil and add a pinch of sea salt. Serve with crusty bread or as it is. 

Chicken thighs with asparagus couscous

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I know that a lot of people prefer the fillets when they buy chicken, but I have always prefered the darker meat. Which was perfect at home when I grew up. If he had a whole roast chicken, my dad would have the breasts and my mother and I the darker meats like thighs, wings and drumsticks.

Chicken breast is good for ceratain dishes, but it feels like people in general have forgotten about the other cuts. A shame… But good for me I guess. My favourite part of the chicken is the thighs, and they are really cheap in comparison. And juicier (it is almost impossible to end up with dry thighs) and it also has more flavours.

Last week we had this really nice, but oh so easy to make, dish for supper. Fried marinated chicken thighs with a delicious couscous salad, containing marinated red onions and fried asparagus, served with sweet chili creme fraiche (it goes so well with chicken).

Chicken thighs with asparagus couscous, serves 2

4 chicken thighs

4 tbsp garlic marinade (I used a store bought one)

300 ml vegetable stock (boiling water + concentrated stock)

couscous

a bunch of asparagus

1 red onion

1 lime, the juice

olive oil

rocket

creme fraiche

sweet chilli sauce

Pour the marinade in a ziplock bag and add the chicken. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. Fry the chicken on high heat to brown, then transfer to a roasting tray and fry in the oven. 200C ,20 minutes.

Pour the hot stock into a bowl. Add enough coucous to nearly soak up all the water. Add some olive oil. Wait for a minute. Mix with a fork.

Cut the onion in half and slice thinly. Place in a bowl, add lime juice (or lemon) and some olive oil. Leave until everything is ready.

Break the ends off the asparagus, cut into small pieces, diagonally, and fry until soft in olive oil on medium heat. Re-use the pan used for frying the chicken.

Mix creme fraiche with as much sweet chilli sauce as you prefer, add salt.

Take out the chicken from the oven and let it rest while you finish off the salad. Mix the couscous with the asparagus, onion and the marinade for the onion. Put it on a large plate and add rocket. Serve with the chicken and the sauce. 

Asparagus and wild garlic quiche

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I am one of those people that are cold all the time. Weird I know, since I am from a cold country… I have certainly heard that before. Why I am so cold, I don’t know, but when I don’t move about I get cold straight away. And that is why I am no fan of winter. Here in the UK it’s ok, but the windy winters in southern Sweden are awful.

Now that spring is here and it is getting warmer, I am incredibly happy. I love spring and summer! Apart from pollen but everything else is great. The warmth from the sun, flowers in bloom and all the fresh vegetables.

In this quiche I have combined two of my favourite spring time veg – asparagus and wild garlic. Feel free to use even more wild garlic, I will do that next time. I served the quiche as a light supper with coldsmoked salmon and a cold sauce with creme fraiche, mayonnaise, caviar and dill. Lovely!

Asparagus quiche with wild garlic, 6 portioner

Pastry:

120 g softened butter

300 ml plain flour

1/2 beaten egg

Filling:

2 bunches asparagus

about 6 wild garlic leaves (or more)

100 g philadelphia cheese

3 eggs + the leftover half from the pastry

350 ml milk

salt

white pepper

100 ml grated cheese

Bring salted water to the boil. First blanch the wild garlic, which is very quick, just leave for a minute and then drain on paper. Break the harder part off each asparagus stem and blanch them for about 5 minutes. Drain and leave to cool. Pinch the pastry together and coat a pie dish with it. Use a fork to make small holes in the pastry. Pre-bake it for 10 minutes in 200C. Leave to cool.

Fill the quiche with asparagus and wild garlic, and distribute dollops of philadelphia. Sprinkle over the grated cheese. Beat eggs and milk, add seasoning. Pour it into the quiche and press down the cheese so it is covered with the milk-mixture. Bake for 35 minutes, 200C or until set and golden brown on top.


Two-root slaw

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My tummy is extremely sensitive to too much fiber (or the wrong kind). It can be a hassle, but it is lovely to be pain-free after several years of constant pain. I have had to give up a few things I love, like coleslaw, because cabbage just don’t work. But there are good substitutes. Like this two-root slaw from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage Everyday. It is as nice as coleslaw but is made with celeriac and carrots and no onion. As usual I had difficulties sticking to the recipe, but I only added a bit of creme fraiche and omitted the caraway seeds.

Together with baby back ribs and potato wedges, this was a great weekday meal.

Two-root slaw, adapted after Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s recipe

3 large carrots

1/2 celeriac (ca 400g)

4 tbsp mayo (homemade or Hellman’s)

2 tbsp creme fraiche

2 tsp English mustard

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and black pepper

(roasted caraway seeds)

Peel and grate the root vegetables. Mix all the ingredientsfor the dressing in a bowl and add the vegetables bit by bit and incorporate them.

Spring luncheon

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On Sunday Christopher’s mother came over for lunch. It was lovely and sunny outside and it is such a shame we don’t have a patio or a balcony, but with windows open it felt quite summery inside.

We had a lovely Sunday and managed to show Eileen all the photos from Syria (without sending her to sleep), enjoyed a nice bottle of Chablis and had a spring-themed three course lunch.

We had Julia Child’s stuffed mushrooms as a starter, followed by trout, dilly baby new potatoes and the best sauce for fish ever. For dessert we had a new tweaked version of the pannacotta with raspberry syrup. I made the syrup from 150 g fresh raspberries, 75 ml sugar and 2 star anise, and that made all the difference – adding more star anise.

Julia Child’s stuffed mushrooms, (Champignons Farcis) serves 4

The recipe calls for 12 smaller mushrooms, but I used 4 of the large flat mushrooms, and the quantities work fine.

4 large flat mushrooms (or 12 smaller)

30 ml melted butter

3 tbsp finely chopped onion

butter and oil for frying

3 tbsp chopped spring onions

the stalks from the mushrooms, finely chopped

3 tbsp breadcrumbs

30 ml grated Swiss cheese (I used Emmenthaler)

30 ml grated Parmesan (I used Cheddar instead)

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

4 tbsp chopped parsley

salt & white pepper

2-3 tbsp cream

20 ml grated Swiss cheese

30 ml melted butter

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and put aside. Wash the mushrooms and dry them. Grease a roasting tina, brush the mushrooms with melted butter and place them in it, hollow-side up.

Fry the onion in butter and oil for a few minutes until soft but not browned. Add spring onions and the mushroom stalks and fry for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add grated cheese, parsley, tarragon, breadcrumbs and season. Pour in the cream spoon by spoon to make the mixture come together but without making it too creamy. Fill the four mushroom caps with the mixture and flatten with a spoon. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and pour over drops of melted butter. Bake i preheated oven, 190C for 15 minutes. I served the mushrooms with rocket and crema di balsamico.