Borscht

My photo using homemade sunflower cream. Borscht recipe by Alissa Saenz. connoisseurusveg.com

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium beets, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups finely chopped beet tops or cabbage
1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegan sour cream, yogurt, or cashew cream, for serving
Chopped fresh chives and/or parsley, for serving

Instructions
Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and place it over medium heat.

When the oil is hot, add the beets, carrot and onions. Sauté until the veggies begin to soften, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and sauté another minute, until very fragrant.

Stir in the broth, tomato paste, beet tops /cabbage and potato. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil.

Lower the heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, until the veggies are tender, 15-20 minutes. You can add more broth or water if you like.

Remove the pot from heat and stir in the lemon juice and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with vegan sour cream, yogurt, or cashew cream, and a sprinkling of fresh dill, parsley and/or chives. Serve.

Mixed Vegetable Fritters

I hardly ever cook deep-fried food but that's not because I don't like it. I'm just reluctant to use too much oil, scared of the hot temperatures and fires and everything. But seeing a recipe for fresh vegetable fritters in an otherwise healthy cookbook must have inspired me, and it's true that if you get the oil temperature hot enough the fritters don't absorb lots of oil. I cooked these in my wok and drained them on what I guess is a draining attachment and they were light and crisp and a great treat.

Ingredients

Selection of seasonal vegetables. (The cookbook also proposes another recipe, herb fritters, using parsley, basil, mint and sage instead of veggies, so feel free to try that too alongside veggies or on their own with a class of something cool as an apero).

The recipe uses 1 fennel bulb, 2 fresh artichokes, 2 small courgettes, a handful of cauliflower florets, as well as 

12 large pitted green olives and 

115g / 4 oz drained fresh mozzarella, cut into 2.5cm / 1 in dice. 

(I had no artichokes or mozzarella this time but did have eggplant so used that as well as the other veggies).

Olive oil (or if not, canola oil) for frying

salt, to taste

Lemon wedges or a sauce of your choice (homemade aioli could be a nice treat) 

Leafy herbs to garnish (optional)

Beer Batter

2 eggs, separated

2 Tbsp olive oil

175ml / 6 fl oz beer

115 g / 4 oz flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

First, start batter preparation: Beat egg yolks, then slowly add the oil, beer, and flour. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside for one hour (I only set aside for a short time and it still worked fine. I had used quite a yeasty Belgian beer, not sure if that helped). Right before using, whisk egg whites and fold into batter.

While batter (minus eggwhite) is resting, prepare veggies:

Cut fennel into thin wedges. Cut artichokes into 8 wedges. Cut courgettes in half crosswise then lengthwise again into quarters.

Lightly cook separately in salted boiling water (or steam in rice cooker like I did) the fennel, artichokes, and cauliflower. Cook until just al dente. Drain well on clean dish towels. - Eggplants, which I used also, absorb a lot of water and frying is best when ingredients are drier.

Pour the oil into a large frying pan or wok to a depth of at least 1cm ½ inch (or fill pan ⅓ full if you have enough oil - afterwards the cooled oil can be filtered and stored in a jar for reusing later for more deep frying adventures). Heat oil until hot but not smoking.

Meanwhile, dip a few of the veggies, mozzarella cubes and olives into the batter, letting the excess drain off. Transfer to the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides (turn with long handled tongs or use a strainer). Remove fritters with a slotted spoon or strainer, letting the excess oil drain back into the pan. Transfer to paper towel to drain. I kept mine warm as I continued cooking by placing them on a paper towel lined tray in the oven. I was a bit shocked how much oil was absorbed by paper towels even after initial draining! Just as well deep-fried food is just a 'sometimes' treat for me.

Continue frying the fritters in batches, transferring to paper towels to drain.

Arrange fritters on a clean plate and garnish with lemon wedges and, if desired, fresh leafy herbs.

Moroccan Cooked Carrot Salad

Serves 4 (photo shows only a small amount of what it makes)

This is my attempt* to recreate a nice salad I bought from a Moroccan vendor at the market. He is lovely and makes lots of nice salads but they are sold in plastic containers. I had people over the other day so bought a swag of his salads and have kept the plastic containers to store leftovers in. Photo shows leftovers of the salad I made based on his. It's nice and lemony/vinegary. When I have time, I'll ask if he offers cooking lessons, but for the meantime, here's this one I thought I could do, made with delicious organic carrots from another farmers' market vendor.
*using a mix of a couple of recipes online with a couple of my own variations

INGREDIENTS
8-12 carrots, peeled/well scrubbed and thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (to taste)
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin (or, better: 1 tsp. cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground)
1⁄4 tsp. paprika
3 pinches cayenne
2 pinches ground cinnamon
2 to 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (to taste)
1-2 Tbsp. cider vinegar (to taste)
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (I used coriander instead and it was nice too)

FOR THE GARNISH (optional)
black olives
2 hard boiled eggs, cut in wedges


PREPARATION
Place the carrots and whole garlic cloves in a steamer above 1 inch of boiling water, cover and steam 5 to 8 minutes, until tender. Remove from the heat, rinse with cold water, and drain on paper towels. I actually used my 'multicooker' with a tiny amount of water and didn't need to drain them.
Mix through with the rest of the ingredients. Taste and adjust salt and lemon juice and vinegar as desired. Transfer to a platter, and decorate with olives and hard-boiled eggs if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Tip
Advance preparation: You can make this several hours before serving. The dish, without the lemon juice/vinegar and parsley, will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently on top of the stove and add the lemon juice and parsley.

Easy Bean Burgers

 makes 4 - 6 patties but easy to multiply recipe for more.

The recipe says it suits almost any medium to large bean but I've even used brown lentils and it worked fine. I've previously used chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans.... Just have a go with what's in your cupboard! Recipe from 'Veggie Burgers Every Which Way' by Lukas Volger.

1 1/2 cups cooked beans * 

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley** 

1/4 cup grated parmesan*** 

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Squeeze fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup toasted breadcrumbs, plus more if needed**** 

2 Tablespoons olive oil

*I usually just use a 400g tin of already cooked beans

**this time I used frozen coriander as didn't have enough fresh parsley

***this time I used some grated aged Comte and some generic 'frommage rape'

****Usually I have plenty of stale baguette crumbs (made in blender) but this time I used a mixture of breadcrumbs and rice-cake crumbs whizzed in blender.

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C
2. in a mixing bowl, mash the beans using a potato masher or fork (not needed for lentils). Fold in eggs, parsley, parmesan, mustard, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Fold in the breadcrumbs, adding more if mixture is too loose. Let sit for 5-10 minutes for the crumbs to soak up some moisture. Adjust seasonings. Shape into 4 patties.
3. In an oven-safe skillet or non-stick saute pan, heat the oil over a med-high heat. When hot, add the patties and cook until browned on each side, 6-10 minutes total. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the burgers are firm and cooked through. (May not need this long)

Spinach and Lentils with Pomegranate Sauce ( ghalieh esfanaj )

"This simple dish from the Caspian coastline of Northern Iran is tangy and delicious. Serve it with a rice pilau and yoghurt." - Arto der Haroutunian. 'Vegetarian Dishes from Across the Middle East'

l cup of dried whole lentils, washed

700g (1 1/2 lb) fresh spinach or 450g (1 lb) frozen leaf spinach

2 Tablespoons of olive oil or vegan butter

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon of salt

3 Tablespoons of pomegranate juice

Bring a large saucepan half-filled with lightly salted water to the boil, add the lentils and simmer until tender, about 30-40 minutes. Drain the lentils and set aside.

If using fresh spinach, wash it thoroughly; if using frozen, let it thaw. Squeeze excess moisture out of the spinach and chop it coarsely.

heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion, stirring frequently until it is golden brown. Add the chopped spinach, stir well and cover the pan. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the lentils, salt and pomegranate juice, then cover the pan and simmer for a further 20 minutes.

Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Mushroom and Chestnut Ragoût with Potato and Celeriac Mash

Mushrooms are big around here. Well, actually, they're fairly small, the main type grown is the Paris white, known in NZ as the button mushroom. This isn't Paris so I don't know how they got that name (though I'm sure I will once I finally visit the mushroom museum) but I do know that this town /area produces 90% of France's button mushrooms.  

And are there button mushrooms in this recipe? Only if you want there to be. The recipe calls for portobello and dried porcini mushrooms but I used a mix of varieties I don't even know the names of. I just buy them at the market from the mushroom lady. So feel free, as ever, to adapt this recipe to your tastes. I reduced the cream (it called for 5 T, I felt that was too much and I think it could be lovely without any, too). Also, I had no sherry so used balsamic vinegar which I added a tiny bit at a time, tasting until I got it right. The other thing I didn't have was sweet potatoes / kumara so I made a mash using potatoes and celeriac, an idea I'd got from my husband's guy friends who cooked delicious dishes for their New Year's Party - to my surprise as I think a bunch of mates from an agricultural college in NZ probably wouldn't be so gourmet - at least not cooking for each other at a party. But that's the French for you. And of course their mash had heaps of butter. So you could follow suit and go crazy with the butter if you hold back on the cream in the ragout. But the ragout is very rich so don't over-do both!

I'm not sure what you could replace chestnuts with if you can't find any. In Australia I found them for sale in cans. Chestnuts are lovely with their distinct sweet and savoury taste and firm and sort of buttery texture. Perhaps soaked cashews could work? Other ideas?

Mushroom and Chestnut Ragoût Potato and Celeriac Mash

Recipe comes from the 'Simmer' section (so DO, don't rush it!) of the cookbook 'New Vegetarian Kitchen' by Nicola Graimes (UK book).

Serves 4

40g / 1¼ oz dried porcini mushrooms

3 T olive oil

40g / 1½ oz butter

350g / 12 oz shallots, peeled and halved with the base intact, or quartered if large

500g / 1 lb 2 oz portobello mushrooms, thickly sliced

2 tsp dried thyme

125ml / 4fl oz / ½ cup dry sherry (or an alternative. I used 2+ T balsamic vinegar)

250g / 9 oz cooked chestnuts, thickly sliced

2 Tbsp light soy sauce

a few splashes of hot pepper sauce

2-5 Tbsp double cream

leaves from a few parsley sprigs, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

500 g potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks

400 g celeriac, peeled and chopped into large chunks

(or replace potatoes and celeriac with 900g of kumara / sweet potato)

2 large garlic cloves

150 ml / 5 fl oz / scant ⅔ c milk

30 g / 1 oz butter

1 Soak the porcini mushrooms in 150 ml / 5 fl oz / scant ⅔ c boiled water for 20 mins until softened.

2 Heat the olive oil and butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium-low heat and cook the shallots for 12 minutes, stirring regularly, until softened and golden in places. Add the portobello mushrooms and cook for another 4-5 minutes until tender.

3 Strain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid, and add them to the pan, along with the thyme and sherry. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half and there is no aroma of alcohol.

4 Add the prcini soaking liquid, chestnuts, soy sauce and hot pepper sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes until reduced by half. Stir in the cream and heat through gently, then season with salt and pepper.

5 Meanwhile, make the mash. Cook the vegetables (potato and celeriac, or sweet potato) and garlic in boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until tender, then drain and return to the pan. Add the milk and butter, season well with salt and pepper and warm through (or better yet, warm milk and butter before adding - but this makes more dishes). Mash until smooth, then cover with a lid to keep warm.

6 Sprinkle the ragout with parsley and serve with the mash/puree

Asian Noodle Style Spaghetti Squash

Having only just cooked my first ever spaghetti squash (see how-to below), it seems a bit cheeky to be handing out advice. But the thing I discovered was just how easy and awesome this vegetable is to cook with, so wanted to share the news for others like me who are new to it. I'm all excited about it so just indulge me, and perhaps, share your tips too!

One spaghetti squash produced enough for 4 adult dinner servings. As I was cooking for 2 adults, we had it with roasted garlic, steamed broccoli and capsicum pesto for dinner last night and for lunch today I used the leftover squash to invent a sort of cheats pad-thai (using ingredients from my not very authentically Asian pantry). Both were great and I'm sharing my stir-fry recipe here:

Pad-Thai inspired Spaghetti Squash Stir-Fry
Serves 2. Vegetarian (or vegan if you skip the omelette)

Ingredients:
1 cup green veges you have (I used steamed broccoli, peas. You might have some yummy Asian greens or sugarsnap peas)
1 or 2 organic freerange eggs
2 medium shallots / 1/2 med onion, sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups roasted, prepared spaghetti squash (technique follows)

Other things you can add:
70 grams fried tofu puffs / 1/3 cup fresh firm tofu
170 grams fresh beansprouts

Garnishes you may want to use:
2 T fresh coriander or other fresh herbs like mint, thai basil, parsley
1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, chopped (I had none so for 'crunch' added crushed oven-baked seaweed potato chips....hmm...)
garlic chives or spring onions, chopped
lime wedges

Stir-Fry Sauce
Combine in a blender:
1/4 c coconut milk
1/2 T Sriracha chilli sauce (or 1/2 t chilli flakes)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small piece of ginger, peeled and chopped (or 1/4 t powdered ginger)
1 T tomato paste or tomato sauce
2 T fresh lime or lemon juice
1 T soy sauce (or tamari)
dash of water

Method:
Take a wok / large frying pan and heat with a small amount of water to blanch your green veggies. Remove these once just tender (still nice and green and firm) and rinse them in cold water to stop them overcooking. Set aside veggies. (Pour water out of wok and put back on stove).
Now use the egg(s) to cook a thin omelette in the wok. Remove this and cut into strips. Set aside.
Next, heat 1t veg oil in wok and cook shallots till golden brown. Set these aside.
Pour sauce into wok on lowish temperature and cook till bubbling and slightly reduced. Add a dash more water if needed if it's too thick.
Add the cooked spaghetti squash and stir through sauce with tongs/chopsticks. Add the prepared veggies, omelette and tofu, if using. Stir-fry till well heated through. Add beansprouts last as they don't need much cooking.
Serve topped with the fried shallots, chopped fresh herbs and other garnishes you like.

How to Prepare Spaghetti Squash

1. Preheat oven to 180 C / 360 F. Take a spaghetti squash, chop it in half (it can be quite hard so invest in a good chopping knife and be careful!). Scoop out and discard seeds (although some people like to roast and eat them:)
2. Rub oil over cut halves of the squash, including in the hollow. Place on baking tray cut-side up. Arrange sliced garlic in hollows. 
3. Put baking tray in the upper-middle rack of the oven. Bake at 180 degrees celsius (360 degrees F) for about 30-40 minutes. (You will know it is ready when the squash separates from the skin easily).
4. When it's cool enough to handle, (or carefully hold with oven gloves), hold skin-side of squash and use a fork to scrape out the strands of the flesh. This bit is really easy and fun. You get HEAPS of 'spaghetti' strands from one squash, just keep scraping with fork until the skin is just a shell.

Now you can use this spaghetti-like flesh as you would al-dente pasta, pretty much. Don't leave it sitting in lots of sauce, if you can avoid it, as that can make it a bit mushy, apparently. Instead, serve with sauce on top or just heated and stirred through right before serving. The taste is different than pasta but the texture is great. Luc-who-loves-pasta asked if I would make pasta for dinner last night and I made this instead and he loved it. His approval is great as he's a huge carb (wheat) fan so this makes a lighter, more nutritious alternative for us to enjoy sometimes.

Persian Herb Omlette / Kookoo Sabzi

Some years ago I'd bought a gorgeous book of Persian cooking (with travel photos) for an ex-bofriend. It was one of those presents I secretly hoped to enjoy to, but he left the country with the book and not me. Nevermind, it was a little meat heavy anyway but I did love some of the recipe ideas there and when I saw a recent publication, Veggiestan, in our local bookshop, I had to check it out (buy it straight away). The name is a bit rubbish but there are plenty of great vegetarian recipes from or inspired by Middle Eastern cuisine. I've previously shared recipes from Arto der Haroutunian's wonderful books, but what immediately appealed to me about this new one from Sally Butcher is that is has lots of photos to inspire! The photos here are from my first attempt at this very herby omlette dish.

The author suggests this is 'great as a lunch or light supper option, with some bread and salad, or you can tart them up into a dinner party starter – but in Iran kookoo are most often used as a sandwich filling together with fresh herbs and spicy pickled cucumbers.

You can replace the coriander, parsley and fenugreek with a bag of sabzi kookoo dried herb mix, available from Middle Eastern supermarkets'.

As you can see in the top photo, I served mine with a yoghurt sauce (made with dill and garlic) and lots of salad for something fresh.

Serves 6 as a snack

1 bunch coriander (other recipes suggest dill, which I love)
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
few sprigs fenugreek
1 small bunch spring onions
6 eggs
1 dessertspoon flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
salt and pepper
olive oil, for frying

Optional extras:
100g / 3½oz / 1 cup lightly broken walnuts, or
100g / 3½oz / 1⅓ cups soaked barberries, or
100g / 3½oz / scant ⅔ cup soaked raisins, or
100g / 3½oz / ⅔ cup toasted pine nuts

Trim and soak your herbs and leave to drain a while. Wash and chop the spring onions, and then chop the herbs. (If using dried herbs, soak them for 15 minutes and then squeeze as much of the moisture out as possible).

Beat the eggs well, and then blend in the flour, baking powder, seasoning and any of your chosen "optional extras". Fry the herbs and spring onions in hot oil for around 5 minutes, turning constantly, and then pour the egg mixture on top. Cook on a lowish heat for around 15 minutes, and then either toss the omelette or pop the pan under a hot grill for about 3 minutes. Slide on to a plate, and then cut into wedges. Enjoy hot or cold.

Turkish Rice and Lentil Soup

Good for cooking for oneself - we should try and treat ourselves to healthy, delicious food even in a hurry :)
Thanks to my old boss (also a vegetarian food fan) for this very easy and yum soup recipe. It's the kind of easy throw-together one that I've never had time to photograph, ...might one day....



Boil 2/3 cup red lentils in veg stock till mainly done
add bay leaves
add 1/3 c rice, almost cooked
Mix together:
tomato paste
turmeric
smoked paprika
chilli flakes

Add and cook another 5 min

Put baby spinach leaves in a bowl and pour over the soup.

Etsiz Turlu Rich Vegetable Stew

We've got slightly colder nights now and that, combined with a surprising lack of enthusiasm for cooking this past week had me turning to this stew from 'Vegetarian Dishes from Across the Middle East".

I've made it before so know how simple yet flavoursome and satisfying it is. Just a couple of spices and some butter serve to enrich, not suffocate, the flavours of the vegetables which, especially if they're organic, develop nicely with simmering. I didn't use the water he suggests in this recipe as I thought the tomatoes and zucchini provided sufficient liquid.


Etsiz Turlu Rich Vegetable Stew

The vegetables vary with the seasons and also with your own preferences. In this stew anything goes! It makes a filling meal on a cold winter's day when served with a pilaff of your choice.
This recipe makes a lot but I use it more as a reminder of the types of vegetables that suit stewing and the spices he suggests. I just looked in the fridge for what we had - a nice selection of seasonal veges from our organic delivery - apparently blue carrots are in season so this and lots of our recipes are a bit on the purplish-side at the moment. I made an easy pilaf in our rice cooker while this was simmering. Recipe for that below.



Serves 6-8.

2 large eggplants
1/2 c (4 oz) butter
1 green pepper, seeded and cut into 8 pieces
2 zucchini, sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces crosswise
2 large potatoes, peeled and each cut into 8 pieces
2 large tomatoes, blanched, peeled and quartered.
2 large onions, quartered
4 oz okra, stems trimmed
4 oz french beans, trimmed and halved
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 T coarsely chopped fresh parsley
2 turnips, peeled and quartered
2 sticks of celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
1/4 t dried basil
1/4 t dried dill weed
1/2 t sumac (optional)
1/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t or more of black pepper
2 T butter

Slice the eggplants crosswise, arrange on a large plate, sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes.Meanwhile, prepare all the other vegetables as suggested.

Melt the butter in a very large saucepan or casserole, add all the vegetables apart from the eggplants, and stir well for a minute or two until coated with the butter. Add about 3 3/4 cups of water, the bay leaves and the remaining herbs and spices and stir thoroughly.

Rinse the eggplants under cold running water and dry on water towels.

In a frying pan, melt the 2 T butter, add the eggplant slices and fry for a few minutes, turning occasionally. Add them to the other vegetables, bring to a boil, cover the saucepan tightly and simmer about an hour - carefully turning the vegetables a few times - or until the vegetables are tender.



Rose's pilaf
Serves 4

In a rice cooker, melt 1-2 T butter and add 1-2 finely chopped spring onions. Saute, with a pinch of saffron threads. Thoroughly wash 1 c rice, add this into the rice cooker and stir to coat with butter and spring onion. Let this heat a little while you grind the spices: In a mortar and pestle/spice grinder, smash 4 cardamom pods to open. Shake seeds in mortar bowl and discard shells. Add 3 or 4 allspice nuts and 1 whole clove. Grind these three spices together and add to rice mix. Cover with water to about 1 inch above level of top of rice. Put lid back on rice cooker and go do something else while stew and rice cook! Even if you leave this a bit too long the rice cooker will have switched to 'keep warm' and if you leave it on that for a while the bottom can go a nice golden brown and a bit crispy - I love that!

Gazpacho risotto/paella thing

This is a real 'waste not, want not' meal to use up left overs plus whatever vegetables I had in the fridge. In this case, it was leftover rice, purple carrots and the fibre that remained when I sieved the gazpacho - there was so much of it, I wasn't throwing that away!


1 cup drained gazpacho fibre (see gazpacho recipe in recipe page)
1 & 1/2 cups day-old cooked rice
pinch saffron (optional)
10 pitted kalamata olives
1-2 ripe tomatoes
1 green capsicum
1 red capsicum
1 small orange-flesh sweet potato
1 purple carrot
1 bunch of asparagus
spray cooking oil
2-3 freerange boiled eggs, halved


Heat gazpacho paste in frying pan with a pinch of saffron. Crumble in rice and mix through. Stir in olives.

Halve capsicums, slice sweet potato and carrots into rounds. Spray with oil and grill in oven (fan grill if doing in trays on different racks). When almost done, add the asparagus (tough ends removed).

Serve rice on plates. Decorate with other ingredients as you like.

10 minute chickpea curry

Don't you think this meal looks like an alien or maybe my funny valentine?



When it's too hot to cook...just cheat. A week of temperatures over 38 degrees (that's 100 degrees F to the rest of you) doesn't inspire much cooking, but still I have trouble with the whole just salad for dinner thing, so I cooked, just a little. It is a little Americany in it's combination of mixing two pre-packaged ingredients together but bear with me, it is more natural and has a lot of flavour. The two ingredients are chickpeas in a can - simple, and a jar (well, part of a jar) of Indian chutney. (see below for more on my love of these) Introducing...

The Ten Minute Curry!

Heat 3 heaped tablespoons of brinjal (eggplant) chutney in a saucepan and tip in 1 drained can of chickpeas. Cook, stirring occassionally, for about 10 minutes. Add a little water / liquid from the chickpea can if it gets a little burny.

Serve with salad and a raita made from 1 c unsweetened yoghurt, 1/2 smallish cucumber, cubed, and some chopped fresh mint or a pinch of dill.


Pickles!
I love buying these from local Indian/Asian stores: India knows chutneys! My favourites are lime pickle, mango chutney and brinjal (eggplant)pickle. They have lots of spices that you don't have to prepare yourself, you can read all the ingredients - all real things, not numbers! One of the real ingredients though is sugar, which I try not to cook with much these days, so remember that. But for the every now and again meal, brilliant!

Here are some other ways I like to use these pickles:

- Salad dressing with a kick: Get a nice big teaspoonful (chop any big chunks up finely), mix with 1/4 olive oil.

- Pizza spread: Use in place of tomato paste (a thin spear only) for exotic pizzas. Then just top base with some cheese and one or two toppings like zucchini, pumpkin, whatever.

- as a rub for roast veggies: Mix a tablespoon of pickle with some olive oil in a bowl, tip over your roasting pan of chopped veggies ready to go into the oven. Rub the pickly-oil all over the veg using your (gloved) hands. Roast, keeping an eye on them for burning bits. So yum.

- Dip: Mix with yoghurt for an easy dip that might really impress people (little do they know!). Serve with veg crudites or what you will.

Perfect Poached Eggs

I like to use olive oil or, as in this picture, ajvar to spread my toast with instead of butter. You know, for when you invite me for brunch?


Poached eggs were always something I only ate at cafes as I never got the hang of them. And cleaning the pot afterwards with all that scunge - yeah, nah. But they SEEM pretty simple right, it's not a souffle, just an egg! So I got over my pride at thinking 'one' shouldn't need a recipe to cook an egg and finally turned to Elizabeth David's 'French Provincial Cooking'. (It seems all my other cookbooks assume a knowledge of poaching ability). Now I can do them! And the pot (non-stick kind - does that make a difference?) stays clean!

NB This recipe is for cooking eggs one at a time but at the end I'll give a tip on storing and reheating them till you're ready.

Boil a large pan of water (Elizabeth David suggests a deep frying-pan is better than a saucepan) with about 1 T white wine vinegar. Break each egg into a saucer. Boil water then reduce heat to a simmer (big bubbles can make egg tough and cause bits to break apart). When water is at a gentle simmer, make a whirlpool in the centre by whirling the water around with a wooden spoon. Slide an egg into the middle of this whirlpool and keep the water whirling around as it begins to set and water comes back to a simmer. Remove pan from heat, cover it, and leave 2 1/2 -3 minutes for just cooked with runny yolk and about 4 minutes for a firmer white with partially set yolk.

Remove egg with a slotted spoon and if using right away, blot with a paper towel (or you can rest egg for a moment on a spare crust of bread) before placing egg on toast/plate (you don't want to make your toast soggy!)

If you are doing a few eggs, try this:
Get a bowl of cold water ready with a few icecubes in it (don't crowd bowl with them or they could damage egg). Place the bowl on the bench next to the stove.
As you remove the first egg with the slotted spoon, place it carefully straight in the iced bowl of water. This stops the egg cooking and preserves it until you're ready to serve it.
Repeat with the other eggs (ie. cook them as instructed, remove from pan and place in bowl). The iced water will help the egg stay firm enough that you can actually pick it up but it will still be soft inside. If you want to cook your eggs well in advance and serve later, just put the bowl of eggs-in-iced-water in the fridge until you're ready to reheat them.
To reheat eggs, bring a fresh pan of water to a simmer. No vinegar this time! Leave eggs in for a very short time (just about 15 seconds) to warm through. If you leave too long they will overcook and you'll lose that runny centre. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel / bread crust before serving on toast/muffin/whatever.

General tips for poaching eggs:
-vinegar helps coagulate the white (so it stays together nicely and the pot is easier to clean!)
- eggs of the day (if you have your own chickens, say) can be hard to poach as the whites tend to fly about a lot. Old eggs can be tough and white and yolk can separate. The best are 2-3 day old eggs.
- don't try to poach eggs in vigorously boiling water - the whole idea of poaching is that it's a gentle business.
- free-range organic eggs taste best and are most nutritious. But then, who eats cage eggs these days anyway?
- some people, Elizabeth David included, recommend putting the whole egg (in its shell) into boiling water for 10-30 seconds prior to breaking egg into a saucer. This is supposed to create a partially coagulated layer to help keep the egg together. I haven't found this step necessary. Some people even make a wee hole into the air pouch of the egg (at the 'fat' end of the egg) to let the water in during this stage. A lot of bother for what?

Green Banana and Eggplant Curry

Today we got green bananas in our organic veggie box - in fact, the whole thing was more fruit than veggies as this is summer and summer's all about fruit. So here's an alluringly tropical fresh and fruity curry. I believe this recipe is Sri Lankan but I can't remember which recipe book I adapted this one from - I 'veganized' it as the original had both yoghurt and cream - too heavy for summer anyway, no? I used fresh coconut in my recipe tonight but to be honest, the subtle flavour of it find of got lost in this dish so unless you have plenty of fresh coconuts to hand, I suggest when you get fresh ones you enjoy as-is or marinated as a side dish as I did the other night. 2 T peanut oil 2 t mustard seeds 1 t coriander 1 t cumin seeds 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed 3 T desicated coconut 2 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed 1 t chilli flakes 1 t salt (I completely forgot to add this and it was delicious so cut down/ cut out salt if you can) 2-3 large green bananas or plantains, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces 2 medium eggplants, cut into 2cm cubes 30 fresh curry leaves 200ml vegetable stock (I used some homemade vegetable broth I had in the freezer - very handy) 2 t tamarind paste (I was actually out of this so substituted pomegranate paste which worked well too) juice of 1 lime 1/4 c flaked almonds 1/4 c spring onions finely sliced or a herb like mint or coriander Heat oil in wok or deep saucepan, add seeds and cardamom and fry over moderate heat till fragrant. Add coconut, garlic, chilli and salt and gently fry till coconut is golden. spices banana and coconut before adding the eggplant Add bananas and fry 20 seconds, then add eggplant and curry leaves and fry another 20 seconds, stirring well. Add stock and tamarind paste and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer until bananas are just cooked, about 15 minutes. If the curry dries out, add some boiling water. Stir in lime juice and check seasoning. Serve with basmati rice cooked with a little lemon zest. I also cooked mine with a sprinkling of wild rice (black seeds that turn the rice pleasantly purple). And do you like the plane and heart decorations I made from the banana skin? No? Well, I'm not baking much at the moment and just really wanted to use my cookie cutters!

Pan Bagnat

These surprise loaves make impressive picnic fare. Easier to make and transport than lots of small sandwhiches and there's just something all-community-ish about taking slices from the same loaf that gives me the warm-fuzzies.

For this one, I used all antipasti type ingredients as I wanted to leave it overnight for the ingredients to get to know each other a bit. And lettuce doesn't like being salad-ed up overnight, and I don't like to see it in that state. But if you're throwing one of these together on the same day, go ahead and chuck in as much lettuce, cucumber and fresh basil as you like! You could even use hard boiled eggs if you trusted them. Just put in a few of your favourite things. It's one of those 'concept' kind of recipes.

So, let's begin,
Get yourself a good round loaf. If you're organised ahead of time (like 24 hours in advance) you make your own no-knead slow rising bread using this recipe for what I call Magic Elf Bread.


Cut a circle off the top thick enough to make a good lid. Set lid aside then hollow out the middle of the loaf.


The bread you remove can be stored and used for another recipe such as panzanella bread salad or used to make some good breadcrumbs for crunchy toppings.


In a small bowl, mix up a dressing for the inside of the loaf. I used olive oil with some pesto and tahini. (use vegan pesto or just basil if you're avoiding cheese).


Prepare your fillings. I chose grilled vegetables, mozzarella or other not too overpowering cheese (skip for a vegan meal), antipasti stuff. 1 kumara/sweet potato, 1-2 courgettes....


...1 eggplant/aubergine (slice and grill your own or buy more expensive marinated grilled one), 10 or so pitted olives (sliced in half), about 5 artichoke hearts (halved), about 5 sundried or semi-dried tomatoes (sliced finely), about 1 capsicum's worth of grilled red or yellow capsicum strips. These ingredients can be bought from a delicatessen counter or in jars.


Brush or spread the inside of the hollow loaf with the dressing you made (don't drown it though, it shouldn't get soggy).


Start adding layers of filling : Kumara / sweet potato slices


Cheese slices and sliced sundried tomato (whole tomatoes are too chewy)


zucchini slices and halved olives


halved artichoke hearts


When it gets a bit full, pack it down with a potato masher or a mug or something!


grilled eggplant/aubergine slices and grilled capsicum/pepper slices



Replace loaf lid. Put the completed picnic loaf on a plate covered with two pieces of lunchwrap, like so. Fold in the paper from both sides to wrap it up and secure with string or rubber bands.


Put another plate on top to weigh it down (so it will stay together nicely when you cut it). Put in the fridge overnight or for a few hours before your picnic.


Serve at room/outdoor temperature...


...or heated for a bit to melt the cheese. Mmm!

Imam Bayildi

I made this for the first time for company (why can't I stick with the tried and true when cooking for friends?) but happily, it did work pretty well, it was certainly a morish treat at our pre-film picnic at the sommerville outdoor cinema among all those shady trees. A summer delight to do just that.

I've heard this dish is probably the most famous of Middle Eastern cuisine so it shows how much I still need to travel that I'd never heard of this dish until we went to a Turkish restaurant in Subiaco one sunny day and I fell in love with what was no doubt not the best imam bayildi ever produced (judging from the mediocre quality of the other dishes we tried). It wasn't hard to win me over with this one, though - for someone with an obsession for anything involving slow-cooked onions and tomatoes, how was I not going to love a dish that also involved lashings of delicious olive oil, green capsicum, spices and of course, one of my most beloved vegetables, that great fan of olive oil, the aubergine.

Now the name, Imam Bayildi, means 'the Imam fainted' - and various stories account for the name. some say the imam swooned with delight at being served it, others that he fainted with shock at the amount of olive oil used. Whatever the reason, you are likely to have a swoony moment yourself trying this divine dish.

I consulted two recipes to make mine and was pleased with the results. I greedily took everything from both recipes and left nothing out - it's all about indulgence this dish. The books I used were one of my favourites, Arto der Haroutunian's Vegetarian Dishes from Across the Middle East and a new one Veggiestan by Sally Butcher which takes, you guessed it, vegetarian dishes from the Middle East and imagines they all come from a country called Veggiestan! A flight of fancy and it has fancy pictures to go with it, something missing in Arto's (hence me making a few of his recipes so you can get some idea and then go get your own copy!)

Imam Bayildi

Choose your eggplants - either 2 of the large pear-shaped variety or 4-6 of the baby or long, finger-shaped varieties.
Choose fim, glossy 'pert' eggplants - ie, ripe and fresh ones.
6 T olive oil
2 onions (red or white) finely chopped
2 green peppers (capsicums) finely chopped (I had to use green and red, was ok)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3-4 ripe tomatoes
2 T tomato puree
1 t paprika
1 t allspice
1 T pekmez or lemon juice (I had no idea what pekmez was so used lemon juice)
3 T chopped flatleaf parsley
salt, pepper and brown sugar as needed to balance flavours (add only a pinch at a time as you don't want to ruin all your hard work!)
I cup olive oil (for cooking eggplants)
1/2 c - 2 1/2 c water for cooking, depending on consistency of mixture



Wash and dry the eggplants, leaving on the stalks. Score through the skin and peel away in stripes lengthways down the eggplant. Cut an incision along the length of each one, sprinkle the insides with salt and turn upside down on kitchen paper to drain for 30 minutes. This will remove any bitter juices and also make it easier to scrape out seeds later.

While they are draining prepare the ingredients for the filling: Chop the other vegetables then heat the 6 T olive oil in a large frying pan or wide saucepan. When oil is heated, add onions, green peppers and garlic and fry gently for 10 minutes.



Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika, allspice and salt, pepper to taste. Stir well and cook for a further five minutes. Taste and, if needed, add a tiny bit of brown sugar to balance any bitterness from cooked tomatoes. Stir in half the parsley, the pekmez/lemon juice and remove from heat. (turn off element).

Rinse out eggplants, scrape out soft seed part from middle (being careful that you don't scrape too close to the walls) and with paper towels, pat the eggplants dry, inside and out. Discard seeds. If you also scraped out some flesh, this may be finely chopped and added to the tomato filling - during cooking time even, if the eggplants were drained already then.

Heat the cooking oil (yep, the whole cupful!) in a frying pan and fry the eggplants, turning a few times until the flesh begins to soften. Remember that if the oil temperature is too low they will just sit there soaking up the oil and stay uncooked. I recommend using a 'splatter guard' (looks like a flat sieve,) if you have one, to protect yourself from burns - though you will have to turn the eggplants so be careful. When eggplants have softened and the white stripes may be goldenish (about 7 minutes), remove them from heat and drain on paper towels before placing in an ovenproof dish, split sides uppermost. Choose a dish that fits the amount of eggplant you have so you have room to spread them open enough but not so much room that they only take up half the dish. Carefully prise open the slits and spoon the tomato/onion mixture into each slit - try to get as much in there as possible. If there is any remaining tomato/onion mixture, add it to dish and then pour in the boiling water (use less water if your sauce is already very watery). Lastly, pour over 3-5 T extra olive oil (that hasn't already been used for cooking). Place in the centre of an oven preheated to 200 Celsius / 400 Fahrenheit and cook for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven, let cool and then refrigerate. Serve sprinkled with remaining parsley or fresh mint and accompany with lots of mopping up bread like pita or lavash bread. They will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. The flavour does improve after 24 hours, so you can cook ahead.



Note about my photos - Yes, the version I made I didn't add all the extra water, oil and tomato sauce to the oven dish as I though it was all pretty cooked already. But I should next time, just to see if it's possible that this exceptional dish could be improved upon if I actually followed the recipe (or recipes!)

From the Maldives across the Indian Ocean

It is summer here, with all the delicious produce that goes with it. At the markets I couldn't resist buying young coconuts and mangoes (among other yummies). Having no idea what to do with the coconut though, I had a peek in Chris and Carolyn Caldicott's 'World Food Cafe 2'. There I immediately found a marinated coconut recipe to accompany a mango, chickpea and butternut squash curry. It's a great cookbook, if you can get hold of one. It's full of exotic recipes and gorgeous photography from the couple's world travels. Having never visited the Maldives myself, I'm fairly keen to after trying these new recipes from our Indian Ocean 'neighbours'.

This curry surprised me by having no chilli (and no cumin - I had the ingredients ready and photographed before double checking the recipe - hence the mysterious packet in the photo). Despite the lack of chilli it is spicy and rich and the chunks of mango held their shape and flavour better than I'd hoped. The winning combination of all these exotic ingredients - mango, coconut milk, lime worked well in this savoury dish. So if mangoes, coconuts and such are in season and cheap near you, get cracking!






Maldivian Mango and Chickpea Curry

(I've adapted this recipe from the Caldicotts' to be vegan by substituting oil for butter and skipping the yoghurt at the end).

2 T canola oil
1 large red onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and grated
10 curry leaves
2 t black mustard seeds
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t ground turmeric
1/2 t ground black pepper

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 3 1/4 - 3 3/4 cups)
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 c water
2 x 400g tin chickpeas (2 3/4 - 3 cups), rinsed and drained
2 large mangoes, peeled and cubed
1 x 400g tin coconut milk
1 T lime juice / or zest from 1 lime
salt, to taste (I didn't use any - very delicious already)



Heat oil in a wok or large pan, add the onion, garlic, ginger and curry leaves, and saute until the onion is soft. Add the mustard seeds, and when they crackle, add the remaining spices, stirring them into the oil. Add the cubed butternut squash and the tomatoes, and saute until the squash starts to soften. Add the water and the chickpeas, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chopped mangoes and coconut milk, cover again, and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice or zest. Taste, and add salt if necessary.
Serve with rice or Coriander Cheela (recipe to follow another day). I served mine with Fresh coconut (see below) and store bought spicy kumera and redbean cakes.



Fresh Coconut with Lime

A good accompaniment to any curry.

1/2 fresh coconut
1 garlic clove
2 green chiles, seeded and chopped
juice of two limes
salt, to taste

Cut coconut flesh into strips with a vegetable peeler - this is a little tricky (watch you don't cut yourself!) but produces the thinest, silkiest flat ribbons.
Combine the remaining ingredients and pour them over the coconut strips. Toss lightly then let it marinate for 1 hour or more before serving.

How to get the Coconut out of its shell? Read my tips on Opening a Young Coconut

From there the vegetable peeler bit was rather tricky so just slice those ribbons carefully! If you're using a more mature coconut, then, um, I'll give you more instructions once I've tried that! I'm new to this whole cheap coconuts thing!