Roasted new potatoes and asparagus with baked eggs
Posted: June 8, 2013 Filed under: Eggs, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Asparagus, Eggs, Potatoes, Vegetables, Vegetarian 1 Comment
Summer is apparently today, with a whooping 23 oC expected… And, oh praise the Lord!, it is a not a weekday! Before rushing to the lake, my favourite recipe for this season… Have already done it several times this “spring”- not minor thing, considering I have a childhood trauma related to asparagus (swallowed hairpin, please ask my mother for details).
Roast new potatoes and asparagus with baked eggs (adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s column in The Guardian)
Ingredients
- 600-700g new potatoes, cleaned and cut into small chunks
- 5-6 whole garlic cloves, bashed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- About 400g asparagus
- 4 eggs
Method
Heat the oven to 190 oC. Put the potatoes into a roasting dish with the garlic. Sprinkle over the oil, add plenty of salt and pepper, toss and roast for 30 minutes, until tender.
Meanwhile, snap the woody ends off the asparagus and cut the spears into 3-4cm lengths. When the potatoes are tender, add the spears, toss and roast for 15 minutes more, until the asparagus is tender.
Now create four little spaces among the veg for the eggs, arranging the potatoes and asparagus pieces into holes more or less stable. Working quickly, so everything stays hot, break an egg into each space, then return the dish to the oven for about four minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still runny.
Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the eggs, serve.
Roasted carrot hummus with orange
Posted: May 25, 2013 Filed under: Snacks, Tapas, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: carrot, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hummus, Orange, Spread, Vegetarian Leave a comment
I know I am partial to all things carroty… I had to try this one, mobile calorie intake units or no mobile calorie intake units to entertain. While it might be a departure from the original carrot hummus recipe (no chickpeas in sight), it was certainly delicious. The kind of food I need to hide from myself to make sure I don’t eat it all in one go. Sweet and spicy, aromatic and smooth, shiny and happy…
PS – Lingue di suocera [mother in law’s tongue] courtesy of Coop Fine Food
Roasted carrot hummus with orange (adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s column in The Guardian)
Ingredients
- 500g carrots, peeled and cut into 4-5cm chunks
- 4 large garlic cloves, bashed
- 2 tbsp olive oil or rapeseed oil
- 1 small orange, juiced, zest finely grated
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 3 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Heat the oven to 200 oC
Put the carrots, garlic and oil in a roasting tin, season and roast for 30-35 minutes, giving the carrots a good stir halfway through, until tender and starting to caramelise at the edges. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
Tip the carrots into a food processor. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and put these in, too, along with any oil from the tin. Add the orange zest and juice, lemon juice, tahini and some salt and pepper, and process to a coarse purée. Add more lemon juice and seasoning as necessary. Serve the hummus warm or at room temperature.
Roasted radicchio with red onion
Posted: May 21, 2013 Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Bill Granger, Radicchio, Red onions, Roast Leave a comment
The book is called Easy, and indeed cooking cannot get much easier than this. Just chop, sprinkle and put it in the over. Forty-five minutes after you have the perfect dish to go with your roast… Once again, happy mobile calorie intake units friends going for seconds (and thirds).
Roasted radicchio with red onion (adapted from Bill Granger‘s Easy)
Ingredients
- 4 radicchio heads, quartered lengthways
- 3 red onions cut into wedges
- 3 tablespoons of soft brown sugar
- 1/2 dried chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- Salt and black pepper
Method
Put the radicchio and onions in a baking dish and sprinkle with the sugar and chili flakes
Drizzle with the olive oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste
Place in the oven and cook for 35-45min, until golden and caramelised.
Serve warm.
Beetroot soup with hazelnuts, spring onions and goat cheese
Posted: May 17, 2013 Filed under: Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Beetroot, Goat cheese, Nuts, Spices 1 Comment
“So, Burntsugar…”, said B. “How do you make this soup?”. “Well, it is not too difficult.”, I answered. “You pick a spread recipe from last Ottolenghi’s book, then decide to use boiled beetroot instead of roasted and finally get a watery yoghurt instead of a drained one.” B. looked a bit worried, but proceeded to eat its portion and lick the bowl as this had been a perfectly executed dish. Truth to be said, what could have been a really bad day in the kitchen, ended up with a delicate and colourful dish much to the delight of my mobile calorie intake units guests. On the next episode of beetrootgate…
Beetroot soup with hazelnuts, spring onions and goat cheese (adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi‘s Jerusalem)
- 500g cooked beetroot (pay attention not to pull the vinegary ones from the shelf)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 small red chilli
- 250g yoghurt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon maple sirup
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon za’atar
- salt to taste
- 2 spring onions thinly sliced
- 15g toasted hazelnuts, roughly crushed
- 60g of soft goats cheese, crumbled
Method
Peel the beetroot and cut it in chunks
Place the beetroot, garlic, chill and yoghurt in a food processor. Blend it until you obtain a smooth paste.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in in the maple sirup, olive oil and za’atar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Transfer into small serving bowls (or glasses) and scatter the spring onion, hazelnut and cheese.
Serve at room temperature.
The lamb tajine cook off: The Hairy Dieter’s take
Posted: May 13, 2013 Filed under: lamb, Vegetables | Tags: lamb, Middle East, Spices, Tajine, The Hairy Dieters 1 Comment
After The Spicery and The Laughing Lemmon, now is the turn of the Hairy Dieters. Again, the same basic ingredients: lamb, spices and fruits. But, it also had chickpeas and tinned tomatoes. And it was sweet. Very sweet… probably one spoon of honey too much for my taste buds. All in all, it was delicious and filling. In fact, a lot more heavy than the other version even though it had much less fat. Don’t take me wrong – it was delicious. It is the comparison with the Laughing Lemnon’s which it makes it sound like a bit pedestrian.
Lamb tajine (adapted from Dave Myers and Si King’s The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight)
- 750gm lamb shoulder
- 2tsp ground cumin
- 2tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1tsp hot chilli powder
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 medium onions halved and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 400gm can chopped tomatoes
- 400mls cold water
- 3tbsp runny honey
- 400g tin of chick peas drained and rinsed
- 1 lamb stock cube
- 75gm no soak apricots,halved
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Trim the lamb of any hard fat and cut into rough 3cm chunks, season all over with salt and pepper.
Mix the cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chilli in a bowl.
Heat oil in the tajine until is piping hot. Add the lamb, onions and garlic and stir fry over a high heat for 1 minute until lightly coloured.
Sprinkle with the spices and cook for 1-2 mins more, tossing constantly until you have a fragrant aroma. Tip the tomatoes into the casserole dish, together with the cold water, honey and chickpeas. Add the stock cube over the top and stir well.
Bring to a simmer, stirring couple of times. Cover with the lid and let cook with low heat for 60min. Open the lid and drop in the dried fruits and still well. Put back the lid and let it cook for another hour, or until the lamb is tender.
The lamb tajine cook off: Laughing Lemon’s take
Posted: May 9, 2013 Filed under: lamb, Vegetables | Tags: lamb, Laughing Lemon, Middle East, Tajine 1 Comment
You may remember from a few posts ago a mention to Laughing Lemon’s Moroccan Feast, a tajine and The Spicery’s lamb with apricots and almonds. It was not my intention by then to start a cook off, but as I tried different recipes comparisons become inevitable.
This one is the Laughing Lemon’s take on it, probably as close as it can get from his Mother’s recipe. The ingredients are almost the same ones that The Spicery’s: lamb, honey, almonds, apricots, prunes. However, there are no tomatoes on this dish. As it turned out, it was a such sweeter and its flavours, more delicate and balanced. Probably, this take has much less spin to the original dish.
PS Please don’t say Jack I made the couscous following the instructions on the pack (plus pomegranate, mint and lemon juice).
Beetroot tarte tatin with goat cheese
Posted: May 4, 2013 Filed under: Pastry and Baking, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Beetroot, Goat cheese, Pastry Leave a comment
… And we are back to a quasi-Winter weather. While it was meant to brighten any Winter table, it ended up being yet another post of protest against this atrocious Spring.
In any case, after Christmas #beetrootgate , I actually didn’t gave up on cooking them… It sort of become an unavoidable ingredient. It is colourful and sweet and packed with earthy flavours… how could you not want to cook it? Specially when you bump into its 10 best recipes, one of them by the latest foodie TV stars, The Fabulous Baker Brothers? It was worthwhile taking the risk of tarte tatin – the dish was delicious.
Beetroot tarte tatin with goat cheese (adapted from a Fabulous Baker Brother’s recipes found in The Guardian’s The 10 best beetroot recipes)
Ingredients
- 75g golden caster sugar
- 40g butter
- A splash of sherry vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 7 thyme sprigs
- 4 fresh beetroot, cooked
- 250g puff pastry
- 4 slices of goat’s cheese
- Salt and black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Place a smallish, heavy, oven-safe frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sugar to the pan and stir until it dissolves, then add a big pinch of salt, all the butter and a splash of sherry vinegar. Keep stirring until it has turned mahogany brown. It’s a good idea to use oven gloves to protect your hands. Take care not to let the sugar burn.
Add 1 tbsp honey to the pan. Pick the thyme leaves from 6 stalks and add them too. Remove from the heat and stir. Place a long sprig of thyme on top of the caramel for decoration.
Cut the cooked beetroot into nice fat slices and carefully (so you don’t burn your fingers) arrange all the slices on top of the caramel, working from the edge to the centre in a spiral pattern. Season with salt and pepper.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry so it’s big enough to cover the beetroot, then place it on top, tucking the edges down into the pan. Put the whole lot into the oven for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
Wearing oven gloves, place an upturned plate over the frying pan (it should be bigger than the pan) and, holding the two together, flip the lot over. Leave it for 30 seconds to let the caramel mostly fall from the pan on to the plate, then slowly lift the pan.
Serve by the wedge while still warm, with a disk of goat’s cheese on top and, if you fancy, a drizzle of honey.
Three root mash
Posted: March 21, 2013 Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: carrot, England, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Mash, Parsnips, Potato Leave a comment
Perfect for a winter meal or a Sunday roast….
Three root mash (adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall‘s River Cottage Every Day)
Ingredients
- 500g carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 500g parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
- 500g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 100ml milk
- 50g butter
- bay leaf
- nutmeg to taste
- salt & pepper
Method
Put the carrots and parsnips together in a pan with salted cold water and bring to boil. Cook until tender.
Put the potatoes in another pan with salted water, bring to boil and cook until tender.
Drain the vegetables leave to steam off for a couple of minutes.
Put the carrots and the parsnips on a food processor with half the butter and blend to a creamy purée. Alternatively, you can use a hand held mixer.
In the same pan you used to cook the potatoes, warm the milk and what is left of the butter. Then add the potatoes and mash until they are smooth.
Combine both mashed vegetables adding plenty of seasoning and the nutmerg. Mix until you have a creamy golden mash.
Blitz the carrots & parsnips in a food processor with a knob of butter and enough milk to give a smooth finish.
Warm the milk and remaining butter in a large saucepan and mash the potatoes using a mouli or potato ricer into the pan. Stir the potatoes into the milky butter and add the carrot and parsnip puree, season well with salt and pepper and mix well to incorporate.
Kohlrabi salad
Posted: March 18, 2013 Filed under: Salad, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Kohlrabi, Middle East, Salad, Spices, Yotam Ottolenghi Leave a comment
To my great dismay, I realized too late I have no Irish specialty to post on St Patrick’s day… After pondering for a few seconds, I decided to go for something green instead. All I had on the store was this Middle Eastern dish, found in Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi‘s Jerusalem. A very unlikely combination, but nevertheless green enough. Happy St Patrick’s day!
Kohlrabi salad (adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi‘s Jerusalem)
- 3 medium kohlrabies (about 750g)
- 80g Greek yoghurt
- 70g sour cream
- 5og thick double cream
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon of finely shredded fresh mint
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1/2 teaspoon sumac
- 20g Nüssli (Valerianella locusta)
Method
Peel the kohlrabis, cut into 1.5cm dice and put in a large mixing bowl. Set aside and start making the dressing.
Put the yoghurt, sour cream, double cream, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil in a medium bowl. Add salt to taste and a generous portion of freshly ground black pepper. Whisk well.
Add the dressing to the kohlrabi, followed by the fresh and dried mint, and halt nüssli, Gently stir and place on a serving bowl.
Drop what is left of the nüssli and sprinkle with sumac.
Rich beef and ale casserole with leeks and potato mash
Posted: March 13, 2013 Filed under: Beef, Vegetables | Tags: ale, bay, bear, Beef, Carrots, England, Leeks, Mash, Stew, The Hairy Dieters, Winter Leave a comment
The calendar claims Spring will be here in a few days, but the weather man (and the knees) say otherwise. As snow starts falling again, it seems Winter will be here forever. It is definitely time for another comforting stew…. Believe it or not, each portion has less than 500 calories.
Rich beef and ale casserole with mash potato (adapted from Dave Myers and Si King’s The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight)
Ingredients
Beef stew
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 medium onions chopped
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons mixed herbs
- 1 kg lean braising beef, trimmed from hard fat and cut in 3cm chunks
- 1 bay leaf
- 500 mL of dark ale or stout
- 250 mL of beef stock
- 2 tablespoons tomato puréee
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 5 carrots (about 275g), peeled and thickly sliced
- 2 parsnips (about 300g) peeled, halved lengthways and sliced
- freshly ground black pepper
Leeky potato mash
- 750g floury potato, peeled and cut in 4cm chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 leeks thinly sliced
- 100 mL low fat milk
- Salt and pepper
Method
Beef stew
Preheat the oven to 180oC
Put the flour and dried herbs in a large bowl. Season with salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. Fold in the beef chunks and toss in until they evenly coated.
Heat the oil in a oven- and flame- proof casserole dish.When the oil is pipping hot, drop in the onions and season then with salt and pepper. Fry them over medium heat until they are lightly browned (about 5min).
Tip in the beef and mix until coated.
Add the bay leaf, ale, stock, tomato purée and sugar. Stir well and bring to boil. Cover with the lid.
Transfer the casserole from to the oven and cook for 1 1/2 hours. At the end of this time, take the casserole out of the oven and stir in the parsnips and carrots. Put the lid again, and return to the over for about 45min until the vegetables are tender.
Leeky potato mash
Put the potato chunks in a large sauce pan and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and let boil for about 20min, until the potatoes are very tender.
In the meanwhile, put the oil in a frying pan and heat. When is hot, drop in the sliced leeks and sautée until soft and tender, stirring often.
Drain the potatoes, and put them back in the sauce pan. Season with salt and pepper and mash with the milk until smooth.
Stir in the sautéeed leeks. Mix until they are well incorporated.
Lucie Loves Food 