Fancy coleslaw
Posted: January 29, 2013 Filed under: Salad, Vegetarian | Tags: Salad, Yotam Ottolenghi Leave a comment
And, after #beetrootgate, back to Yotam Ottonlenghi’s alternative Christmas menu… Truth to be said, this was coleslaw was put together by Todpop’s. A lot of shredding, chopping and mincing, but the result was worthwhile. As Yotam promised, the perfect side dish to get a break from Christmas sugary-starchy-deepfried-ish tradition.
Fancy coleslaw (adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s column in The Guardian)
Ingredients
For the salad
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
- 1 medium fennel, trimmed and shredded 3mm thick
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ savoy cabbage, shredded 3mm thick
- 1 large radicchio, shredded 3mm thick
- 1 small red pepper, seeds removed and thinly sliced
- 1 red chilli, thinly sliced
For the dressing
- 100g Greek yoghurt
- 40g mayonnaise
- 1½ tsp dijon mustard
- 1½ tsp honey
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 30g parsley, chopped
- 20g dill, chopped
- 10g tarragon, chopped
- Salt and white pepper
For the spiced cashews
- 120g cashew nuts, roughly chopped (or other toasted nuts)
- ¾ tsp ground turmeric
- ¾ tsp ground cumin
- 1½ tsp ground paprika
- ¾ tsp caster sugar
Method
For the spiced cashews
Heat the oven to 160C/320F/gas mark 2½.
place in a small bowl the cashews, turmeric, cumin, paprika, sugar and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Stir through a tablespoon of water so the spices cling to the nuts, place on a baking tray and roast for 10-12 minutes, until golden and crunchy. Remove and set aside to cool.
For the salad
In a large bowl, mix the carrots, fennel and two tablespoons of the lemon juice. Set aside for 20 minutes, drain in a sieve over the sink and leave to strain.
Return the strained carrots and fennel to the bowl, add the cabbage, radicchio, red pepper and chilli, and stir well.
For the dressing
For the dressing, whisk together the yoghurt, mayonnaise, remaining lemon juice, mustard, honey, olive oil, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and an eighth of a teaspoon of white pepper. Pour this over the vegetables and mix well. Add the herbs and spiced nuts, stir to combine and serve
Chocolate and beetroot brownies
Posted: January 25, 2013 Filed under: Chocolate, Dessert, Vegetarian | Tags: Beetroot, Cake, Chocolate, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Sugar 2 Comments
In the aftermath of #beetrootgate, beetroot brownies… A slightly less guilty pleasure, with a rich and velvety texture. Truth to be said, I like this version better than the 100% chocolaty thing.
Chocolate and beetroot brownies (adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ‘s River Cottage Everyday)
Ingredients
- 250g of unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 250g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), broken into pieces
- 3 medium eggs
- 250g caster sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 150g whole meal flower
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder (or according to instructions in the package)
- 250g of beetroot, boiled until tender then peeled and grated.
Method
Set the oven to 180oC
Grease a baking tray, and cover the bottom with parchment paper.
Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bain marie. If you don’t have a proper double boiler (I don’t), just fit a metal bowl over a small saucepan filed with a few centimeter of water, making sure the bowl isn’t touching the water. Let the water boil, while mixing the butter and the chocolate until the mixture is well combined and glossy.
Whisk the eggs and the sugar until well combined. Then beat in the chocolate and butter until smooth.
Combine the flour with salt and baking powder. Sift them over the chocolate mix. Gently fold in with a wooden spoon.
Finally, fold in the grated beetroot, and keep on folding gently. Be careful not to over mix – otherwise you will get though brownies
Put the mixture in a tin and smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake for 20-25min, or until a knife insert into the center come out slightly moisten or with a few crumbs attached.
Let it cool until you cut the squares.
Roasted beetroot with chestnuts, red onions and balsamic vinegar
Posted: January 22, 2013 Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Beetroot, Carlos Horrillo and Patrick Morcas, Chestnuts, Onions, Spain Leave a comment
I was not joking: here it goes #beetrootgate dish number 3. I tried this recipe once, out of one of favorite cookbooks long before I had a blog. As beetroots were pulling up in the fridge, it seemed like a good idea to try it again. And, it was as lovely as I remembered it, with lots of different flavors and textures. A perfect side dish for you winter roasts…
Roasted beetroot with chestnuts, roasted red onions and balsamic vinegar (adapted from Carlos Horrillo and Patrick Morcas’ Tapas: Simple Flavours, Striking Combinations)
Ingredients
- 3 large beetroots washed and cooked, sliced (pay attention not to pull the vinegary ones from the shelf)
- olive oil to taste vinegar to taste
- 3 red onions cut into quarter
- 8 roasted chestnuts, crushed with a mortar and pestle
- balsamic vinegar
- salt and black pepper to taste
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 190oC/3750F/mark 5
Place the sliced beetroots* in a roasting tray, and drizzle them with a generous amount of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast for about 25min. Reserve.
Put the quartered onions in a small roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place them at the bottom of the oven and roast for about 20min. Reserve.
When everything is ready, place a large heavy-based non stick frying pan on a medium heat and put in enough olive oil to coat the bottom. When is piping hot and begins to smoke, drop in half the onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 min, until the beetroots start to get dark, stirring occasionally, Add half the roasted onions and dash of balsamic vinegar. Mix well, and add the half the chestnuts. Cook together another 3min. Reserve. Repeat whit what is left of the ingredients.
Just when the second batch is about to get ready, put in the reserved portion. Drizzle again with olive and let it cooked until everything is well mixed.
*If you cannot find cooked beetroots, cook them by bringing them to boil in a large pan with salt and water and bring them to simmer for about 3h. After allowing them to cool, peel of the skins.
Beetroot soup with tarragon yogurt ice cubes
Posted: January 18, 2013 Filed under: Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Beetroot, Herbs, Soup Leave a comment
And we here go: #beetrootgate dish number 2. Truth to be said, T. found the recipe and executed it with no fault. Don’t let the unusual combination of flavors stop you to try this soup. In fact, it is delicious. Ideal to serve as an appetizer or for brunch.
Beetroot soup with tarragon yogurt ice cubes (adapted from BBC Goodfood)
Ingredients
For the soup
- 3 tbsp golden caster sugar
- 75ml red wine
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1l vegetable stock
- 500g cooked beetroot , unvinegared, roughly chopped
For the yogurt ice cubes
- 500g pot natural yogurt
- small bunch tarragon
Method
For the yogurt ice cubes
To make the ice cubes, mix the yogurt with a handful of chopped tarragon leaves
Half-fill ice cube trays
Cover with cling film and freeze overnight.
For the soup
Put the onions and sugar in a saucepan, cover with a lid, then cook over moderate heat for 10 mins, shaking the pan from time to time.
Pour in the wine and vinegar and bubble away until syrupy.
Now pour in the stock, add the beetroot and a handful of tarragon leaves. Bring to the boil, then cook for 15 mins.
Blend the soup until smooth
Season with lots of black pepper
Serve hot with a yogurt ice cube on top
Lentil soup with caraway and minted yoghurt
Posted: January 3, 2013 Filed under: Soup, Vegetarian | Tags: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Lentils, Soup, Spices 1 Comment
What else to eat on the first day of the year, but a fragrant lentil soup to bring you good luck? For best results, eat it while standing on you right foot on top of a stool and holding a piece of gold in your hand. Wearing a bright red piece of clothing is an absolute must. When you are done with the soup proceed immediately to eat 12 grapes or raisins. Superstitious, me? Absolutely not – it is just my brain doing its job.
Lentil soup with caraway and minted yoghurt (adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ‘s River Cottage Everyday)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 onions roughly chopped
- 2 carrots roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 350g red lentils
- 2 liters of water or vegetable stock
- 5 tablespoons of yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons of finely chopped mint
Method
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan, until it is pipping hot. Then add the onions and carrots, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan with a lid and let the vegetables sweat until they have soften, stirring occasionally
2. In the meanwhile, toast the coriander and caraway seed in a small frying pan. Grind them a fine powder using a mortar or a grinder (it is not strictly necessary to do this, but it will help to get a more fragrant soup).
3. Once the vegetables are soft, add the ground spices and the garlic and let them fry fir a couple of minutes.
4. Add the lentils and mix well, until the lentils are covered with olive oil.
5. Pour the stock in the lentils and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover with a lid and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft (about 15–20 minutes).
6. With a hand held mixer, purée until smooth. Add more water or stock if too thick.
7. Put the pan back in the stove and season to taste with salt and pepper. If necessary add the remaining spices. Let it simmer gently for about 5 min more.
8. To finish, whisk yoghurt and the mint. Put a dollop on top of the soup in each serving bowl
Cinnamon pecan sticky buns
Posted: November 17, 2012 Filed under: Pastry and Baking, Vegetarian | Tags: Brunch, buns, pecans, Sugar Leave a comment
A big cooking fail, but nevertheless edible. The beasts my lovely coworkers ate them all with great speed and delight. They even thanked me and asked for more…. Will try it again, but unless you find someone that bakes this for you, don’t believe Emma when she claims this is ideal for a lazy Sunday morning. It is actually hard work to put these thinguies together.
Cinnamon pecan sticky buns (adapted from Emma Lewis’ entry in the BBCGoodFood)
Ingredients
For the buns
- 450g white flour
- 50g caster sugar
- 85g butter , cut into small pieces slightly melted
- 7g sachet dried yeast
- 2 eggs , beaten
- 150ml full-fat milk
- vegetable oil , for greasing
For the filling
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 85g light brown sugar
- 100g pecans
For the topping
- Melted butter
- 100g pecans roughly chopped
Method
Heat oven to 180C
Put the flour, sugar and 1 tsp salt in a mixing bowl you can put in the kitchen aid. Add in the butter and mix with your hands until all the butter in incorporated into the flour (it feels like bread crumbs)
Add the yeast and the beaten eggs and mix them with flour. Finally, pour in the milk and carry on mixing until you get a soft dough
Put in the kitchen aid with dough hook for 7 mins, until the dough is smooth, soft and springy. If you feel brave enough, you do it by hand – it will take about 15min).
Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a dark warm place ( about 1 hr or until doubled in size).
While the dough rises, make the filling. In a food processor put thee cinnamon, sugar and pecans. Buzz in the nuts are finely ground.
When the dough has reached twice its size, punch it until the air bubbles are gone, and then split the dough in two.
Roll and stretch each piece to form a rectangle in a floured kitchen top.
Brush each rectangle with the melted butter and then sprinkle half the filling mixture. Press into the dough, using the rolling pin if necessary. Tightly roll each rectangle up from one of the long ends to get a thick log, then pinch the ends together to seal. Cut each log into 8 pieces.
Place the rolls on the tray, leaving a gap of at least 2cm around each roll. Brush again with butter and sprinkle the chopped pecans. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for about 30min in a warm place for about 30 mins.
Bake for 30 mins until the buns are lightly browned and feel firm.
Carrot ginger soup
Posted: November 10, 2012 Filed under: Soup, Vegetarian | Tags: Carrots, Ginger, Soup 1 Comment
Apparently, my first chemical overexposure was to β-carotene. If legend is true, I convinced one of my Aunties to fed me with so many carrots I become orange, much to parents dismay. Unfortunately, I can no longer ask my Auntie whether this might have been slightly exaggerated for dramatic effects or indeed this was the beginning of a delictive career… In any case, the truth is that I love my carrots. Specially, if they come in the form of a colorful, light and soothing soup.
Carrot ginger soup
Ingredients
- 2 kg of onions, peeled and sliced
- 5 medium sized yellow yellow onion roughly chopped (about 1 kg)
- 2 large thumbs of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- about 1 liter of chicken stock (or water)
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil or butter as needed (enough to cover the bottom of the pan with a thick film)
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When is pipping hot, toss in the onion and generous pinch of salt and pepper. Let cook stirring occasionally, until soft (about 10min)
2. Add the carrots and the grated ginger and let them sweat for about 20min, until soft and fragrant
3. Add enough stock to cover the vegetables and increase the heat to medium-high to bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and let simmer until the carrots are very tender. It will take about 45 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and using a hand held mixer , puree the soup. (if you prefer a smoother texture, strain the pure through a sieve)
4. Bring the soup to the heat, add another spoon of olive oil and check for salt. Let simmer for about 15min.
5. If you wish, add some nutmeg.
Baked onions and potatoes with romesco sauce
Posted: October 22, 2012 Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Catalonia, Ferran Adria, Onions, Potatoes, Roast, Sauces, Spain 2 Comments
Autumn flavors – roasted potatoes and onions with a nutty sauce to go with it….. hearty food with rich flavors, different textures and enough substance to satisfy your appetite. And, once you have enough romesco sauce on stock, very easy and quick.
Romesco sauce (adapted from Ferran Adrià’s The Family Meal)
Ingredients
- 1 ripe tomato
- 1 whole head of garlic
- 60mL of olive oil
- 70g toasted blanched hazelnuts
- 200 of sliced white country-style bread
- 50 mL of sherry vinegar (fifty, not five hundred)
- 240g of roasted peppers (Adrià recommends Chorizero pepper paste, but I was not able to source. I replaced it an equivalent quantity of with preserved roasted peppers)
Method Pre heat the oven to 200 oC Put the tomato and head of garlic in a roasted tray and cook for about 45min or until is tender and blackened. Peel the tomatoes and garlic cloves and put into a big bowl (more likely, you will have to squeeze the garlic). Roast the hazelnuts in a pan with a bit of olive oil over medium heat, until they are dark golden. Remove, drain with a kitchen paper and set aside. Fry the bread with a bit of olive oil, and break to small pieces with your hands. Add the vinegar, nuts, bread, fried bread and peppers to the bowl where the tomato and garlic are. Process with a hand held blender to make a coarse paste. Blend in the olive oil until smooth. Baked potatoes (adapted from Ferran Adrià’s The Family Meal) Ingredients
- 1 baking potato per person
- 2 small onions per person
- Salt to taste
Method Pre heat the oven to 200 oC Wrap each potato in aluminum foil Put in a roasting tray and bake for about 45min or until the potatoes are soft and onion skins are charred. Cut the potatoes and the onions in half. Season with salt to taste. Serve with the romesco sauce.
Ferran Adrià’s Guacamole with tortilla chips
Posted: October 6, 2012 Filed under: Fruit, Tapas, Vegetarian | Tags: Avocado, Ferran Adria, Tomato Leave a comment
Seriously, no need to buy special spices mix in expensive packages with a kilometer long list of ingredients. Making guacamole is as easy as this…
Guacamole with tortilla chips (adapted from Ferran Adrià’s The Family Meal)
Ingredients (for 6)
- 2 ripe tomatos, peeled and diced
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 3 avocados
- 1 onion very finely diced
- 4 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh coriander
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- Salta and pepper to taste
- Tortilla chips
Method
Start by peeling the tomatoes. Put the tomatoes in boiling water and leave for about 10 min. Put them in iced water to quickly cool them down. Pull the skin out of the tomatoes with a small knife. Dice them into very small cubes.
Finely chop the onion.
Pick the leafs out of the coriander stalks and chop them very.
Cut the avocados in half and remove the stones. Remove the flesh with a spoon. Put them in a bowl in mash them with a fork until you have a coarse paste.
Add the tomato, onion and coriander to the avocado paste and mix everything with a spoon until incorporated into the mix.
Finally, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with the tortilla chips.
Roasted pumpkin wedges with dill sour cream
Posted: September 29, 2012 Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: Cheese, Herbs, Pumpkin, Yotam Ottolenghi 3 Comments
The good thing is that this is a delicious pumpkin dish. The bad one, that Autumn is here. I somehow feel I didn’t had enough of Summer. From here to Christmas is only a small leap. Thank God for the produce of the season to help me cross this bridge…
Roasted pumpkin wedges with sour cream (adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty)
Ingredients
- For the wedges
- 1 pumpkin (about 700g), desseeded pumpkin, and cut 1 about 2cm slices, skin on
- 50g grated Parmesan
- 3 table spoons of finely chopped thyme
- 6 table spoons of parsley
- the grated zest of 2 lemons
- 2 crushed garlic cloves
- Enough olive oil to brush the pumpkin wedges
For the dill sour cream
- 12o mL of sour cream
- 1 tablespoon of chopped dill
- salt and withe pepper
Method
Pre heat the oven to 190 oC.
Slice the pumpkin, keeping the skin. The wedges should be about 2 cm thick .
Lay the pumpkin wedges on a tray lined with baking parchment and brush them with olive oil
For the crust, by mix in a small bowl the Parmesan, the chopped parsley and thyme, the lemon zest, the garlic and some pepper (check for salt. Normally you won’t need to add it as the Parmesan is salty enough).
Sprinkle generously the wedges, with the crust mix.They should all be covered with a few millimeter layer of crust. If the
Put in the oven and roast for 30min or until the wedges are soft and tender. If the topping starts to get too dark, cover the tray with foil
In the meanwhile, start the dill sour cream. Mix all the ingredients (sour cream dill, salt and pepper).
You can serve it warm or cold (better warm…)
Lucie Loves Food 