Category Archives: Starters

Three Salads

02 Sunday Aug 2020

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In this summer heat, lunch for your friends wants to be a light and fresh affair, Watermelon Gazpacho followed by three salads served with freshly homemade bread. To finish a small pot each of intense dark chocolate sorbet and crispy ginger biscuits.

BEETROOT & RADICCIO SALAD WITH PURPLE BASIL

The beetroot was roasted for an hour with whole cloves of garlic, a generous splash of balsamic vinegar, sprigs of fresh oregano and olive oil, season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Let the beetroot cool before mixing with shredded chicory and purple basil leaves.

LENTIL & POMEGRANATE SALAD WITH FRESH CORIANDER

His salad is cooked green lentils, a good amount of the little pomegranate jewels that I have plenty of in the garden this year, then finely chopped cucumber, tomatoes and celery. Add a generous amount of roughly chopped coriander leaves and dress lightly with lime juice and olive oil.

I’m a fan of soaking dried grains so that when you come to cooking the grains are already re moistened in the centre, and so require less cooking. Pour boiling water over the lentils and leave an hour or so to steep before cooking until just tender. Drain the lentils and let them cool before adding them to the salad.

SALAD OF FRESH FIGS, ROASTED RED ONIONS AND HAZELNUTS

This is a Yotam Ottolengi recipe which has a lovely contrast of flavours with the sweet roasted red onions and figs, and the peppery watercress and rocket. His recipe uses radiccio rather than rocket, but as I have both I decided that the more peppery rocket suited this recipe better. I was surprised to find that what I thought was weeds in my vegetable patch is actually rocket, and it hasn’t become overly peppery in the strong Spanish heat.
I haven’t used roasted red onions in a salad before, and I have to say, I’m a total convert. I shall be roasting a tray full regularly so that I have them at the ready in the fridge.

This amount serves 4

2 small red onions – peel them and cut each into 6 wedges

50 grams hazelnuts with skin / or ready dry roasted unseasoned hazelnuts

1/2 small head of radicchio / or a similar amount of rocket

good bunch of fresh basil – either the green or purple

bunch of watercress with the stems removed

6 ripe fresh figs, cut into quarters

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

Roast the onions drizzled with olive oil at 180 C for 30 minutes. Leave to cool.

If you are roasting hazelnuts, turn the oven down to 140, and once it has reached this temperature, spread the hazelnuts in a shallow pan and roast for 20 minutes. Leave to cool then break up into pieces with a pestle and mortar. If you are using the ready roasted hazelnuts break these up as above.

To put the salad together, start with the leaves, rip them into pieces and put in a large bowl, add the onions and figs.

Dress with the oil and vinegar and gently toss. I like to do this with my hands as it’s more gentle than using implements.

Scatter over the broken hazelnuts and serve.

Maccheroni al Piselli

13 Saturday Jun 2020

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Or pasta with peas…….and tomato sauce.

I’ve had a tray of peas sprouting on the kitchen windowsill for the last few days, and now the shoots are ready for cutting. The flavour of them is stronger than I expected, and stronger than that of the sweet peas I have, so I thought the two together would make a well flavoured sauce for the swirly maccheroni I have. And it did…….

For 2 portions

200 grams maccheroni

1/2 onion – finely chopped

2 cloves garlic – finely chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

250 grams tomatoes -either fresh or tinned – peeled and chopped small

120 grams tomato Frito or passata

400 grams sweet garden peas – either fresh or frozen

bunch of pea sprouts – cut in half if long

4 large sprigs of fresh basil – roughly chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

olive oil for drizzling

Heat plenty of water seasoned with salt and olive oil, and when boiling add the pasta.

Once back boiling, turn the heat down to a brisk simmer and leave the pasta to cook to al dente. For this pasta it was about 12-15 minutes.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and add the onion and garlic. Fry gently until translucent.

Add the chopped tomato, Frito and peas. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes stirring from time to time. You want the sauce to have reduced, thickened and the flavour to have intensified, so if you are using fresh tomatoes that are watery, the sauce may need longer cooking.

Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta once it is cooked.

Add the pea shoots and basil to the tomato sauce and stir in, then stir in the pasta making sure that it is nicely covered with the sauce.

Serve with an extra drizzle of olive oil over the pasta, and enjoy!

Vegetable Thai Green Curry

31 Tuesday Mar 2020

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T and I treated ourselves to a bit of a Thai feast to commemorate our two weeks of lockdown. We are getting into the groove now – made much easier by the emergence of the sun!

We had Smoked Tofu with Crispy Ginger – you can find the recipe on this blog – Vegetable Thai Green Curry, rice noodles with sesame oil and a little pickle of finely sliced radishes and spring onions in sweetened rice vinegar.

For this curry you can use a ready made green curry paste, but they do contain shrimp paste, so if you are being strict with your vegetarianism, you will have to make your own. It is quite difficult to get all the ingredients outside of Asia, so I’ve given options where necessary.

It is almost impossible to make a small amount of curry paste, so this amount will make 150 ml, about enough for 10 to 16 servings depending on how spicy the chillis are and how picante you like your curry to be. I recommend that you divide the paste up into tablespoon size portions and freeze what you are not using straight away.
Once you have this paste handy, you will find all sorts of other uses for it, In my meat eating days I would use it for a marinade for grilled chicken. My current favourite is Indian spicy mashed potatoes, but more of that another day.

Green curry paste

45 grams fresh green chillis

30 grams lemon grass

15 grams fresh galangal/ginger

25 grams garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

grated rind and juice of 1/2 kaffir lime / 1 whole small lime

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 grams shrimp paste – optional

Cut the lemongrass, chillis, including seeds, and garlic into smallish pieces. Put these into a small food processor with the rest of the ingredients and whizz to a paste. Open the processor and scrape the pulp down into the bowl two or three times to ensure an even paste.

Vegetable Green Thai Curry

For 2 portions

300 ml coconut milk

1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons green curry paste

1/4 red pepper – cut into 1/2 x 3 cm strips

1/4 kohl rabi – cut as above

4 flat green beans – cut díagonally into small pieces

broccoli florets

small bunch mizuna/pack choi

juice of 1/2 a lime

As usual I’ve given you a list of the vegetables I used on this occasion, but these can be varied depending on what you have. In the vegetable garden I have a great oriental leaves mix, which contains Mizuna, Pak Choi, Red Kale and Mustard Greens amongst others, so that’s what I have used here. Also the very last of the kohl rabi, I probably won’t see another one of them until next winter.

Heat the coconut milk in a small wok.

Add the curry paste and stir well to mix in.

Add all the vegetables except the leaves and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down, cover and cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are just cooked.

Add the leaves and lime juice. Stir round for a minute or two to wilt the leaves.

Serve and enjoy!

Tabouleh of Khorasan

28 Saturday Mar 2020

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Khorasan is a type of wheat that has large grains with a rich nutty flavour, which I love in a salad. It’s a relative of durum wheat which originated in the Middle East where it is still cultivated. I buy both the grains and flour from an ecological producer here in Spain. If anyone would like their details message me and I will pass them on.

This salad is based on Tabouleh where I have replaced the normal bulgur wheat with Khorasan wheat, and then added seeds and nuts for protein and extra texture.

For 2 portions

100 grams Khorasan wheat grains

1 large tomato – diced

2 tablespoons diced cucumber

2 tablespoons diced raw kohl rabi

1 spring onion – finely chopped

1 heaped tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

2 tablespoons crushed dry roasted hazelnuts

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

large bunch fresh flat leaved parsley, tarragon and mint – chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

The Khorasan needs to be soaked, either overnight in cold water, or a couple of hours before cooking pour boiling water over the grains.

Cook the Khorasan in salted water for 20-30 minutes until soft. Drain and let cool a little.

Put into a salad bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Check the balance of lemon and oil adding extra of either if needed. Check seasoning.

If you can manage to let the salad sit for an hour, I almost never can, the flavours will have blended and developed to a richer taste.

Panzanella

25 Wednesday Mar 2020

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I decided to prepare this salad today, simply because I have some white rye and walnut bread that is bland tasting and a bit dry. Not good for sandwiches but perfect for this salad of bread and tomatoes which hails from the Tuscany región of Italy. The traditional recipe has anchovies as one of the ingredients, but if you want to make a vegan version of the salad it doesn’t suffer if you leave them out.
With fresh from the garden radishes and asparagus plus a small dish of boquerones, we had the perfect lunch.

For 2 servings

500 grams approximately of tomatoes

2 thick slices bread

1 garlic clove – crushed with salt

1/2 red onion – very thinly sliced

1 tablespoon capers – chopped

1 tablespoon black olives

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh red chillis

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

flat leaved parsley – coarsely chopped

fresh basil leaves – coarsely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

And if you are making the non vegan version –

2 teaspoons black fish eggs

6 boquerones/ anchovies – chopped

Chop the tomatoes into chunks and put into your salad bowl.

Cut the crusts off the bread and discard them. Rip the bread into smallish chunks and add to the tomatoes.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Let the salad sit for about an hour at room temperature for the tomatoes and onions to soften a little and the flavours to mix and develop.

Enjoy!

Braised Red Peppers with Baby Tomatoes & Capers

18 Wednesday Mar 2020

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This is one of those recipes that are so super simple that it’s hard to believe how tasty and rich the resulting dish is. Peppers and tomatoes are stewed in their own juices to make a rich and moist stew.
I had mine today with cous cous flavoured with almonds and raisins, this goes very well with pasta too.

For 1

2 medium or 1 large red pepper – cut into 1 1/2 centimetre strips

olive oil

10 baby tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon capers

small amount finely chopped red chilli to taste

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a shallow saucepan or frying pan, and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and the red peppers. Cover and fry gently for 3-5 m8nutes to soften the peppers.

Add the tomatoes, capers and chilli, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir to mix.

Cover and leave to stew gently for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time until you have a soft juicy stew.

Spaghetti With Globe Artichokes

16 Monday Mar 2020

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Today’s recipe is a simple tasty pasta dish with the sauce made from fresh globe artichokes and hazelnuts.

For 2 portions

200 grams spaghetti

6 globe artichokes – cleaned, trimmed and then cut into thin wedges

1 spring garlic/clove garlic – finely chopped

olive oil

50 grams hazelnuts

80 ml unsweetened hazelnut milk

salt and freshly ground black pepper

50 grams pecorino/Parmesan cheese finely grated – optional

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water seasoned with salt and a splash of olive oil.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan and add the artichokes and garlic. Fry on a medium heat turning the artichokes over regularly until they are just cooked and lightly browned. Turn off the heat.

In a small food processor whizz the hazelnuts to chop them small.

Add the milk and whizz more.

Add half the artichokes to the nut mix and whizz again to achieve a thick paste. Season with salt and pepper.

If you are using cheese add two thirds of it to the purée and pulse to mix.

When the spaghetti is about cooked, put the heat back on under the artichokes in the frying pan. Add the puréed artichokes and a spoonful or two of the pasta cooking liquid to make a thick sauce. Heat gently to warm up.

Drain the pasta from its water reserving a bit in case the sauce needs more.

Add the pasta to the artichokes and mix well to coat the pasta with the sauce.

Serve with either a sprinkling of finely chopped parsley or the rest of the cheese if using.

Urap – Vegetable Salad & Coconut Dressing

13 Friday Mar 2020

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This Indonesian salad, as with the tofu fritters in the previous post, is from Sri Owen. As with most salads, you can vary the ingredients depending on what you have available that fits with the style of the salad.

I have used –

cucumber – peeled and cut into long wedges

red peppers – cut into long strips

red cabbage – finely shredded and blanched in boiling water for 1 minute

edename beans – I’d got cooked frozen ones that I defrosted

cooked mung beans

Other options are –

radishes

carrots – cut into fine julienne

beansprouts

french beans – lightly cooked

chinese cabbage – shredded and blanched

broccoli florets – blanched

For the dressing –

2 tablespoons very finely chopped fresh coconut

2 tablespoons thick coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh red chilli

1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil

juice of 1/2 a lime

1/4 tablespoon brown sugar

salt to taste

Mix all the dressing ingredients together and then add them to the salad and mix well.

Tofu & Beansprout Fritters

13 Friday Mar 2020

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I have been doing my kitchen spring clean and as part of this culling my, rather large, collection of cookery books. As I have been doing this I’ve found some forgotten favourites hiding amongst the other tomes, so I thought I would go through them and share with you some old favourites and new discoveries from each one. This recipe and the next one are adaptations from Sri Owens excellent book, Indonesian Regional Food & Cookery.

For 2 portions

200 grams firm or silken tofu – drained

2 spring onions – finely chopped

1 clove of garlic – finely chopped

peanut oil

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger or galangal

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh coriander

2 tablespoons bean sprouts – either the regular sort you can buy or, my current favourite, fenugreek sprouts, or alfalfa are good

1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped red chilli

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons rice flour ( if you haven’t got this then regular wheat flour or chickpea flour)

1/2 lightly beaten egg

Gently fry the onion, garlic and ginger in a couple of tablespoons of the oil until the onions are translucent.

Put the tofu in a bowl and mash it well. Drain the onions from the oil in the pan, reserving the oil, and add to the tofu. Mix in.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Form into 4 round patties and fry On a medium heat in peanut oil until crisp and light brown.

Drain and serve with a chilli vinegar to dip into.

Butternut Squash Risotto & Crispy Sage Leaves

09 Monday Mar 2020

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For 1 portion

150 grams butternut squash

olive oil

1 small or 1/2 larger onion – finely chopped

1 clove garlic – finely chopped

60 grams risotto rice

2 tablespoons white wine

300 – 400 ml vegetable stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

20 small sage leaves

Cut the butternut squash into small cubes.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and add the butternut squash. Cover and braise slowly until slightly browned and nearly cooked.
Remove from the pan.

Heat more oil in the pan and add the garlic and onion. Gently fry until transparent. Add half the butternut squash and mash to break it up a bit.

Add the rice and stir in to coat the rice with the other ingredients. Warm through for a couple of minutes.

Add the wine and stir in.

Add enough vegetable stock to just cover the rice and add a pinch of salt if your stock is not already salted.

Cover the pan and turn down the heat to a slow simmer to cook the rice. Check the pan every five minutes or so to see if the risotto is getting too dry, adding stock as needed.

When the rice is almost cooked, stir in the rest of the butternut squash. Check the seasoning of the risotto and add salt and pepper as needed. Cook gently for another five minutes then turn off the heat and leave to rest for five minutes.

Heat 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil in a small pan and when hot add the sage leaves. Fry for three or four minutes until crisp.

Serve the risotto with the sage leaves strewn over.