Tag Archives: Cardamoms

Mushroom Samosas

17 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by in Main Courses, Snacks and Tapas, Starters, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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I’m not a fan of deep frying, preferring to bake these these Samosas or parcels in the oven. I know that this is not authentic for a samosa, but whatever you want to call them the crispy pastry with a lightly spiced mushroom filling is delicious.

For 8 samosas

1/2 onion – sliced

1 clove garlic – finely chopped

olive oil or butter for frying

300 grams oyster mushrooms

seeds of 8 cardamom pods – ground

salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

juice of 1/2 small lime

8 sheets filo pastry

oil or melted butter for brushing on to the pastry

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the sliced onions and chopped garlic. Fry gently until translucent.

Rip the mushrooms into strips and add to the frying pan.

Season with the cardamom, salt and pepper.

Cover and cook slowly, stirring from time to time, until the mushrooms are cooked. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Lay out a sheet of pastry and brush with oil or butter. Fold the top third lengthways over and brush this with fat. Fold the bottom third over and brush with fat. Turn the whole piece over so that the unbrushed third is uppermost.

Add a spoonful or two of the mushroom mix as below and fold the pastry first diagonally and then vertically until the filling is within a neat parcel.

Place all the parcels on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes in a medium hot oven. 130 C in a fan oven, so around 140 C in a conventional oven.

I served mine with Steamed Broccoli and Cabbage with Whole Spices – recipe to follow – and a Tomato and Coriander Salad.

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A Mid-Week Dinner – Continued

27 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in Starters, Sweet Things, Vegetable Dishes

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For the – probably one of you – who has been waiting for the rest of the recipes for this dinner, here at last they are. IMG_1518 SPINACH WITH PINE NUTS AND RAISINS

For 4

25 grams pine nuts

A good bunch of fresh tender spinach

Olive oil 25 grams small golden raisins

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Firstly toast the pine nuts until a golden brown in a thick based pan over a low heat. Shake the pan from time to time to turn the nuts.

Wash and drain the spinach.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a shallow pan. Add the spinach, cover and let wilt for a couple of minutes over a low heat.

Add the pine nuts and raisins and stir to mix.

Season then cover the pan again and leave to cook for about five minutes.

Serve on hot plates.

PRAWN WITH GARLIC, LEMON AND PARSLEY

For 4

20 medium sized peeled prawns

1 large clove garlic

Olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

Chopped flat leaved parsley

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a frying pan.

Add the chopped garlic and fry until light brown.

Add the prawns and cook quickly on a high heat until opaque and slightly browned.

Squeeze in the lemon juice and stir to collect any brownings at the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle in the parsley and serve immediately on a hot dish.

IMG_1525 CARAMELISED FIG CUSTARDS

FOR 4

The only remotely complicated thing about this recipe is remembering to cook the custards early enough that they can cool completely. You can of course cook them the day before they are needed.

I will point out also that it is not an error that the custard does not have sugar added to it. There is enough sweetness in the caramelised fig to balance the less sweet custard.

4 tablespoons caramelised fig jam

Butter for greasing your pots

2 eggs

200 ml full fat milk

Few drops vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 140C

To cook this you will need individual ovenproof pots for the custard. Most crockery is oven proof provided you don’t heat or cool it too rapidly. I used some glass coffee cups to cook my custards.

Grease the pots with butter and then put a tablespoon of the fig jam in the bottom of each.

Break the eggs into a jug and whisk lightly to mix.

Add the milk and vanilla essence and whisk a bit more to mix this.

Pouring through a sieve to remove any solid bits in the egg, pour the custard into the pots.

Put the pots into a deep baking dish and add boiling water to the dish to come about 2cm up the pots. This prevents the custards getting too hot and burning on their bases.

Put in the oven and leave to cook for about an hour until the custards are just set.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

To serve slide a thin knife around the edge of the custard, put a small plate on top of the pot and invert the whole lot. You may have to give the custard and encouraging shake. If any of the jam stays in the pot, simply spoon neatly on top of the custard.

MINI CARDAMOM SHORTBREADS

100 grams plain flour

40 grams fine semolina

Quarter teaspoon ground cardamoms

30 grams sugar

100 grams butter

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.

Cut the butter into small pieces into the flour mix and rub in.

Bring the mix together in a firm dough.

On a floured surface roll the dough out to just under a centimetre thick.

If you have a very small round cutter – ideally about 3cm diameter – then cut into small biscuits. Otherwise cut into small squares or lozenges.

Bake at 150C for about an hour until pale golden.

Sweet,Salty & Spicy Almonds

29 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by in Snacks and Tapas

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This years almond crop is being harvested and the creamy fresh nuts always make me think of Ajo Blanco, a cooling and delicious soup that is a speciality of the area around Cordoba. The best one that I was served there was in the restaurant Casa De La Judia in the old town. Pale and smooth with no one flavour dominating and the consistency of a light cream, it was garnished with tiny cubes of sweet apple and halves of white grapes which added to the balance of the flavours.
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Of course once I got home I had to perfect my own recipe – but you are going to have to wait until the next post for that, firstly I want to use up the few remaining almonds from last year.

At some time in the dim and distant past I remember making sugared almonds but with a difference – they had spices mixed into the caramel. They were delicious and I may well make them again, but this time I wanted to include the spices but cut down drastically the amount of sugar used, and I like the mixture of salt and sweet, so I added some salt. Here is the resulting recipe.

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SWEET, SALTY AND SPICY ALMONDS
200 grams almonds – with or without the brown skin
Half teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 cloves
6-8 allspice berries
Half a teaspoon coriander seeds
The contents of 3 green cardamom pods
Quarter of a teaspoon hot chilli powder

Firstly we need to toast the spices before grinding them. Put the cloves, allspice berries, coriander seeds and cardamom seeds in a thick based pan and toast them on a low heat shaking from time to time until you can smell the aromas of them starting to be released.

Put them in a mortar and grind to a powder.

Add the chilli powder, salt and pepper, and mix.

Warm a thick based shallow pan on a low heat and add the almonds. Toast slowly moving the almonds around for even browning.

After a couple of minutes add the spice mix and continue toasting and stirring.

Once the almonds are browned add about a tablespoon or so of water and stir to mix well.
This will help the spice and seasonings stick to the almonds.

The water may disappear quite quickly, or you may need to continue on the heat until the almonds are dry again.

Let cool and serve as an aperitif……. and try not to sample too many before your guests arrive!