Category Archives: Food

Fattoush and The Macmillan Calendar

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I’m always happy to contribute to anthologies, books and publications that support recognised  charities.

Macmillan Cancer Support is no exception. They do a wonderful job of looking after cancer sufferers and their families providing ‘practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care’. 

I was asked to contribute a recipe to the new 2013 calendar which features 12 delicious recipes all contributed by Macmillan staff and supporters.

The recipe I chose is featured in ‘June’ and is for one of the first dishes I learned to make when I went to Damascus in the 1970′s.

It’s called Fattoush, a traditional Syrian salad that has a sharp tangy dressing made from olive oil, lemon juice and mint.  Hard, leftover or toasted pitta bread is sprinkled over the top and adds a  crunchy contrast to the silky salad leaves.

To read the recipe, go to the Macmillan blog at http://shop.macmillan.org.uk/blog/2013-calendar-recipes-fattoush.html

And when you have done that, scroll down to the bottom, follow the link and buy the calendar!

Foodies Festival Edinburgh 2012

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On Sunday, I visited the Foodies Festival, held in Edinburgh’s Inverleith Park, not far from where I live.

I persuaded my partner Neil to come with me and, in the afternoon, we had a leisurely 10 minute stroll up to the park.

The festival was crowded with people walking around or lying on the grass, enjoying the sunshine and the music.

The aroma of smoking haddock and herrings filled the air.

There were stalls selling everything from artisan breads, organic oils, balsamic vinegar, hand-mixed herbal teas, smoked fish, sweets, preserves, hand-made cheese, olives as well as a host of other delicacies you won’t find in your local Tesco or Sainsbury’s.

I decided to go to the festival mainly because I missed the event last year; there was not much travelling involved; and I wanted to take photographs and improve my camera skills (any opportunity).

It was also a chance to buy food that hadn’t been sprayed, injected or pumped full of additives. In other words,  wholesome, unadulterated food of which Scotland has an abundance, if you know where to buy it and are willing to spend a bit more for quality.

There were several masterclasses and chef’s theatres on, most of them fully booked by the time we arrived.

However, we managed to book one, delivered by the head tutor of the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine. We had no idea what he was going to make but it was a chance to sit down for an hour in the shade, relax and watch someone else do the cooking, for a change.

He made smoked fish risotto, using plain water instead of stock. The reason was, he said, if you use good quality vegetables – in this case, leeks and onion – and you sweat them slowly in the butter and oil, they should impart enough flavour to the dish without having to use stock.

We all had a chance to sample it and, although it tasted light and fresh, I thought it lacked the flavour and creaminess you usually find in a good risotto. I’ll be sticking to stock for the time being.

When the sun is out, you have to have ice cream.  We bought cones from a Rolls Royce!  The Rolls, built for the Marques de San Miguel, of Spain in 1923, is the ice-cream ‘van’ owned, since 1937, by a well-known family firm of Scottish ice-cream makers, S.Luca of Musselburgh. The 89-year-old car is in wonderful condition and still on the road. The ice cream was good too.

We stayed at the Festival for about 3 hours and came home with packets of herb teas made from real dried herbs; organic rapeseed oil; a bottle of 5 year old balsamic vinegar (the 10 year old cost more than the best single malt whisky); a jar of apricot jam with brandy; and ‘posh’ pork pies which we ate for dinner with salad.

 Disclaimer: Any products or businesses mentioned on these posts are not endorsed by me and I receive no remuneration for ‘advertising’. I write about those that interest me or are relevant to the story.

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin and Goat’s Cheese Risotto

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Pumpkins are not just for Halloween, Thanksgiving or for taking Cinderella home from the ball.

pumpkin, food, talking about food again, food blog,recipeBoth the flesh and the seeds of the pumpkin are an excellent source of many vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. They are also lowfat, highfibre and low in calories.

In short, they are one of the superfoods of the vegetable world.

So, when one arrived in my organic veg box nearly 2 weeks ago, I was very excited (I know, I need to get out more).

Not only was it a change from the usual root vegetables and salad leaves, I don’t normally find pumpkins in my local supermarket, unlike its relative butternut squash.

Plus, it was a lovely orange-red colour and very decorative with its sturdy appearance and little green stalk.

After 10 days as a decoration, I decided to cook it. And in one of my favourite dishes – risotto. 

Making risotto is a labour of love, one of those times when you have to make sure all the ingredients have been prepped before you start, then turn off our phone, put on some relaxing music and get ready to stir.

I find making risotto very relaxing and it never fails to amaze me how lthe little, hard grains of rice can, in such a short time, turn into a delightful creamy mass.

But, you have to stir for at least 20 minutes without interruption.

I paired my little orange pumpkin with soft goat’s cheese then added some peppery rocket for this dish.    

pumpkin, goat's cheese, cheese, risotto, food, talking about food again, food blog, rice,Pumpkin and Goat’s Cheese Risotto

  • 1 pumpkin, about 500 grams, peeled and cubed (you can also use butternut squash)
  • 1tbsp oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 300 grams Arborio rice
  • 1 litre hot vegetable stock
  • 100 grams soft goat’s cheese, cubed
  • handful of rocket, shredded
  • Small lump of butter   
  1. Heat oven to 200C, 180C fan, 400F, Gas Mark 6
  2. Place the pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet and roast for 20 mins. or until tender.
  3. Remove from the oven and put to one side.
  4. Heat the oil in a wide, shallow pan and fry the onion and garlic until soft.
  5. Meanwhile, bring the vegetable stock to boiling point and simmer over a low heat until ready to use.
  6. Add the rice to the onion and garlic and stir to mix everything together.
  7. Now, add the hot stock to the rice, a ladleful at a time, making sure the stock has been absorbed before adding the next ladleful. This should take about 20 minutes.
  8. Test the rice. It should be tender and creamy but still have some bite.
  9. Stir in the pumpkin, goat’s cheese and rocket.
  10. Add the butter, stir once or twice and serve immediately on warm plates.

I like to serve this with a simple salad of mixed leaves seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

 

Beetroot Soup with Feta

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If you have already-cooked beetroot to hand, this ruby-coloured soup is quick and easy to make. You can also make it with ready-cooked beetroot that comes in vacuum packs.

Make sure you look at the pack in case it’s preserved in vinegar. I once made that mistake, thinking that pickled beetroot always comes in a jar. It doesn’t!

Beetroot Soup with Feta

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
  • 500 grams cooked beetroot, diced
  • Juice and zest of 1 small lemon
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • Feta cheese
  1. Heat the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until the onion is soft.
  2. Add the allspice and fry for 1 minute.
  3. Add the potato and the carrot and fry for 2-3 mins.
  4. Add the beetroot, the lemon juice and the stock and bring to the boil.
  5. Cover and reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
  6. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for a few minutes.
  7. Ladle into a liquidiser in batches and liquidise until smooth.
  8. Return to the pan and add the lemon rind.
  9. Serve in bowls with feta crumbled over the top.

 

 

 

Bamia in a Rich Tomato and Onion Sauce

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I first came across bamia in Damascus. Otherwise known as okra, ladies fingers or gumbo, the bamia is a green, hairy vegetable, a few inches long and tapered at one end.

Thought to be a native of Africa, this strange-looking vegetable is actually the seedpod of a lovely flowering plant belonging to the mallow family. If that’s whetted your appetite to find out more go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okra If not, read on.

When I first met them in my mother-in-law’s kitchen, they were small, shrivelled, and a bit dusty.  These were dry bamia – fresh bamia that had been threaded on string and put out in the sun to dry then stored for use in the winter. A handy staple, they can keep up to a year.

They didn’t look very appetising but I was at the experimental stage and eager to try almost anything I hadn’t come across before.

Fatmeh, the family servant, cooked them in a rich tomato sauce with chunks of tender lamb. The bamia were transformed. Instead of being hard and dry, they were soft but still with some bite.  The tomato sauce was sweet and slightly tart but not with the tang of lemon juice as I had thought. Instead, Fatmeh showed me a bottle of thick, deep red syrup that has become one of my favourite cooking ingredients - dibis rahman.

A sticky sweet/sour syrup made from pomegranate juice, this magic ingredient is used in Middle Eastern cooking to add depth and flavour to many dishes, especially tomato-based sauces.  You can buy it in the UK as pomegranate molasses.

The next time I met bamia, they were lying in a basket in the sun in the municipal market in Paphos. They were fresh and bright green with little silver hairs. I bought some.

The old lady who sold them to me recognised me as a foreigner who probably had never cooked them before.  Whipping out a small knife from the voluminous folds of her shapeless black dress, she decided to give me a lesson in how to prepare them.

Making a small incision she worked her way around the stem until she had detached the tough outer layer in an unbroken spiral.

I watched and learned as she kept up a stream of instructions in Greek, and deftly removed the hard conical tops.  

Buying bamia – small, unblemished ones are the best but not always easy to find. You can use larger ones as long as they are firm.  Some of the most successful bamia dishes I have produced have been made with frozen bamia.

There are many recipes using this strange-looking vegetable but my favourite is stewed in a simple tomato and onion sauce.

 Bamia In Tomato Sauce (serves 4 – 6)

  • 500 g small to medium bamia (frozen bamia work well)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 400 g tinned tomatoes or 400 g fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses or the juice of ½ lemon
  1. Wash the bamia, if using fresh.
  2. With a small sharp knife, gently cut round the small stalk at the top of each bamia, taking care not to cut into the bamia itself.
  3. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion until soft.
  4. Add the garlic and sauté for a few minutes taking care not to let it burn.
  5. Add the bamia and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring.
  6. Add the tomatoes to the pan and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  7. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the bamia are cooked but still hold their shape.
  8. Add the pomegranate molasses and cook for another five minutes.
  9. The sauce should be thick with no water. If not, boil it without a lid to reduce it more.
  10. If the bamia have split remove them from the sauce before reducing.

Serve with rice or fresh pitta bread.