Evolutionary eating

This morning I watched Jamie Oliver’s TED speech on the dietary crisis facing the US (and many other countries, including Australia) today.  I know that there are many who find him a little sanctimonious when he gets onto his hobby-horse and starts banging on about school lunches, but the simple, inescapable fact is that he is right.  Our dietary habits have changed and evolved – and not in a good way – with the result that the next generation will be the first to live a shorter life than their parents, largely because of too much of the wrong kinds of food.  It is deeply shocking to see Jamie stand up in front of a classroom full of kids who can’t identify a fresh tomato or a cauliflower. In another scene, Jamie sits with a sad and confused young mother, surrounded by the food that she feeds her family, and bluntly points out that she is killing her children with it.  Many believe that this is a result of modern living, lack of food education, capitalism, mass communication, the cultural hegemony of big fast food businesses, etc., etc., – but maybe this dietary evolution is a little more organic than that.

Quite coincidentally, just a couple of days ago, I read a report of a study undertaken by two brothers, one an eating behaviouralist and the other a professor of religious studies.  They looked at 52 of the most noted paintings of Christ’s last supper and found that the portion sizes of the meals had increased significantly over the last 1,000 years.  In general, the size of the main courses increased by a whopping 69% and the serves of bread by 23%!!  While this is obviously not a scientific study, these findings tend to indicate that overeating is possibly not the modern phenomenon we think it to be, but a more general trend over hundreds of years.

I find recipes, on the other hand, can very quickly evolve from one thing into quite another – especially in my kitchen.  I had been wondering how to use up the last of my lovely Food Connect pumpkin and came across a tempting recipe for little pumpkin tarts.  Deciding that this was what I wanted to make, I set about checking the pantry for the bits and pieces that I needed and along the way became quite side-tracked.   I ended up with a delicious meal that bore only a passing resemblance to the recipe I first started with, but one that I had tailored to my own personal preferences – I guess that is what they call “recipe development”!

I seriously dislike slicing onions, so the husband bravely volunteered to take on that task and I used my wonderful Thermomix to grate up all the pumpkin which was done in under 1 minute.  I have to be very honest and tell you that I used frozen pastry, just because I was short on time, but any nice short crust pastry recipe will do for this.

PUMPKIN AND CARAMELISED ONION TART

I quantity of short crust pastry
or
2 sheets frozen pastry

3 onions, sliced
50ml olive oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

750 gm pumpkin, grated
50 ml olive oil
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 eggs
100 gms parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 190C.

Line a 24cm round fluted tart tin (I used a longish rectangular one) with pastry and blind bake for approx. 10 mins.

Heat olive oil in a heavy based pan, add onions and sprinkle with sugar and balsamic vinegar. Cook on low/med heat, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, for approx. 20 minutes until the onions are soft, sweet and caramelised. Set aside.

In a large pan, heat remaining olive oil, add grated pumpkin and thyme and cook, stirring, over low heat until pumpkin is just cooked.
In a large bowl, beat eggs lightly, then add pumpkin, 3/4 of the onions and 75gms of the parmesan. Fill the pastry with this mixture, sprinkling the top with the remaining onions and parmesan.

Bake at 190C for 25-30 minutes.
Let stand out of the oven for 10 minutes, before slicing and serving.

Connecting with our food

With the theme of food seemingly being at the height of fashion, there are any number of books available on all aspects of the subject, but I found one of the most interesting, entertaining, thought provoking and at times, confronting to be Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivores Dilemma” (Penguin, 2006). In this book Pollan, an American author and journalist, writes of how modern Western cultures (and specifically the US) seem to have become disengaged from the production of our foods, leaving us vulnerable to the seductive techniques of food marketers and the, frequently overblown, hype of food scientists, resulting in our nutritionally compromised modern diets. He writes about his journey following the path of three different food chains resulting in three meals that he then eats – the industrial (a fast-food meal), the pastoral (an organic meal) and what he terms the “Personal” – a meal which he has grown, hunted and killed himself. This book is guaranteed to make you have more than a passing thought about where the food on your plate has come from, how it got to you and whether it was worth it!

Since reading this book I have become, in a small way, a primary producer and, with Pollan’s words echoing in my head, the husband and I put quite a bit of thought into how our first herd of plump and glossy, happy, paddock-fed steers were to end up on someone’s plate. As omnivores at the top of the food chain, I believe that we owe respect for the lives of creatures further down. We were very fortunate in that we were able to get them into the cattle yards and onto the truck very calmly, using bales of hay as inducements, and they had just a very short drive half an hour up the road to abattoirs where they were “processed” the same day. They were not stressed, overcrowded, left in small yards for days at a time or driven long distances and I believe that their meat will be all the better for it.

In an effort to ‘connect’ with even more of our own food, we have just joined with a wonderful organisation new to Adelaide called Food Connect Adelaide . Originating in Brisbane, this organisation is dedicated to connecting consumers with local farmers and encouraging the eating of seasonal, local fruit and vegetables, produced using ecologically sustainable methods. The general public can become subscribers, signing up to receive a box of local, fresh produce delivered to various distribution points weekly. The distribution points are called “City Cousins” and are, in fact, other subscribers who elect to have their homes serve this purpose. This not only reduces delivery costs and greenhouse gas emissions from delivery trucks on large routes, but serves to promote a sense of community as subscribers become acquainted with others in their areas.

I picked up our first box of fruit and veggies yesterday and, as you can see, it was a little ripper, bursting with loads of fresh produce and topped off with a deliciously fragrant bunch of fresh basil! There is more than enough fresh product there and my mind was busy with cooking ideas as I unpacked it into the fridge. The two very good sized zucchini were the first thing that we have eaten from the box, using a delicious recipe for Zucchini and Herb Fritters from my patron saint, Claudia Roden and her book “Arabesque” (Penguin 2005). These are fresh and full of flavour from the added herbs and perfect for a lunch or as a side dish at dinner. Claudia says not to add salt as the feta is quite salty, but I disobeyed her (gasp!) and added just a little.

ZUCCHINI FRITTERS

1 onion, chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
500 gm zucchini, grated
3 eggs
3 Tbsp plain flour
ground black pepper
pinch of sea salt
2 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
200 gm feta, crumbled
oil for frying

Fry the onions in oil until golden and soft, add zucchini and lightly saute until soft. Cool slightly.
Beat the eggs and flour together until well blended, add pepper, salt, herbs and mix well, then add feta and mix. Add onion and zucchini and mix.
Fry the fritters in small batches in hot oil and drain on paper towels.

These would be delicious served with a yoghurt and cucumber salad or a (mildish so as not to over-power the flavours) chutney.

Wondrous bread

For the longest time I was intimidated by the idea of working with yeast and making bread. It all seemed just that little bit mysterious and laborious to me – working with what is actually a living organism, kneading, proving and ending up with something crusty and desirable seemed slightly complicated and unlikely to be the outcome for me! Of course, one day I watched a friend make some fresh bread rolls for her family and it was immediately obvious that this was a simple and hugely satisfying past-time and one I embraced wholeheartedly – as my hips can now attest. For some years I made all our bread, first by hand and later with the help of my trusty Kenwood Chef mixer and it’s dough hook. Later still, I invested in a bread-making machine, although I still occasionally enjoy working out my parental frustrations on a large pile of dough on the bench. I never really saw myself as any sort of ‘earth-mother’, but I am very greedy and there is really nothing to compare to fresh, warm bread covered in butter – mmm.

A little while ago I came across this wonderful little recipe that is easy and quick enough to send even the most reluctant bread maker out to the kitchen to give it a try. I originally found it somewhere on the internet, but subsequently bought the book called “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day”, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, which has the master recipe and a wealth of variations besides.

If you have ever thought of baking homemade bread then this is the recipe for you and you will soon be turning out beautiful ‘rustic’ loaves, but there are always a few things to remember when baking bread. You should always use “strong flour” or flour labelled “bread flour” as it has a higher gluten content, giving the bread more elasticity enabling it to hold the pockets of CO2 that form. Ordinary cake flour will not give you a proper bread crumb or consistency. Also, the moisture content needed to make the dough will vary depending on humidity, geographical elevation and sometimes just the use of a new batch of flour so you will need to be a little flexible about it. If the dough seems too stiff just add a little more warm water to loosen it up a bit. The longer you store the dough in the fridge, the more of a “sour dough” taste it will acquire. You can pass this on to subsequent batches by saving a little of the old dough to add to the next batch.

Once you have mastered this bread there is no end of ways to vary it by adding cheese, herbs, olives, fruit and spices – whatever! I added chopped walnuts and fresh, chopped rosemary to my last loaf which promptly vanished before the camera was even thought of!

Anybody game enough to give it a try and report back???

SIMPLE CRUSTY BREAD

1 & 1/2 pkt. freeze dried yeast (available in all supermarkets)
1 & 1/2 Tbsp salt
6 & 1/2 cups bakers flour
3 cups warm water (I always need about 1/2 cup extra)

In a large plastic container mix yeast, salt and flour together, then add warm water. If it is too hot to put your finger in, then it is too hot to use and will kill the yeast. Mix dough with a wooden spoon until it is all moistened with no dry bits – dough should be fairly loose. Do not knead it. Cover with lid – NOT airtight – and leave to rise 2-5 hours.
At this point, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
When you are ready to bake a loaf just cut off a piece of the dough of the required size. Turn in your hands to lightly stretch the dough, tucking it in on itself underneath to form a ball. Rest the dough for about 45 minutes on a sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.
Preheat oven to 210C and after the dough has rested sprinkle with a little flour and slash diagonally on the top. Put in oven either on the baking sheet or transfer to a preheated pizza stone.
Place a tray in the bottom of the oven and put 1-2 cups of hot water in it. The steam produced by this water will give you a lovely crunchy crust on your loaf.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Cool on a rack.

Gingering up the last of the figs

Life can be tough up here on the hill and, if we had to rely on our small domestic orchard for supplies of fruit, things would have been very grim indeed this year.

When we first moved here I was tickled to bits to be the proud owner of this orchard of apricots, plums, apples, figs, nectarines, quinces and peaches. I had romantic visions of myself frolicking through the trees – possibly wearing a large bonnet and carrying a wicker basket – plucking nature’s bounty from my trees, then heading into the kitchen to begin bottling my own preserves and making jams for the local shows. In anticipation of this I scoured the classified ads in the paper and found a second-hand Vacola preserving unit with jars. I rushed home with them, washed all the jars and sat back and waited for the fruit to ripen. Sadly, I was not the only one waiting for the fruit to ripen.

As soon as the fruit looked as though it was on the way to being edible the birds swooped. Our first season they cleaned off all the peaches and nectarines, most of the plums, more than half of the apples and all but one apricot! We like to think that we are not dummies, so next season we bought nets and then went to a great deal of trouble to get them over the trees. The birds were one step ahead of us and got under the nets, or through the holes that we had made dragging them over the boughs. The result was slightly better – we managed to get some of the fruit that year – but we wondered if it was worth it.

The netting business was tedious so we quickly gave up on most of the fruit trees. We worked out that it was all about timing and have subsequently entered into an unspoken agreement with the birds. If we are quick we can have some plums and apples, they don’t like the quinces and we can share the figs. Things seemed to go a bit haywire this year, though, as all of the plums and apples were stripped from the trees while still rock hard and green. All we are left with is figs and quinces. I don’t bother to make fig jam as no-one here, except the husband who is on a diet, will eat it. I have one or two nice fig salad recipes, but when my friend Liz mentioned this dish I knew that I had to try it out and I begged her to pass it on.

This seriously delicious method for keeping figs couldn’t be simpler. The end product is dark, sticky and luscious and one of the nicest ways that I have ever eaten figs. I served them with ice cream, but cream or thick, Greek yoghurt would be just as nice. The recipe that Liz sent me said that powdered ginger could be used, but I used fresh stem ginger. I dried my own figs in a dehydrator, but bought ones can be used. I have also doctored the quantities just a little.

GINGERED FIGS

500 gms dried figs
1 & 1/2 cup of water
1 lemon, cut in slices
6 slices of fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
3/4 cup brown sugar

Wash figs and clip off stem.
Put in crock-pot with remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on Low 6-8
hours, high 3-4 hours. place figs and syrup in glass bowl and chill in
refrigerator.

How easy is that!!?

Cupcake Queen!

While I have a true passion for food and cooking I have failed, totally, to pass this on to my children and it is all my fault.

Instead of being like one of those mothers on television advertisements, patient and sweet, happily watching as their little angels begin to discover the tactile pleasures of the culinary arts, I hovered anxiously, worrying about kitchen hygiene and safety and becoming quietly hysterical at the thought of the clean up at the end of it all and the limited hours in my day in which to do it. I struggled with control issues, not always overcoming the urge to step in and “help” out when I could see the children grappling with the cracking of eggs or the mixing of a heavy batter.

This is where an indulgent, attentive grandmother would have come in very handy to pick up my slack, creating happy kitchen memories as she forged a bond with her grandchildren, but that was not an option available to me at the time. However, I did have the great fortune to stumble across some very capable and energetic babysitters who seemed to enjoy the company of the kids almost as much as they desired the pittance that I paid them! Once I became comfortable with the notion that the children could actually survive for some hours at a time without my presence, I leapt at the opportunity to enjoy some adult time, while at the same time giving them the opportunity to have some fun in the kitchen with someone a little more relaxed about it all. Obviously, steamed vegetables and nutritionally balanced meals were not high on their agendas, but anything with chocolate and the baking of cakes was!

As a result of this, my eldest who is now 19, is very fond of making cupcakes. While she prefers not to eat them, she seems to find the process therapeutic and will often whip up a batch when either very stressed or, conversely, very happy, taking great pleasure in the finished product. She has become extremely good at baking them, too, and is very popular with her younger sister at birthday times when overt displays of obsequious sisterly affection become just a little nauseating.

The most popular cake recipe by far comes from a lovely book by Tessa Kiros, called “Apples for Jam” which is a collection of recipes that have been passed through families and swapped between friends. Kiros has put these recipes together with memories from her childhood and some beautiful photo’s of her own daughters to create a warm book full of family-friendly dishes that just make me want to go to the kitchen and cook up some love for my family.

This is a beautiful buttery cake and not for weight watchers. We always use butter, never margarine, and always cream the butter and sugar for at least 3-5 minutes. Kiros’ original recipe uses vanilla extract, but we prefer “Queens” Vanilla Paste for a much better flavour. If using vanilla essence, never, ever use the imitation stuff – yuk! – spend a few cents more and buy natural vanilla essence. She also suggests substituting pouring cream for the buttermilk, but I prefer to stick with the buttermilk. You could try substituting a good quality plain yoghurt if buttermilk is unavailable. This can be baked as cupcakes or one large cake. If baking in one pan, cook for about 45 minutes.

VANILLA CAKE

250 gm softened butter
250 gm caster sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
290 gm plain flour
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
185 ml (3/4 cup) buttermilk

Mmm, butter and sugar = happiness!

Preheat oven to to 180C and prepare patty pans.

Cream butter and sugar well using electric beaters or stand mixer. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla, then sift in flour and baking powder. Beat well, adding buttermilk a little at a time.

Spoon into patty pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, using a skewer or toothpick to check if done.
When cool ice and decorate.

ICING

100 gms softened butter
200 gms icing sugar
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp milk

Place butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl, beating on low speed until incorporated, add milk slowly and increase speed until icing is smooth, but spreadable.
We threw caution to the winds and added cocoa to make chocolate icing for ours.

Goddess – domestic AND green!

From the first time I heard of Green Goddess Dressing I knew that I would have make it, eat it and find out where that fabulous name came from!

It is credited with having been created in the early 1920’s by the executive chef of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in recognition of the actor, George Arliss, who was staying there at the time. Arliss was starring in a hit play of the day, called “The Green Goddess”, and chef Phillipe Roemer created the dressing for a banquet held in Arliss’s honour using chopped green herbs in reference to the name of the play. It became a signature dish of that hotel and is still served there in an adapted form.

The classic version of this gorgeous dressing contains – in varying amounts – mayonnaise, anchovies, chives, tarragon, green onion and garlic, but always with enough herbs to give it the necessary green colour. According to my research, some have been known to use spinach leaves or green food colouring (!!) to attain this, although this seems completely unnecessary. It can be adjusted in a zillion different ways – using tarragon vinegar instead of tarragon, using 1/2 in 1/2 sour cream and mayo, adding yoghurt or adding different herbs. You must never, ever contemplate leaving out the anchovies! I know that they look hairy and smell fishy, but they will impart a depth of flavour, without any fishiness, that you simply cannot do without! I was unable to lay my hands on tarragon, so used basil instead, although I think that tarragon would have been much nicer. Substituting tarragon vinegar for ordinary is another way around that problem, if you have tarragon vinegar, of course.

I adapted my version from a recipe given to me by my friend Margie, and served it with a fresh crayfish salad. Sadly, this was mostly devoured before the camera was thought of, but there were enough leftovers to make lunch the next day which I managed to snap.

GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

1 green onion
1/2 bunch parsley
1 bunch basil
2 cloves of garlic
2 – 3 anchovy fillets
1/2 avocado
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp tarragon vinegar
juice of 1 lemon

Blitz onion,parsley, basil, garlic and anchovies in processor until very finely chopped.
Add rest of the ingredients and blend until well combined.
Season with black pepper if desired. Salt will be unnecessary as the anchovies will have that covered.

Summer smells like this …

The smell of fresh picked basil and ripe, red tomatoes evokes summer for me in a way unlike any other! A whiff of basil conjures up images of hot sunny spots in the garden and the smell of damp earth in the evening as I recall standing with the hose, hand-watering my precious summer vegetable patch.

The flavours and aromas seem to belong together so completely that it may come as some surprise to find that it was only relatively recently that the two plants met. Tomatoes are native to South America, where they had them all to themselves until some time in the 16th century. It is believed that either Cortez or Columbus first introduced them to the rest of the world, via the Spanish colonies in the Pacific and the Caribbean, through Asia and then into Europe. They were cultivated in the Mediterranean and began to be introduced into local diets in the late 16th century, although in some parts of Italy they were only used as decoration and not incorporated into the cuisine until the late 17th century.

The origins of basil have been traced to India, where it was considered to be sacred, and it was also native to Iran and Africa. It, too, was introduced to Europe some time in the 16th century, becoming a popular plant to grow in the warmer, Mediterranean climate. It is considered a symbol of love in some parts of Italy, so maybe that is why it was originally paired with the pomme d’amour – the name given by the French to the tomato?

In summer, tomatoes and basil are generally plentiful and at their peak and this following recipe takes advantage of this. I know that I have been banging on about using the best possible products in your cooking, but this is one occasion where this is just not at all necessary. At the height of summer tomatoes can be bought in bulk at very reasonable prices. These fruit are often not in their best condition, with spots and bruises, but that doesn’t matter at all for this super easy and very versatile little recipe. I generally ignore most of the small marks, just cutting away anything too squishy or icky and cook up a great big batch and freeze it in individual containers, giving me a taste of summer all through winter. You may peel the tomatoes if you can be bothered – I have never bothered. This can be cooked on top of the cooker in a saucepan, but I would urge you to find a big ovenproof dish and cook it in the oven to get the very best, deepest flavour. This sauce can be used in as many ways as you can think of – as a pizza base, a base sauce for pasta, as a flavour base in soups or casseroles or as a soup itself!

One other thing – I never add the basil until after the sauce is cooked as that maintains the freshness of the basil flavour.

SIMPLE TOMATO SUGO

1 kilo ripe tomatoes
2 onions
2-4 cloves garlic
olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper
Large bunch of basil

Preheat oven to 170C.
Halve the tomatoes and remove the seeds and pulp. Peel and slice the onions. Crush or finely chop the garlic.
Toss all in a large baking dish with several good glugs of olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper. Will look like this.

Bake for about 90 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the tomatoes have collapsed, the juice is running and everything looks yummy – a bit like this!

Tear the basil into bits and add to tomatoes, then push the whole lot through a food mill, or process in manageable amounts until completely smooth.
Put into containers and freeze.

Money can’t buy love …. but chocolate might!!

According to Wikipedia, Theobroma is a genus of small, understory trees native to South America. The name,Theobroma, translates to “food of the gods” and one of the 20 species is Theobroma Cacao – do you see where I’m going with this?
I always knew it – chocolate is truly heavenly!

In some ancient South American cultures chocolate was so highly valued that it was used as currency and was ritually used in ceremonies. It was a valuable trade commodity and the Aztecs required citizens to pay their tributes in cacao seeds. After the conquistadors had finished their overwhelming romp through the South Americas and took some home, it was firmly established as a status symbol, only afforded by the elite of Spanish society. In those days it was taken as a beverage and jealously guarded – in fact the Spanish kept it to themselves for decades, adding spices and sugar to sweeten the bitter brew. Eventually the secret got out and it became a symbol of wealth and power throughout Europe until developments in the processing of the beans during the Industrial Revolution made it affordably available to general society.

Chocolate plays an important role in our household. Ever watchful of my young children’s diet, I limited their access to this deliciousness, meaning that when I presented them with a chocolate flavoured treat their love for me overflowed! Of course, now that they are older, it is impossible to really have much control over what they eat out of the home, but a batch of freshly made chocolate brownies is still a pretty sure-fire way to encourage affection from affectedly ‘cool’ teenagers.

There are almost as many recipes for brownies as there are stars in the sky, but to end up with a great product, top quality ingredients are the only way to go and I always add a little salt as it seems to accentuate the chocolate flavour. Brownies can be plain and simple for school lunch boxes or, with the addition of a berry coulis or a rich ganache topping, adult and sophisticated. Imported cocoa is much richer and darker than the run-of-the-mill supermarket shelf product and is worth the extra expense if you want to tart up the brownies to use them for a special dessert. The most important thing to remember with brownies is not to overcook – they really should be just a little moist or squidgy.

I have two recipes here – the first is one that I have used for many years as a lunch box filler. It can be made with or without nuts or added choc chips and makes a large – 13″x9″ – pan. I have given the simple preparation method and, alternatively, the method for Thermomix users.

BROWNIES

1 cup plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 cup oil (I use canola or grapeseed as it has no strong taste)
4 eggs
1/4 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 160C. Grease a 13″x9″ baking pan and line with baking paper.
Beat all ingredients together on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl, until smooth.
For Thermomix – mix all ingredients at speed 6 for 30 seconds.
Pour into pan and bake for 30 minutes – no longer. When cool cut into squares.

This second recipe results in a much darker, richer brownie and would make a gorgeous dessert, served with whipped cream. The following method is for use with a Thermomix, but should be easily adapted if you don’t own one.

150 gm butter
250 gms caster sugar
80 gms cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
2 eggs
60 gms plain flour
3/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 160C and grease and line a 20cmx20cm baking pan.
Place butter in Thermomix, melt 50C/speed 1 for 3-4 minutes.
Add sugar, cocoa, salt, vanilla, blend 30 seconds/ speed 4.
Running at speed 4, add eggs, one at a time, through hole in lid and mix 30 seconds.
Add nuts, reverse 15 seconds/ speed 2.
Pour into pan and smooth top. Mixture will be very thick.
Bake 25 minutes – or until a toothpick comes out almost clean.

Just Dessert

I have a fairly serious sweet tooth. When dining out I have been known to forgo a main course, instead having two entree’s, to ensure sufficient digestive space for the “pud”. My real passion is chocolate and I can (and most certainly will, at a later date) drone on about the health giving benefits and restorative powers of that magical little bean. As I have previously mentioned, I firmly believe that almost anything is improved with a little/big bit of chocolate but there are certainly occasions where something fresh and light is more appropriate and, with Julie in mind, this following recipe most definitely fits that bill.

My inspiration for this dessert was the Egyptian-born cookbook writer, Claudia Roden. I first discovered her when I was mis-spending my youth, living in various share houses. I was not very long out of home at that stage, with bad food memories and very basic cooking skills, when my housemate announced that he had invited a fairly well known visiting band home for dinner the following evening. At that time the housemate – who was not the household cook – was doing a midnight-dawn shift as a disc jockey at a local radio station and, having just interviewed the boys, discovered that they were at a loose end and tired of take-aways. These were not particularly sophisticated times so when he called me to share the joy and request my co-operation I was happy to oblige, secure in the knowledge that I could turn out a very respectable roast dinner. It was not until he called me back fifteen minutes later with the news that two of the band members were vegetarians that a feeling of cold dread gripped my heart and I realised that I could well be way out of my comfort zone.
I bolted to the largest book store that I could find, feverishly searching the shelves for a vegetarian cookbook that I felt would not overly challenge my inadequate culinary skills when Claudia Roden’s “A Book of Middle Eastern Food” found it’s way into my hands, and a quick flick through it reassured me that I may just be able to avert total gastronomic disaster. I have no memory of what I prepared for the vegetarians that evening, but I do remember that the meal and the evening was, fortunately, a success.

For me, this was a wonderful introduction to an unknown cuisine. The recipes in the book were accompanied by personal anecdotes and memories of the dishes or brief accounts of the origins or rituals surrounding them and it became a favourite standby on my cookbook shelf. Claudia Roden has gone on to become one of the most inspirational and authoritative writers on Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food, with subsequent publications comprehensively covering Jewish, Moroccan, Turkish, Lebanese and Italian food, many winning various writing awards. The seminal – and face-saving – “Book of Middle Eastern Food” was re-created and enlarged by her and published as “The New Book of Middle Eastern Food” in 2000.

This is a deliciously fragrant dessert to serve after an otherwise substantial meal. It can be as sweet as you like and goes equally well with a good dollop of either thick cream or refreshing yoghurt.
Ras el Hanout is a blend of Moroccan spices and can be bought or blended yourself. I have done both and can recommend the blend sold by “Herbies” at http://www.herbies.com.au/

SPICED ORANGES

2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
Zest of 2 oranges
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ras el hanout spice mix
1 teaspoon rose water
8 oranges

Peel oranges, removing all pith. Slice thickly and arrange in shallow dish.
Place orange juice, sugar, zest and Ras el Hanout in saucepan and bring to boil stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil for about 5-10 minutes to reduce and thicken the syrup.
Remove from heat, add rose water, set aside to cool, then pour syrup over orange slices.
Serve cold.

One for Julie!

Whilst some among us (not mentioning names, of course!) continue to claim that they are hopeless in the kitchen, producing an easy but stunning dish CAN be achieved by just about anyone! The secret is generally to keep things simple – not trying to mix up too many flavours, using the best possible quality ingredients and keeping prep as uncomplicated as possible. Seriously delicious dishes can be accomplished with the right combination of just a few ingredients and often all it takes is one small step to take a meal from delicious to amazing!

Don’t be reluctant to use spices or ingredients that seem novel or exotic, however, do take care to make sure that they are fresh and top quality. Supermarket spices are often simply not worth using and the dates on the jars need to checked carefully for most spices will lose their flavour and pungency pretty quickly. With some spices it is preferable to buy them whole and grind them yourself – the smell of freshly grated nutmeg bears very little resemblance to the pre-ground popular supermarket brands. Try not to buy your spices in large packets or jars – as, again, they will lose their flavour long before you use up the packet. Shopping in gourmet stores for better quality dried spices is well worth the extra effort and cost – this is what will lift your finished dish to the next level.

I found the original of the following recipe in a wonderful book called “Ottolenghi”, named for the cafe/restaurant in Notting Hill, in London, owned by the authors. I saw the book on a bookshop shelf in Melbourne and promptly fell in love the recipes. They are all bursting with freshness and flavour and have more than a hint of the Middle Eastern background of the two owners.

I have adapted this slightly to suit myself, but this recipe is a classic example of minor additions resulting in a simple, but knock-out dish.

CHICKEN WITH ALMONDS AND HONEY
Serves 6

1.2 kg chicken thighs on the bone or
1 large chook, jointed into 6 pieces (I always use free range, organic chook)
2 onions finely chopped
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of saffron threads
juice of 1 lemon
50 ml chicken stock
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

120 gm almonds
75 gm honey
2 Tbsp rosewater

Mix the oil, spices, saffron, juice, stock and salt and pepper together. Place chicken and onions in a large container, pour over marinade to cover all the bits, cover and refrigerate overnight.

To roast, preheat oven to 180C, spread chook out over a tray large enough to fit all in a single layer and roast for 40 minutes.

Roast almonds in a pan or in the oven until lightly browned, then chop – not too course, not too fine. Mediumly??

Mix nuts with honey and rosewater to make a paste.
Remove chicken from oven and cover each piece with a generous amount of nut paste, return to oven and cook further 5-10 minutes, until nuts are golden and honey is just beginning to caramelize.

Yum!