Honeycomb-peanut chocolate bites

This is based on a Nigella Lawson recipe – that I saw on one of her TV shows Nigella Kitchen, one I think that was mainly created for screening in the US, and so I am not sure when it appears in the Nigella chronology.  In my last Nigella-based blog I said some quite negative things about her unnecessarily sexualised presenting style. While I do find it a bit too ‘wink wink nudge nudge’ sometimes, I really do think that she is great.  She is a fantastic writer and the recipes are lovely, and maybe there is something we can learn from her confident, real-womanly sexuality. 

A while back I read an interview with Nigella where she said that during the TV series she made shortly after the death of her first husband (the wonderful writer John Diamond) she was incredibly depressed, and regretted making the show – I think it was the Forever Summer one. Whenever I watch repeats of that show, and infact any Nigella TV appearance, I find myself scrutinising her, looking for any signs of her depression.  And of course I can’t see anything. This got me thinking a lot about the masks that people wear in public, and the way that most people ‘expect’ them to be worn. My flatmate Hannah told me a brilliant line the other day, to use in response to people who comment about the lack of smiles in others – please give me permission to experience my emotions. Obviously this is really hippy and probably not something you could say to most people, but there is such truth in it. Maybe we all need to be more open to others, to show them that we understand the ups and downs in life. And then maybe this emotional freedom will help people to repress their feelings a little less.

And this brings me quite nicely to the theme of this post – the wonderful combination that is salt and sweet. In the way that the best comedies have a touch of sadness, or Shakespeare’s sweet sorrow, experiencing that edge, or those tears, seems to make everything else that little bit sweeter. The combination of the two in food is just magical – fans of Thai food or chocolate-covered pretzels will know this one already. I recently had an amazing chocolate truffle that had been decorated with a few crystals of sea salt. As well as looking beautiful, the taste was just amazing. In a recent TV series Heston Blumenthal said that salt actually makes chocolate taste sweeter.

600g dark chocolate – broken up

200g unsalted butter - cubed

4 large crunchie bars – smashed up, with some big chunks, and smaller bits of rubble

150g salted peanuts

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a large bowl balanced on top of a saucepan of simmering water. Be careful with this so that it doesn’t seize – let it melt slowly. Once it is melted and shiny, mix in the crunchie pieces and peanuts. Pour the whole thing into a square foil-lined dish (roasting tray, cake tin) and leave to set. If you are very clever (which sadly I wasn’t) when the chocolate is half-set you could take a knife and score bar shapes in it - making it easier to break up later. Once it is set, cut the chocolate into bite-sized pieces and enjoy!

West African Style Kale, Pineapple & Peanut Stew

I made this dish about a month or so ago, and I have to say that it was one of the most surprising things have ever made. The dinner where it debuted was an interesting event, kind of an African-themed hamster wake. It was a great evening and a good time was had by all I think, and it was a very decent send-off for Coco the hamster.

African food is pretty new to me (apart from North Africa and South African Braai), but after a few of my friends have travelled there and raved about it, I looked into it a bit more. I found this recipe online after searching for kale based, vegan, West-African recipes, and it sounded so so weird and a little bit disgusting, I just had to try it. I was looking for kale recipes as I had discovered on a previous investigation that it is very popular in a range of dishes throughout the world. The recipe is from Mollie Katzen, so not exactly authentic – but as she is the author of one of my first and most beloved cookbooks The Moosewood Cookbook – I knew that it would be worth a try. And I was so right. Now I was really dubious, even as it was cooking I thought that it would be horrible. But then I tasted it, and it was incredible – DELICIOUS!!! sweet, savoury and spicy - flavour combinations that work so well together, in an earthy, hearty and totally new kind of way. This recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, I found it on the website www.veganconnection.com

Serves 4 – very easy. Serve on rice, or couscous, or with flatbread.

Ingredients

1 onion, diced not that small


2 garlic cloves, crushed

Vegetable or other flavourless oil, approx 1 tbsp

1 bunch of kale or Swiss chard (4 cups sliced)
 - I used about 1 and a bit bags of kale from Sainsburys – they are really large but once all the stalks had been picked out, it wasn’t as much as it seemed. Also remember that it cooks down a lot.

2 cups undrained canned crushed pineapple (20-ounce can)
- I used one regular sized can

½ cup peanut butter
- use a few tbsp of hot water to melt it

Generous shakes of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
 - you need to be able to taste the spice, as it balances the sweetness of the pineapple

handful chopped fresh coriander


salt to taste


big handful crushed skinless peanuts (if using salted peanuts then put less salt in the main dish)

2 or 3 sliced spring onions
(including the green parts)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions for about 10 minutes adding the garlic about halfway, stirring frequently, they are lightly browned. While the onions and garlic are frying, wash the kale carefully, discarding large stems and any blemished leaves. Of the leaves are whole shred them into 1inch slices.

Add the pineapple and its juice to the onions in the pan along with a tablespoon or 2 of hot water, and bring it to a simmer. Stir in the kale, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until just tender. Mix in the peanut butter, Tabasco and coriander and simmer for a couple more minutes. Season and serve topped with crushed peanuts, chopped spring onions, fresh coriander and a wedge of lime.

Sweet and Sour Onions

This recipe comes from a fantastic book called ‘Jewish Traditions Cookbook’ by Marlena Spieler. While it may not have the beautiful prose and history of Claudia Roden’s book (officially one of the best cookbooks ever) it is concise with pictures on ever page, and recipes from all over the world. Marlena writes that this recipe originates from Sicily, and spread to Italy, Greece, Turkey and France when the Spanish took over Sicily and the Jews had to flee. I really do find it incredibly interesting how recipes and flavour combinations have travelled through the world as a result of Jewish history. Claudia herself has a fantastic story about Tunisian Jewish flavours linking back to Portugal and Livorno in Italy, by way of pirates, of course.

As this dish is best served at room temperature, it makes for an incredibly useful side dish – although I reckon it is probably even better when eaten simply with crusty bread and cheese, with little regard for table manners. Also apologies for some of the quantities given, I scaled up the recipe due to the fact that the little onions I found (Sainsburys shallots) come in 400g packs. It makes a fairly decent amount, one large panful. When peeling the onions, various sources recommend blanching them in a similar manner to tomatoes to get the skins off easily, but I just peeled them the regular way and it didn’t seem like so much hassle.

ingredients

800g small onions or shallots, peeled but whole

80ml or so wine vinegar (I used cider vinegar as I didn’t have any)

70ml or so olive oil

60g caster sugar (this is less than the recipe suggested, but you can add a little more if you have a sweeter tooth, for me though it was plenty.

5 tbsp tomato puree

2 pinches each of cinnamon and allspice (I didn’t have any allspice)

2 bay leaves

4 parsley sprigs (I didn’t have any fresh parsley so used some dried instead)

100g (ish) raisins or sultanas

salt and pepper

It really is this easy…

Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan with 500ml water. Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for 45 mins or so, until the onions are soft and the liquid has thickened and reduced considerably. Remove the bay leaves and parsley sprigs, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Oat, Apple and Cinnamon Cookies

My beautiful friends. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love you. Even if I have never met you before, please know that this is true. I haven’t written here for a while, and I cannot believe how much has changed since then.

I’ve had a pretty crazy few months. Any of you who read my last post way back in November will know that I was feeling quite on edge and uncertain. In fact, I had just been dumped, but in possibly the loveliest way imaginable, leading to a little emotional craziness, or pardon the expression, a ‘mindfuck.’  And then a few weeks later, I was getting soaped up and whipped in a Turkish bath by a hot guy I didn’t know very well!!  Reflecting on the past year and my first post about trying to be less shy and more proactive, my ‘bath’ gained symbolic significance.

And then there was the accident…

It has been 3 weeks and I guess I’m halfway through the physical healing process. Time stopped and I have had to lie low on the adventures for a bit, but I have never felt more loved or more fearless in my life.  About a month or so ago I made these cookies as a thank you for two very special people who gave me some fantastic advice. As the recipient, it was not necessarily my right to chose the currency for services provided, but then, that isn’t how a gift economy works – or so I have been told. And now I am sharing them with you.

These cookies are a little bit like brandy-snaps – lace-like, crunchy caramel with little chunks of chewy apple. And as with my other cookies recipes you really need some silicone paper or some other sort of super non-stick tray. The recipe is from the Jamie Oliver magazine, and they suggest sandwiching two together with a maple buttercream. I think that it would be complete overkill and possibly also ruin the crunch of the cookies. Send me an email if you would like the quantities for the maple buttercream.

Makes approx 25-30, depending on how big you make them, I tend to make double batches

Ingredients

100g butter, at room temperature

100g sugar

50g golden syrup

50g self-raising flour

125g rolled oats/porridge

½ tsp ground cinnamon

50g dried apple, chopped (I used the Sainsburys semi-dried stuff, makes them more interesting)

1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 tbsp cold water

Preheat the oven to 180c (or 170 if using a fan oven) and line 2-3 baking trays – you will probably have to bake the cookies in batches.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Melt the butter with the sugar and syrup in a small pan over a low heat and add to the dry ingredients. Stir well and add the yolk mixture, stirring again. Leave to cool slightly.

Spoon teaspoons of the mixture on to the tray leaving plenty of room, and bake them for 10-12 minutes, until golden. Please be aware that like brandy snaps they will be soft when they come out of the oven, but will harden up as they cool down. It is best to get them on to a wire rack as soon as they are cool/hard enough to be peeled off the silicone paper/tray. And put the kettle on.

Greek yogurt with condensed milk and oranges

This recipe comes from Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros, a great book that focuses on memory and recipes from childhood, that was given to me by T.O.M for my birthday 5 years ago. The reason why Apples for Jam is such a lovely lovely book is that the chapters are arranged according to colour.  This just makes me so happy (and I know someone who it would make me even happier) – I seem to forget it’s arrangement every time, and when I open the book up I smile.  I mean, generally when I am looking for something to cook I am looking for ‘starters’ or ‘things to make tofu more interesting’ and not ‘yellow’ or ‘mulitcoloured stripes’. But it is all just so beautiful that its forgiven – sometimes I think that the world might be a happier place if more people started grouping things in their own special ways.

This recipe is from the chapter ‘orange.’ The more I think about it, orange seems to really sum up how I am feeling at the moment.  Its like being on the edge of a precipice and not really sure what is going to happen – are you going to stop or go? It tells you to get ready, but not necessarily what for. For me it signifies uncertainty and change. My brilliant flatmate Hannah pointed out that orange is possibly the colour that signifies how colour can have meaning, because of its excessive use and multiple meanings. And I think that is just beautiful.

Now this isn’t the most mind-blowing or involved dessert I have ever made, but sometimes a bit of simplicity is a good thing.  The yogurty-pudding base is rich and creamy, the perfect foil for the oranges.  I think that if I was to make this again I would add a little ground cardamom and saffron possibly to give it just the slightest hint of a shrikand (possibly my most favourite dessert ever).

Ingredients

2 whole oranges/ blood oranges – zest one of them

100ml sweetened condensed milk (this is only a small amount of a can – I now have a mug-full of condensed milk in the fridge and no idea what to do with it – all suggestions welcome

300g Greek-style natural yogurt

Serves 4

Cut away the skin from the oranges leaving no pith behind, slice them into substantial wheels and then in half.  Put the slices in a bowl to collect the juices, trying to save as much as possibly that it now currently rolling around the chopping board.  At this point Tessa suggests that you add some sugar to the oranges if they are not sweet enough – I say don’t, the condensed milk is sweet enough and actually a slightly sour orange would probably work better here. 

Put the condensed milk, half the orange zest and the orange juice that has collected under the slices (hopefully about 3 tablespoons-ish) into a jug, and slowly mix with the yogurt.  Cover the mixture and leave it in the fridge for a few hours so that it can settle and become thick and creamy.

Serve artfully in individual glassed layered with the orange slices, and a little of the remaining zest sprinkled over the top.

Aw, you are such a schnitzel!

So this is exciting, its very rare that I cook meat voluntarily, and not on a Shabbat, but this was pretty much an exception, and it was totally worth it. Schnitzels are one of those things that I have always known in theory how to cook, but only actually attempted this one time. 

When I was a teenager and involved in youth movements and other optimistic, wholesome activities, the people who I admired pretty much more than anyone else were my madrichim (counselors). They were like my older siblings, sort of, they were cool and loving and seemingly so secure in their Judaism and future plans. Of course I have since reached and passed their ages myself and I know that this wasn’t true, they just knew how to hide it better. Anyway, one of my madrachot used schnitzel as a term of endearment. If something was cute, she would say something like ‘oh schnitzel’. Since then, I have always associated the two, and schnitzels are cute and comforting.

Apparently in real life they are supposed to be veal, but in my world it is always chicken or turkey. I asked the butcher for turkey escalopes and he carved them for me specially, so they were thin enough.  If yours aren’t, give them a bash to flatten them a bit, or cut them in half lengthways almost the whole way through, and then flatten in a butterfly way.

For 4 decent sized turkey schnitzels you will need:

1 cup flour (or something equivalent during passover)

1-2 eggs, beaten

2 cups breadcrumbs (or matza meal – I used the pre-flavoured garlic breadcrumbs that you can buy in crouton-shakers from kosher shops, and they worked really well)

flavourless cooking oil (not olive!)

salt and pepper

other spices of your choosing

1 very big heavy frying pan

3 dinner plates / wide shallow bowls

1 lemon

Put the flour in one plate, the beaten eggs on another, and the breadcrumbs on the third.  Season the flour with salt and pepper, and add a few other spices depending on what you fancy – I used a bit of sweet paprika and a small amount of chili powder.

Pour oil into the pan about 1cm or so deep and put on to heat – don’t put the schnitzels in until you are sure its really really hot.  You can test this safely by adding in a few crumbs and seeing how quickly they start to sizzle.

Coat each escalope first in the flour, then egg and then crumbs, making sure there is an even coating.  I strongly recommend making these at least half an hour or so in advance so that you can put them in the fridge at this point.  This allows them to firm up, so that the coating is less likely to fall off when you put them in the hot oil. Add them to the pan carefully making sure that they don’t splash oil.  Fry on each side until its golden brown, about 5 minutes or so.  I like a few crunchy parts, but I leave that to your judgement. When they are done to your liking, remove them from the pan and leave on some kitchen paper or equivalent so that the excess oil can soak away.  If you are not serving them immediately, they will stay relatively crisp if you put them on tray in a medium hot oven for a little bit.  Serve with lemon wedges. And chips. 

Yum.

Lime and coconut lentil curry

I learnt to really love lentils in university, when my fantastic housemate Simon showed me how to properly cook them, and the many, magical ways that such a simple and cheap ingredient could be used. We would make massive vats of them and eat nothing but lentils for days. They seem to have the ability to soak up so many different kinds of flavours.  This recipe may seem a bit more involved than others, but believe me its worth it. And really do roast and grind the spices, the difference in taste from ready-ground is massive. If you can eat them, and have the time, it really is worth adding the eggs, delicious and perfect protein hit.

Ingredients

100g green lentils

1 can coconut milk, with water added to make up 1 pint of liquid

1 rounded tsp lime pickle, lumps chopped up

juice and zest of ½ a fresh lime

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 red chilli, chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed

2.5 cm piece of ginger, grated/chopped finely

veg oil

3 cardamom pods

1 level tsp cumin seeds

1 level tsp fennel seeds

1 level dessertspoon coriander seeds

1 rounded tsp turmeric powder

1 level tsp fenugreek powder

salt

4 eggs

large heavy-bottomed frying pan with a lid

heat the frying pan and when hot add the whole spices and dry-roast for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time.  As soon as they start to jump/colour remove from the heat and tip into a mortar and grind.

Put the oil in the pan and heat, when very hot and add the onions and let sizzle and brown at the edges for about 4 minutes, then turn the heat down and add the chilli, ginger, garlic and lime pickle, along with the turmeric and fenugreek powders.  Then add the ground roasted spices and give a good stir.

Next add the lentils, lime zest and coconut liquid, stir and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down.  Put the lid on and allow to simmer as gently as possible for 45 minutes.  Check from time to time and see if it needs a little more water.

10 minutes before its ready, boil the eggs for 6-7 minutes and peel.  Then the curry is ready, season and add lime juice, stick the peeled eggs and leave everything to cook through for a couple more minutes with the lid on.