Stuffed Portobello with Melting Fontina

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

I had bought more fontina cheese than I needed so decided to make this mushroom dish to used up the remainder of it.

I placed 4 mushrooms on baking paper on a tray and dribbled a little olive oil on them, then a sprinkling of salt and pepper. They went into a 180ºC oven for 15 minutes.

While they were cooking I chopped an onion and sautéed it for about 10 minutes. I now chopped 4 sun dried tomatoes and added them to the onion with 2 chopped garlic cloves. After a couple of minutes they were removed from the heat and a tablespoon chopped tarragon was added.

The mushrooms were then taken from the oven and the onion mixture was packed into them. Slices of fontina were placed on top and they went back into the oven for another 5 minutes, They were now ready to eat.

This is a tasty way to enjoy mushrooms. The flavours were all strong though I found that the mushroom caps had toughened a little from the baking.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

‘Mixed Grill’ with Parsley Oil

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

I was in need of a vegetable accompaniment to go with some potato cakes. I had a potato mixture left over from Potato and Cheddar Tortellini and thought they would readily and easily be turned into cakes by forming the mixture into patties and then dipping them in egg and breadcrumbs and frying them.

Ottolenghi’s mixed grill looked as though it would suit so I set to work to make the parsley oil. I took 25g parsley, leaves and stems, and put them in the blender with a garlic clove, juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper. I gave them a whiz and then added olive oil, sufficient to make a sauce. Another churn in the blender and it was ready.

The vegetables I was using were cut into thin slices: eggplant, kohlrabi and zucchini. They were placed in a bowl and given a dribble of olive oil. They then went onto a hot grill until they were well striped and sufficiently cooked. They went into the oven to be kept warm until all were ready. Once the last vegetable slice was done they went back into their bowl and the parsley oil was poured over them. They were then left to cool.

At serving time some haloumi was sliced and quickly fried until golden on both sides. This was mixed in with the vegetables.

I was pleased with my potato cakes. They were crunchy on the outside and creamy and cheesy on the inside. The vegetables grill went well with them. The parsley oil was tangy and enhanced the vegetables which had the added smokiness from the grill. My eggplant was cooked a little too long and began to disintegrate, though this added to the sauce on the plate.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Beetroot, Orange and Black Olive Salad

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

This is an unusual and delicious salad and it is an easy one to prepare.

I cooked three beetroot and sliced them into wedges.

I took two oranges and peeled them then sliced along the membranes to separate the segments.

I separated leaves from half a witlof.

A dressing was made from the saved juice from the orange slicing, about two tablespoons red wine vinegar, three tablespoons vegetable oil, a teaspoon orange blossom water and plenty of salt and black pepper.

The salad ingredients were all placed in a bowl with a handful of black olives that had been sliced in half, the dressing was poured on and the salad gently tossed.

This was such a refreshing salad. The sweetness of the beetroot and the sweet orange tang went so well against the salty olives and the bitter witlof. I must have this more often.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Goat’s Cheese Soufflés with Vanilla-Poached Peach

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

Peaches are in season again so it was time to try out this recipe that has been on my to-do list for some time.

The peaches were first peeled then placed in a mixture of 150ml of water, 150ml white wine and 150g sugar. To this I added a few black peppercorns and half a teaspoon of vanilla paste. They were brought to the boil and then simmered for 15 minutes. The heat was turned off and they were left to cool in the liquid.

I put some hazelnuts in the mortar and pestle and pounded them to small pieces. Two ramekins were buttered and the hazelnut pieces were sprinkled around the base and sides of the ramekins.

150ml milk was brought to the boil with a bay leaf and a piece of onion and some cloves. It was then left while butter was melted in a pot and plain flour added to make a roux. This was stirred for a couple of minutes and the milk (minus the bay leaf, onion and cloves) was whisked in and cooked until it had thickened. It was then taken off the heat

A little more than 100g of firm goat’s cheese was crumbled and added to the milk with two egg yolks and some salt. Now three egg whites were beaten until stiff and folded into the mixture. It all went into the ramekins.

The oven had been previously heated to 190ªC and a baking dish with boiling water added. The ramekins went into the bath and cooked for about 15 minutes. A few slices of peach were placed on top and a small amount of the liquid. They were ready to eat.

While I had some doubts about eating peaches with soufflés this worked extremely well. The slight amount of sweetness complimented the salty cheese flavour. I never seem to be disappointed with the recipes of Ottolenghi.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Hummus with Ful

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

Before commencing this dish both chickpeas and dried broad beans had to be soaked overnight. The chickpeas had bicarbonate of soda added to their water.

The next day the chickpeas were drained and put in a saucepan with fresh water and another lot of bicarbonate of soda. They were then brought to the boil and simmered until soft. The recipe mentions 2-3 hours but mine seemed to be quite ready after a little more than an hour.

The broad beans also had to be cooked until soft. Before that I had to remove the hard skins as mine still had the skins on. They went in the saucepan and were simmered like the chickpeas and, like the chickpeas, did not require nearly the time mentioned to be done.

The chickpeas were drained and put in the food processor with tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt. The mixture was churned until a soft paste. A little of the cooking water had to be added to make it a soft paste. This was basically now ready.

The beans when soft were drained. They were soft enough to be beaten with a fork. They had olive oil, lemon juice, ground cumin, salt and a crush garlic clove added and were beaten again until they had become a soft mix.

The hummus (chickpea mix) was spread on a plate and the ful (broad bean mix) paced in the centre. Paprika was sprinkled over with some olive oil and lemon juice. We ate them with pitta bread, boiled eggs, tomatoes and red onion.

The hummus was great; the ful okay. All in all though this was a filling and satisfying meal. Sharing a plate and dipping pitta in to scoop up the tasty bits is always fun. I enjoyed the fact that the hummus was totally fresh and warm and made at home. Another success from Plenty.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Sun-Dried Tomato and Pesto Burger

From The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet, Joni Marie Newman, Fair Winds Press, 2011.

I’ve tried several burgers from this book and while they tend to be all right and interesting in their own right I have still to find one that might be classified as ‘the best veggie burger on the planet’. The best veggie burge I have found to suit my tastes was found in Plenty. This was a broad bean burger. But I still continued my search and tried a sun-dried tomato and pesto burger.

To begin I put on some rice to boil, sufficient to make 2 cups.

Next an onion and 250 grams of chopped mushrooms were fried until their quantity had reduced to about half.

While this was cooking I made a pesto. The recipe called for a quantity of their own pesto recipe to be made but I make pesto so often, and I like my own pesto so much, that I whizzed up my own. Half a cup was required for the burgers and more for the bread.   

This, as well as the other ingredients (one half a cup of sun-dried tomatoes chopped, 2 cups of cooked rice and half a cup of pesto, were placed in a food processor until mixed and broken down, though still somewhat chunky.

Rice flour was now added to make a good consistency for burgers. At this stage I found hands were the best implements for doing this. The mixture then went in the refrigerator to allow the flour time to meld well.

When it was time for cooking, the mixture was taken out and made into burgers. It made eight.

Buns were not used to accompany the burgers, but a baguette was sliced on an angle, given a light toasting and spread with pesto.

I enjoyed these burgers better than some others I have made from the book. The sun-dried tomatoes gave a pleasant tang as you bit into the burgers and the pesto highlighted the mushrooms well.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Broad Bean Burgers

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

I didn’t expect to find a recipe for burgers in Plenty but there it was and as it came from Yotam Ottolenghi I guessed that it would be a good one—and I’m a fan of burgers.

There was a fair amount of separate little cooking jobs before the burgers could be put together.

Firstly the broad beans had to blanched, cooled and carefully removed of their skins—a reasonably long process but rather pleasing to do if you aren’t in a hurry.

Then some spice seeds (cumin, coriander and fennel) were dry roasted and ground in a mortar and pestle.

Spinach was wilted in a pan with some olive oil. It was then squeezed as dry as possible and chopped.

Potatoes were boiled until tender. They were drained and the broad beans were added to them with the ground seeds, some chopped green chilli, chopped garlic, turmeric, some olive oil and seasoning. This was mashed with a potato masher. It was only mashed until it was generally broken up. The spinach was added, some chopped coriander and breadcrumbs. The final ingredient was an egg. It was then all mixed together.

The mixture was formed into patties and placed in the refrigerator for half an hour. 

The burgers were then fried.

I’m sure these were not intended to be lost in a bread roll. They were wonderfully flavoured and this flavour mix would be somewhat lost placed in bread. I decided to serve it on a plate with the standard three vegies. A bit dull I suppose but I wanted to just enjoy the burgers without any fuss surrounding them.

These are definitely ones I would go back to. I guess they would rate tops on my burger list.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔ 

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Asparagus, Fennel and Beetroot with Verjus

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

Maggie Beer often extols the benefits of verjus so it seemed as if I should at some time try it out. I found this recipe in Plenty which I often browse through. It’s a book I often flip over the pages to see what other treats are in it.

This is an easy recipe to prepare though it takes a little longer than usual for a salad.

The beetroot are roasted and then cooled.

The dressing takes a little time as the verjus is simmered until it is reduced. When it is cool oil and seasonings are beaten in.

While the recipe calls for the asparagus to be raw I cooked mine. I left the fennel raw though and sliced it thinly.

When the vegetables were on the serving plate they were dressed and sprinkled with pine nuts.

It was a rather fresh salad with some nice crunch from the fennel. I’m not so sure about the value of verjus as compared with a vinegar. It was a little blander in comparison and I do like the bite of vinegar.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Chard and Saffron Omelettes

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

I keep being drawn back to this book because the recipes are light though satisfying, flavoursome and always with that slightly different touch that makes them something special.

Omelettes always make a pleasing meal. This particular one sounded especially so.

Firstly a filling had to be made. Potatoes were put in a pan of water with some saffron and brought to the boil. After a few minutes the chard was added. This had been chopped. When this mixture was cooked it was drained, lemon juice and a crushed garlic clove added. It was then left to cool.

The omelette mix (eggs, milk, chopped herbs and seasonings) was beaten and the omelettes cooked. These were thin omelettes.

Once cooled a little, each omelette was spread with crème fraîche. The vegetable mix was spooned on and the omelette folded in half. To follow the recipe they should then have been folded in half again. Mine looked as though they would not take the second fold so they stayed as they were.

The filling of potatoes and chard worked well with its tangy lemon juice. The slight aniseed of the tarragon in the omelette came through, enlivening the mix. A truly satisfying meal.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Soba Noodles with Aubergine and Mango

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

When I read eggplant and mango together I hesitated. Would that work? I felt somewhat uncertain about that combination. And I had never used soba noodles before. However, I had previously made several recipes from this book so I did trust Yotam Ottolenghi. I decided to give it a go.

The dressing was made first. That in itself seemed unusual to me. But go with the chef’s instructions. It was an Asian mix of rice vinegar, sugar, salt garlic, red chilli and sesame oil with some lime juice and zest.

Next I fried the eggplant (aubergine) that I’d cut into cubes. When they were golden they were sprinkled with salt and left to drain.

Next the soba noodles were cooked, drained and left to dry.

The noodles were mixed with the mango cut into pieces, the eggplant, chopped basil and coriander and some sliced red onion. These were tossed with the dressing and left for an hour or two until ready to serve. Basically this was a type of noodle salad.

It was surprisingly tasty. The mango and the fried eggplant complemented one another quite well. And the soba noodles are tastier than the usual noodles.

One to add to my make again list.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔