Chervil Pancakes with Aubergine Caviar and Pomegranate

From Vegetarian, Alice Hart, Murdoch Books, 2011.

The chervil in the backyard garden was growing well so it was time to use some up.

Firstly I needed to make the aubergine caviar. A garlic clove was mashed in a mortar and pestle with some salt. A teaspoon of cumin seeds was added and this was crushed in to make a paste. An eggplant (aubergine) was sliced in half lengthwise. The garlic mash was spread on both of the cut sides and they were then pressed together. The eggplant was wrapped in foil and placed in a 200ºC oven for an hour, after which it was taken out and left to cool.

When the eggplant had cooled the flesh was scraped out with a spoon and placed in a saucepan with a little olive oil. It was simmered for about 5 minutes then left to cool. Now a teaspoon of pomegranate molasses, a tablespoon of yoghurt and salt and pepper were stirred in. This was the caviar ready.

The pancakes were made by beating together 225g self-raising flour and a teaspoon of baking powder with 2 beaten eggs, 250ml buttermilk and a tablespoon of chopped chervil. When the mixture was smooth it was cooked on a griddle about a heaped teaspoon at a time. The pancakes were flipped over as soon as bubbles appeared to cook the other side.

To serve a teaspoon of the caviar was placed on each pancake with another teaspoon of pomegranate seed mixed with a little yoghurt. Some more pomegranate seeds were added on top with a sprig of chervil.

These made an appealing appetiser and proved to be suitably tasty.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔ 

Camembert, Watercress and Marinated Figs with Walnut Dressing

From Vegetarian, Alice Hart, Murdoch Books, 2010.

Camembert, watercress, figs and walnuts—a perfect match of flavours. This looked as though it would be an excellent salad but after the rather disastrous fig recipe I had made recently I was a little unsure.

Firstly a marinade had to be made for the figs. A hundred grams of balsamic was placed in a saucepan with 50g caster sugar, a peeled garlic clove, a couple of sprigs of thyme and 50ml of water. This was brought to the boil and simmered for a couple of minutes, then left to cool.

Three figs were halved and placed in the marinade and left for a couple of hours.

When it was time to make the salad the figs were removed from the marinade and placed cut side down in a hot frying pan until they had caramelised. The pan was turned off and the figs turned over and left to cool.

Meanwhile the marinade was turned into a dressing. Three tablespoons of the mixture was measured into a small bowl. To it were added the leaves from a spring of thyme, two tablespoons walnut oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper. This was beaten until combined well.

A good handful of watercress leaves were tossed with a little of the dressing. This was placed on the serving plate, chopped walnuts were sprinkled over, the figs were added and 125g camembert cut into pieces. The remainder of the dressing was drizzled over.

A delicious salad. I loved every bite of it.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Parsnip, Sage and Mascarpone Risotto

From Vegetarian, Alice Hart, Murdoch Books, 2011.

Recently I have been going through a bit of a risotto binge so the techniques are familiar; it is just the variations that attract me now.

For this one I had made a stock the previous evening from vegetable peelings, corings and cast offs so that was ready to go. It was put on the stove at a very slow simmer.

Into a large frying pan went some butter, a chopped shallot, a grated parsnip and a couple of sage leaves finely sliced. These were sautéed for a few minutes before adding 125 g of Arborio rice. After stirring for about a minute to coat the rice with the buttery vegetable mix some white wine was poured in. Once this had been absorbed the ladling of the stock began, one ladle at a time until it was absorbed.

Once the rice was cooked to al dente it was turned off and a tablespoon of mascarpone was added with grated Parmesan cheese. The lid was placed on and it was left for a couple of minutes before serving with a little more mascarpone and Parmesan.

This was a wonderfully creamy risotto. The parsnip had disintegrated into the sauce and, with the mascarpone added, the result was a soft and creamy risotto with a hint of sweetness from the parsnip.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Tamarind Tempeh with Sesame Noodles and Shredded Greens

From Vegetarian, Alice Hart, Murdoch Books, 2011.

Before I began this dish I needed to make some gomashio. This was made by heating some salt in a frying pan until it turned a little grey in colour. It was then tipped in a mortar and sesame seeds were now heated in the pan until they gave off a fragrant smell. These went into the mortar and were pounded with the salt until they had broken down somewhat but not completely. This was the gomashio.

The tempeh for the dish had to be marinated for about half an hour. It was cut up into bite-sized slices and mixed with a little grated ginger, the zest of an orange, some honey, some tamarind puree and a little soy sauce.

The noodles were cooked and drained. They had a little sesame oil added so as they did not stick together.

Some olive oil was added to a wok and, when hot, the tempeh was added and stir fried until it was browned. It was then placed aside.

More oil was added to the wok and a little grated ginger, a chopped green chilli and a chopped garlic clove were added. These were cooked for a minute or two and then shredded bok choi was added for a minute. The tempeh was returned to the pan with the juice of an orange. As soon as the bok choi had wilted the noodles were added and tossed. The dish was now ready to serve.

It was served on plates with a touch or two of sesame oil, a sprinkling of gomashio and some sliced spring onions.

Tempeh is not my most favourite ingredient but the marinade went some way to making it much more acceptable. For me, this was a reasonable dish though not one to become a favourite. I really like the gomashio and have since used it sprinkled on a variety of items.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Quick Soda Bread

From Vegetarian, Alice Hart, Murdoch Books, 2011.

I always like to have bread when I am eating soup. It’s not always convenient to go through the whole yeast process however so I was pleased to find this soda bread. It looked as though it might be quick and easy to make—and it was.

All that had to be done was to turn on the oven to heat to 180. Then while the oven was heating the mixture had to be put together. Two flours, plain and wholemeal in equal quantities, were sifted with baking soda. Some salt was added and some sugar. Then a small amount of butter was rubbed in. Water was added to make a rather sticky dough which was then formed into a loaf shape on baking paper. Into the oven it went until cooked.

This turned out to be a really good accompaniment to go with soup. It had quite a bit of flavour from the wholemeal flour and there was enough body to make it well suited for dunking.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Raw Vegetable and Avocado Soup

From Vegetarian, Alice Hart, Murdoch Books, 2011.

I’m not a great fan of cold soups but I’m always willing to try recipes from this book because they have so far all proved to be well worth making.

The soup started off as though it were nothing more than a drink of vegetable juice. Spinach, carrots, celery and fresh ginger were put through a juicer and then the juice was placed in a blender. So far it was just a juice but, at this stage, avocado was added and when it was blended in the juice turned into a wonderfully smooth creamy mixture. Water was added and some flavour additions: soy sauce, Tabasco and lime juice.

It was served cold with some ice cubes. I tasted at this stage and, while it was all right, it seemed to be lacking something. The last stage of the recipe was to add a drizzle of sesame oil. This brought the whole thing to life. It was amazing the different that this made.

All in all, a healthy, easy to prepare soup, worth trying though possibly I wouldn’t make it again—however, come a really hot day, if Sydney ever gets another one this summer, I may give it another go.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔ 

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Warm Salad of Slow-roast Tomatoes, Ricotta and Almonds on Mujadhara

From Vegetarian, Alice Hart, Murdoch Books, 2011.

I decided to slow roast my own tomatoes for this recipe. The instructions are in the book so I just made sure I planned a bit ahead of time for they needed four hours in the oven. I am pleased that I took the time for the freshly roasted tomatoes, sprinkled before roasting with caster sugar, rosemary and chopped garlic, were wickedly good.

I had not had mujadhara before But it is an easy-to-make base on which to serve some salad vegetables. Onions were fried until golden, then lentils were added and boiled for a little while before rice was then added to boil in the mixture.

The dressing was an oil and vinegar one but it had the addition of some saffron soaked in a little boiling water.

The salad was then put together. Chopped parsley and some spinach leaves were added to the mujadhara. It was placed on the serving plate and some tomatoes added on top with spoonfuls of ricotta. Toasted flaked almonds were scattered on top. Over this the dressing was poured.

What a great salad. I loved it. It was basically a meal in itself. One due for repeats. 

I'm truly enjoying cooking from this recipe book. The recipes are fresh and modern and turn out to taste as well as they look in the photographs.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔