Dry-Spiced Potato Curry

From A Passion for Potatoes, Paul Gayler, Kyle Cathie Ltd, 2009.

I had made a spinach dish and wanted something that would go well with it. This dish, which seemed Indian, looked a good choice.

Two potatoes were placed in a saucepan of cold water, brought to the boil and then cooked for another 10 minutes. They were then cut into goodly sized pieces when cooled.

In a frying pan I dry-roasted a tablespoon of cumin seeds and a tablespoon of fennel seeds until their fragrance arose. They were then ground in a mortar and pestle and a little water added to make them into a paste.

A tablespoon of ghee was heated in the frying pan and a chopped onion was added and sautéed until beginning to turn golden. Another 2 tablespoons ghee were now added and 4 curry leaves and a teaspoon black mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds began to pop the spice paste was stirred in and cooked for a couple of minutes more.

Now the potatoes were added together with a teaspoon of turmeric and 4 tablespoons of desiccated coconut, a chopped red chill and water sufficient to half cover the potatoes. The pan was covered and cooking continued for another 10 minutes.

This was a satisfying spicy dish that went well with the spinach and cannellini beans.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Cream Cheese, Beetroot and Truffle Tarts

From Pure Vegetarian, Paul Gayler, Kyle Cathie Ltd, 2008.

If you have some cooked beetroot these are quick and easy entrée bites.

I used bought short pastry to make the tart cases. It was cut into 5cm circles, placed into tart cases and baked at 190ºC for about 15 minutes until golden.

The beetroot was cut into fine dice and cooked in a saucepan with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons maple syrup until it had caramelised just a little—basically when the liquid had almost gone.

The cream cheese was mixed with some chopped chives and salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, the cream cheese went into the tart cases first, followed by the beetroot on top with a little chopped chives. A sprinkling of truffle oil was added on top.

These worked well. They looked good, you could eat them in one bite, and they were quite tasty. I do feel that the cream cheese—perhaps the oniony chives—took away a little from the enhanced beetroot with its sweet and slightly tart flavour. Next time I would use something different from cream cheese.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔ 

Haloumi with Raita and Witlof Salad on Crispy Poppadoms

From The Modern Vegetarian, Maria Elia, Kyle Cathie, 2009.

I love to eat haloumi so when I find a recipe that includes it I usually want to make it.

There were many parts to this recipe. The first and the easiest was to slice the haloumi and to fry it quickly until it was golden on both sides. It was then put aside while a spicy mix was made.

The spice mixture was made by mixing together 2 tablespoons mango chutney, a touch of grated fresh ginger, a pinch each of ground turmeric, paprika, cumin and coriander, a goodly amount of chopped fresh coriander and some salt and pepper. This mixture was spread onto the haloumi and when the dish was ready to be assembled this was placed in the oven to heat through.

I needed a poppadum for each person and these proved the most difficult part of the dish. The instructions said that they were best fried until they puffed up. They certainly puffed up but they also rolled up. So I tried the other method of using the microwave. This was better though not perfect by any means but I did get enough to use.

A raita had to be made by mixing together 3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt, a small amount of cucumber peeled and deseeded and cut into fine dice, ½ Granny Smith apple diced, a tablespoon finely chopped red onion, a little grated fresh ginger, a pinch each of ground coriander and garam masala, chopped coriander, and the juice of ½ lime. I really liked the addition of the apple to add its tart sweetness to the raita.

The salad greens were prepared by slicing a witlof finely, a small amount of fennel sliced, 2 dates sliced, shredded mint, chopped coriander and some watercress. These were all carefully mixed together and dressed with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, a touch of white wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

The dish was arranged by placing a poppadum on each plate. On top of this went a helping of the salad greens, some raita, and finally the warmed haloumi with its spice mix.

This was quite a lot of work to prepare all of the pieces so I don’t think it was worth all the effort. It was tasty, brimming with a mix of tastes, but I think that they were somehow lost when it all came together. It was also not the easiest to eat as the poppadum underneath slipped around the plate. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it. 

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔

Funghi Carbonara

From Paul Gayler’s Little Book of Pasta & Noodles, Paul Gayler, Kyle Cathie Ltd, 2009.

Recently I read that one of the super foods to help prevent colds is mushrooms. What better reason to make a funghi carbonara.

To begin I took some dried porcinis and added boiling water to just cover them and let them soak while I cut up the rest of my mushrooms, some Swiss browns. I also sliced a shallot finely.

I now put a large saucepan with salted water on to bring to the boil and  melted some butter in a large frying pan. I added the chopped mushrooms and shallot to the pan and bucatini to the boiling water. I sautéed the vegetables for about 3 minutes and then added the porcini pieces together with their water and a sprinkling of salt, black pepper and a little grated nutmeg. After about another minute I poured in some cream and brought it to the boil, then let it simmer for a few minutes more.

By now the bucatini was cooked so it was drained and added to the mushrooms. When all was well mixed I added a beaten egg and a goodly amount of grated Parmesan cheese. Using tongs I mixed the ingredients well and placed them on serving plates.

While not a true carbonara you can’t really beat a mixture of mushrooms and cream in pasta.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Parsnip, Potato and Honey Mustard Mash

From A Passion for Potatoes, Paul Gayler, Kyle Cathie Ltd, 2009.

Browsing through a food shop I found some vegetarian sausages that I thought I’d like to try. Naturally, with sausages, I wanted to have a mash and this one seemed just right. 

I cooked parsnips and potatoes in the ratio of 2:1, parsnips to potatoes. I was only cooking for two so it was basically one large parsnip and a smaller potato. When they were just about cooked I drained them, then put them back in the saucepan with just sufficient milk to let them continue cooking. When they were nicely soft I added butter, a little yoghurt, a teaspoon honey and two teaspoons wholegrain mustard. They were then mashed and checked for seasoning.

This was such a good mash and the perfect foil for the sausages.  Parsnips have a natural sweetness to them and with the honey this was a sweeter mash, a little modified by the mustard. It seemed to go particularly well with the spiciness of the sausages. One to remember and repeat.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔