Radish and Broad Bean Salad

From Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2008.

You always find something a little different and worth trying in a book by Ottolenghi.

I took 250g frozen broad beans and dropped them into a pan of boiling water for a couple of minutes. They then went under a tap of cold water until they were cool enough to handle. The tougher skins were pinched and the bright green inner beans popped out.

About 8 small radishes were washed and scrubbed and cut into 6 or 8 wedges depending on their size. A small amount of red onion was finely sliced. A little coriander was chopped. A piece of preserved lemon skin was chopped finely. Some parsley, about the same amount as the coriander, was chopped. The ingredients were all carefully mixed together. The juice of a lemon and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil were added with a teaspoon of ground cumin and some salt and pepper. The salad was tossed to mix and was served.

This was a pleasant salad. The ingredients all worked well together. I’m not a great fan of radishes but in this salad they went down well.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Caramelised Endive

From Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2008.

When I looked at this recipe and its accompanying illustrations I realised it must have been for what we call witlof, or Belgium endive.

The witlofs were cut in half lengthwise and fried until caramelised in a pan containing butter and a little caster sugar. This took about 4 minutes.

Now a mixture was made of breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, a very small pinch of thyme leaves, salt and black pepper and sufficient cream to made a thin paste. This was layered over the caramelised side of the witlofs. The recipe called for slices of ham to be laid over this; I used a vegetarian substitute (it might have been better without). The witlofs now went into a 200ºC oven for a quarter of an hour.

The vegetarian ham was not good. It had dried and gone a bit hard so was unpleasant to chew. The witlof and their paste covering worked quite well. Previous to this I had only had witlof in salads so it was worthwhile trying this vegetable cooked. Quite good.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion with Tahini & Za’atar

From Jerusalem, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2012.

Being in the mood for Middle Eastern food I turned to Yotam Ottolenghi as a starting point. Inspired I ended up making a little feast from a variety of sources: this roast, a yoghurt sauce, a pilaki and some filo pastries.

The roast was a simple one to make and very tasty. I turned the oven on to heat up to 220ºC. While it was heating I cut up some butternut pumpkin and a red onion into nicely sized pieces. They went into a bowl and were mixed with some olive oil, salt and black pepper. When the oven was ready they went in for about ¾ hour.

While the vegetables were roasting I made a tahini sauce. I used a little over a tablespoon tahini, some lemon juice and a little water. They were beaten together until a pouring mixture was gained. A little tasting was done and some adjustments made until it just seemed right. 

A handful of pine nuts were roasted in some olive oil in a pan and taken off the heat to wait for the vegetables to be ready.

When the pumpkin was ready it was left to cool a little and the tahini sauce was dribbled over. The pine nuts went on as well as the oil they were cooked in. Za’atar was sprinkled over and some chopped parsley.

This was such a flavoursome way to have roast pumpkin. The tang of the tahini went so well with the vegetables. The red onion had sweetened. The pine nuts were full of crunch. I’ll be making this one again.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Spicy Beetroot, Leek and Walnut Salad

From Jerusalem, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2012.

A new Yotam Ottolenghi recipe book! I could not resist it despite the fact that it is not just a vegetarian cookbook though it does have many recipes that are vegetarian. His recipes always seem to work and have heaps of flavour. This new book centres around the cuisine of the various peoples that live in Jerusalem and concentrates on trying to present authentic dishes, though with the occasional modification.

I needed a salad to go with a potato and leek pie so chose this recipe which also featured leek.

Firstly I wrapped some beetroot in foil and baked them in the oven until they were done.

Leek was cut into 10cm lengths and simmered gently in a little water for about 10 minutes. They then went under cold running water to stop the cooking process, after which they were left to dry.

A dressing was made of chopped walnuts, a chopped garlic clove, some chilli flakes, cider vinegar, a little walnut oil, salt and olive oil. It called for tamarind water also but after mixing it all and tasting it I was pleased with how it was without. The dressing was left to infuse.

The beetroot was cut into wedges and placed in one bowl. The leek lengths were cut into three and placed in another bowl. The dressing was divided and mixed with the contents of the two bowls. Coriander was chopped and added to both bowls.

At serving time half the beetroot was placed on the plate, followed by some rocket leaves, then half the leek. This was repeated. Finally pomegranate seeds were sprinkled over.

Apart from the leek, this was a very enjoyable salad. Made to use the leek, it was the leek that was disliked and, after a couple of attempts to eat it, was taken off the plate and rejected. It was a little overpowering but, more than that, stringy and unpleasant to eat.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔