JERUSALEM by Ottolenghi & Tamimi - Day 29 - 31 Days of Food

Sometimes a book arrives where I have no option to stop, start reading, and not get up until the book is finished.

Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamini was one of those books.  

It absorbed me,

The clock had struck midnight when I returned home. I didn't sleep until dawn so avidly did my eyes dance across the pages,and when I did sleep my dreams were vivid with rose water, tahini, fresh vegetables, the history of that ancient city, and the food that joins its peoples.

I first found out about Ottolenghi with my friends Hendrik and Rebecca, when we took a stroll through NottingHill one sharp September afternoon.  Looking for somewhere to eat, and not coming to any agreement amongst ourselves - Nottinghill not being their part of London, and me an Irish blowin.  I decided to do what the Irish do best, and ask someone.  As the others looked at antique maps and prints, I struck up a conversation with the owner, and after a bit of small talk about the weather and such like I cut straight to the chase - 

'We are hungry, where do you recommend we eat - somewhere good please?'

Without missing a beat he said,

'Ottolenghi, fresh, delicious and full of flavour.'

It took us a while to find it, but when we got there, I did not know where to look, to smell, to taste, to think about first. I was completely overwhelmed in the most wonderful of ways - food stimulation.

Everywhere I looked there was something I wanted to eat.  

Bread. Biscuits.  

Nuts.  Fruit.

Chocolate, gloriously glossy and dark.

Platters with salads piled high upon them.

Brownies. Cake. Meringues swirled with red and green.

There were jars of seeds, jams, honey, granola, oils and herbs, stacks of books, and beautiful things wrapped in cellophane with ribbons.

I was in heaven.  As we waited in line, I picked up the first Ottolenghi cookbook, and my already passionate love affair with Middle Eastern food blossomed in a new way.

I quickly discovered that Yotam Ottolenghi was Israeli and Sami Tamimi was Palestinian.  As someone who hopes and prays for the peace of Jerusalem reguarly, I was overjoyed to hear and learn about their story.  They were both born in the same year in the same place - Jerusalem, although Sami grew up in the East of the city and Yotam on the west.  In London, three decades later they met.  They discovered they spoke the same language not only physically but in the kitchen, and they had a shared history in their homeland.

There is so much that has been said about Jerusalem as a city, so much that can be said, but much of this is territorial, claiming the city for one or another.  Asserting rights and entrenching divisions.

Ottolenghi & Tamini's book Jerusalem does the opposite.  Instead it says - lets celebrate our food, something that brings us together on a daily basis, whether it is recognised or not, because the food of Jerusalem is something we share, abet with slightly different methods, or techniques. The principles, the ingredients, the flavours of food, the sense of food and cookery are shared and are worth rejoicing, and sharing with others.

Jerusalem is Tamini & Ottolenghi's cookery language, and their book filled with page upon page of delicious delights, avidly reflects this.  Their united love for their city, flows out of the books pages, and relates its food, to the cultures of the city, with snippets of history thrown in.

Jerusalem is not just a book full of recipes to taste & savour but great writing, filled with intersting snippets and personal back story.  The photography is reportage, often more akin to what we might see from a photojournalist in a newspaper, sitting comfortably beside images of food, that immediately send me running to the kitchen to cook.  

In this whole book I don't think there was one dish that made me think, oh no, I'm not cooking that.  Instead I wanted to try everything, and I ran out of postits just highlighting the dishes I wanted to return to.  There are recipes here for vegans, carnivorves, fish lovers and vegetarians.  No one loses out in this selection of recipes.

The first dish I made from the book was the Roasted Buternut squash and red onion with tahini & za'atar has already become a dinner party staple, served with roasted salt chicken.

Butternut squash was roasted skin on with red onions - I added whole cloves of garlic - then served with a pungent seasame garlicky tahini, chopped parsley and pine nuts.  The combination of the sweetness of the butternut, and the caramelised onions, with the bite from the earthy za'atar all doused ina dry tahini works perfectly.  I added spinach for colour, and the result is not only great tasting, but lovely to look at.

I have always made a spiced rich pudding, after reading Yotam and Sami's book, I made some additions to my recipe.

I finished this book wishing it had several more hundred pages.

That's it for now...

Nics

Salt and Sparkle = Life Remarkable

Pumpkin Recipes - Day 27 - 31 Days of Food

Have you carved your pumpkin yet?  If you have, you may be wondering what to do with all the flesh you scooped out from the inside.  I have some brilliant recipes for you which you can read, on the Northern Ireland Tourist Board Blog.  

The thing I love about pumpkin is that it goes well with lots of flavours, which in turn brings out a richness in the bright orange flesh.  I have been using a lot of spices recently in my cooking.  The aromas of mustard, fennel, cumin and coriander seeds as they release in a dry pan fill my kitchen with fragrance, and I find myself wanting to cook more and more, with these soothing and rich aromas.

I hope you will enjoy these recipes, they are warming, which I think is exactly what is needed as the colder weather draws in.

Happy Hallowe'en.

That's it for now ...

Nics

Salt & Sparkle = Life Remarkable

Student Storecupboard in Simply 15 Items - Day 8 - 31 Days of Food

My sister has just left home for the first time, off to university in another country. She left with a store cupboard of 15 simply essential ingredients from Marks & Spencer Simply range that will allow her to cook a wide range of dishes from staple good quality products, of remarkable value.  

A larder should always be filled with ingredients that can be used in several ways, so that there is a instant meal right at a student's or anyone elses fingertips.

1. Risotto Rice – risottos are soothing to make and are a flling meal, leftovers can be cooked in a variety of ways
2. Plum Tomatoes – the basis of endless sauces, delicious on toast, or with scrambled eggs
3. Spaghetti – an ingredient with an unlimited number of recipe possibilities, is there anything more pleasing than a plate of spaghetti
4. Olive Oil – essential for nearly every type of cookery used for frying, roasting, baking, dressing and so much more
5. Penne – a staple pasta that can be used in pasta bakes, or served with any number of sauce
6. Cous Cous – a filling carb that’s brilliant with curries, in salads and as a snack
7. Basmati Rice - Can be served as an accompaniment to other dishes, as a meal in itself or cooked into a rich pudding
8. Fine egg noodles – fantastic in stir fries and broths
9. Baked Beans – full of protein & a filling meal in themselves or cooked into a pie
10. Blossom Honey - perfect to add sweetness to cooking, wonderful stirred through porridge or on bread
11. Strawberry Jam - is there anything more pleasurable to spread on toast or stirred through rice pudding
12. Red Lentils - a fantastic source of protein, brilliant in soups, dips and curries
13. Choc Chip Cookies - essential for the essay crisis and as a base for cheesecake
14. Chickpeas - the core ingredient in humus, and a great source of protein in stews and soups
15. Porridge Oats - the best breakfast known to man, and wonderful in oatcakes and flapjacks

The key to having a good storecupboard is to buy good quality ingredients - the best you can afford, because the value comes not only in a monetary form, but also in terms of the idea that we are what we eat.

Leaving home often for the first time, fending for yourself isn't easy.  There is a lot to deal with, budgeting, flatmates, living in a new city/country, making friends, taking classes, exercising, cooking, getting enough rest balanced with parties and socilaising, being responsible, putting in the study hours, and getting a part time job, the list is endless. Cooking sometimes gets a short shuv to the back of the line when there are so many other often more immediately pressing things to deal with.

Yet, it is cooking and proper nutrition that will ensure success in every other aspect of life.  Eating is a non-negotiable for students, but eating unhealthily isn't.  Students who learn to cook, and budget properly when they first leave home, will learn to cook and eat well for life.

Students often think buying cheap food is the only way to feed themselves, but in doing this they often compromise food provenance, quality and their own health.  

Certainly students need to look for value when they are shopping for food, but they also need to buy quality produce, which will provide them with good nutrition, to allow them to live life fully. 

The Simply range at Marks & Spencer isn't just for students, but it is a range that students would benefit from filling their storecupboard with.  

The Simply range offers over 800 products right across the Marks & Spencer range - frozen, fresh, packaged, ready made, diary, storecupboards - and having tasted a large majority of them, as well as regularly buying them in my own weekly shopping, I can talk about the Simply range at Marks & Spencer with a genuine authority, because I eat them!

All the ingredients are reasonably priced, but they stand out against their competitors because they do not compromise on quality, these aren't the chaff or leftovers prettily packaged.  These are good quality ingredients that have been properly made, with sufficient care put into their production and sourcing.  All the eggs are freerange, the sausages and bacon British produce, and the coffee Fairtrade.

Over the course of the next few months, I will be sharing recipes and photographs with you, based on these Student Storecupboard in Simply 15 items  - that I have written specifically for my sister. These recipes while written for my sister are dishes that anyone would enjoy cooking and serving, they aren't exclusively student recipes.

You can read my first recipe for Red Risotto here.

The lessons we learn about food, both buying and cooking it as students will last lifetime.  I'd love to hear what you still cook today, that you made reguarly when you were a student?

Don't forget to keep an eye on my guest posts this week for the Northern Ireland Tourist Board 2012 blog

That's it for now ...

Nics

Salt & Sparkle = Life Remarkable

Strawberry, Cucumber & Goat's Cheese Salad

I was invited to a Strawberry Tea today. It was a fundraising event for Breast Cancer & the theme was 'strawberries'

Everyone was asked to make a contribution to the lunch. With so many sweet things being made I opted for a savoury strawberry salad.

There's nothing quite as summery as a bowl of perfectly ripe strawberries tossed in black pepper, and mixed with soft goats cheese & ribbons of salted cucumber. Topped off with a drizzle of really grassy extra virgin olive oil.

Served with some crusty bread or BBQ'd chicken or pork this salad is heaven on a plate. The sweet sour of the strawberries is the perfect contrast to the the creamery goats cheese, and salty watery cucumber, brings a coolness to proceedings.

You can add a dash or two of balsamic vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice but really it's not needed.

Do you have a favourite summer salad?

That's it for now ...

Nics

Salt & Sparkle = Life Remarkable

Chicken Noodle Soup

As a child lying in bed ill, I could smell the aroma of this soup on the stove as it wafted from the bowels of the house, up to my bedroom. I hear Mum's voice calling upstairs, 'Nicky, try to sit up, I am bringing you up some soup.' Always chicken soup - sometimes with noodles , traditionally in Ireland served with barley - to restore the appetite when we were ill.

A steaming bowl of golden broth flaked with fresh parsley brought back my appetite gently, coaxing me to eat it. A rich yet soft flavour comforting me with each mouthful the scent in the steam alleviating tightness in my chest and my stuffy head.

When I feel even slightly under the weather, I crave, crave, crave this soup. It is an elixir, something instantly soothing and comforting, not to mention full of goodness. Chicken Soup is a magical cure for any kind of illness or despair. Its rich yet calming flavour is claimed by cultures and folklore worldwide as the cure for all ills.

In Ireland chicken broth is normally made by simmering an old chicken carcuss, or chicken pieces, with barley, soup celery, carrots, onion, celery, leeks, parsley and soup mix (dried pearl barely, split red lentils, green and yellow split peas) and in water over a low flame for up to three hours, or slightly longer. The broth is then served with the cooked vegetables and barley.

As I began to experiment in the kitchen, I realised there were many ways this basic broth could be adapted. Straining the veggies/barley etc resulted in a rich chicken stock, which is the basis for endless meals, and can be frozen in ice cube trays. After a lot of playing around, adding bulbs or garlic, and slices of orange to the stockl mix. I came up with my Chicken Noodle Soup, which incorporates crunchy vegetables, noodles, and spice and brought together in a warming golden soup.

Note, if you are feeling poorly - then you probably won't want to make the basic stock. Shops sell brilliant ready made chicken stock, which I subsitute on a regular basis, when I have run out of frozen stock, or haven't the energy to make any. Or basically I want the soup and I want it instantly.

One of the great things about this soup is that it can be altered to suit your tastes, adding or taking away vegetables, and seasonings as you wish.

Chicken Noodle Soup

yields two generous bowls

Ingredients

• 1 litre chicken stock


• 2 - 4 cloves of garlic finely sliced


• 1/2 inch knob of ginger grated


• 2 red chillis - one finely sliced, one kept whole with slices cut into the side


• 7 florets of brocoli


• 15 sugarsnap peas sliced lengthways


• 3 carrots peeled into ribbons


• 4 scallions finely sliced


• small bunch coriander finely chopped for serving


• 1 cup of beansprouts


• 1/2 courgette finely sliced


• 7 baby corn sliced lengthways


• olive oil


• salt and pepper to taste


• chilli flakes / Japanese seasoning (I use House Ichimi Togarashi)


• Boiling water

1-2 rounds of noodles per person

• crumbled pieces of cooked chicken


• 2 heads of pak choi roughly chopped

Optional - finely sliced - peppers, red/white onions, mushrooms, chinese cabbage, red/white cabbage, corn, finely sliced lemongrass or peas.

Method

1. Prepare all your ingredients and set out on a board or in little bowls, because once you start cooking, you have no time to stop and start chopping


2. Heat the stock in a pan, add the noodles leaving on a low heat, while the other ingredients are cooked


3. Heat the olive oil in a pan until smoking, and fry the garlic and scallions for about one minute


4. Add the ginger


5. Add all the other ingredients fry for approximately 3 minutes


6. Add the stock and noodles, cook for up to a further two minutes, mixing the noodles into the vegetables, check the taste and add boiling water if the stock is too strong


7. Season with salt/pepper/chilli/Japanese seasoning and serve with a sprinkling of coriander

I like to add the coriander to the bowls before pouring the soup in, as when the hot liquid hits it, it immediately starts to release the aroma of the herb throughout the soup.

Are you a chicken noodle soup fan - how do you like yours?

I've linked up with Kent Weakley for Sweet Shot Tuesday - I hope you will join us here. I have also joined up with Tuesday Tips and Pics, I hope you will join us here.

That's it for now ...

Nics

Salt and Sparkle = Life Remarkable

Soup to warm chilled Bones

The weather here is cold.  With a capital C.  The wind bashes against the windowpanes, and branches bend far beyond their natural inclination to do so.  I feel chilled to the bone, just walking the dogs.  Soup is the best kind of food for this weather.  It is nourishing, and nutrious, and it warms a body that feels like it needs to thaw from the inside out.  

Having some mashed potatoes left over from the weekend, and a leek in the vegetable box, I didn't have to think much, to decide what soup I would make.  Leek and Potato. It's my sister's favourite, and I think mine too.  It's pale green colour, earthy flavours, and thick consistency never fail to satisfy.

My recipe is unfailingly simple, and allows the flavours of the potatoes, and leeks to mingle, and shine.  Garlic is one of my favourite foods, and I use it in nearly everything I cook.  Some people are shocked when they read that the recipe says five cloves, but I want a depth of flavour, not strength, so the cloves are peeled, and squashed with the side of a knife, and placed whole into the oil, this brings depth, as opposed to strength, which would come from crushing the garlic.

Of course I have played with this soup recipe, time and time again.  Adding chopped rosemary, or a glass or white wine, putting in an onion or a stick or two of celery, using milk in the stock, adding lentils, or quinoa, a twist of lemon.  All of these variations have a place, but time and time again, I return to this recipe, which I think is perfect in its simplicity.

Recipe

Ingredients

• Two leeks - trimmed, chopped and washed
• Five cloves of Garlic smashed but not pressed
• Three floury potatoes (maris piper) peeled and cubed - or leftover mash (about five potatoes worth)
• Dash of olive oil
• Three pints  chicken stock
• Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Heat oil until smoking, add garlic, stir to release flavours for about a minute
2. Add the leeks and turn the heat down cooking until the leeks have melted into each other - about 15 minutes - stirring occasionally.  If you feel the pan is becoming dry add a dash or two of water to keep everything tender.
3. Turn the heat back up and add the potatoes, stirring constantly for about two minutes
4. Add a pinch of salt
5. Add the boiling stock, let the soup boil for 5 minutes until the potatoes start to soften
6. Turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes - I leave mine in the bottom oven of the aga until I am ready to eat it, maybe one, to two hours
7. Using a stick blender puree all the ingredients
8. Season to your own tastes
9. Serve with a grinding of pepper, and toasted crusty bread, rubbed with garlic

What is your favourite winter soup?

That's it for now...

Nics

Salt and Sparkle = Life Remarkable

Birthday Cake - Made with Love - P52

Baking runs in my veins.  From when I was knee high to a grasshopper, I was standing on chairs in the kitchen helping my Mum, with whatever cake, traybake, or scones, she was whipping up that day.  Kitchens full of the smell of freeshly baked cakes, breads, and buns fill my childhood memories.

At about age six I made my solo first sponge cake.  I'd found an old and peeling children's recipe book, that I could just about follow, it had belonged to some aged relative, and I drived straight in.  Mum thinking I was in the playroom, must have known something was going on with the sound of mixers, and the clattering I can only imagine I was making in the kitchen.  But she left me alone, and was very so proud of me when I showed her my first cake.  She helped me decorate it with sugar, and we served it for tea to my Gran, brother and dad.

Since the success of my first cake, I have spent hours in the kitchen baking.  

Making cakes filled with love.

Creating quite a mess at times it has to be said, but making the most delicious cakes in all shapes and sizes - letters, hearts, spaceships - that one was cooked in a glass bowl - castles, fortresses, elephants, dolls houses, monkeys.

Again and again, I have worked on recipes, eventually beginning to write my own in the teen's.  Today, I love nothing better than to bake for other people.  I adore just thinking about what sort cake would suit them, are they - lemon polenta, or rich coffee, ultimate chocolate, or wee buns  - there are so many options.  

Cakes like people have personalities so it is important to get it right, in my book, any old cake will never do, it has to be the right one.

I made this cake with love, for my brother Brian's birthday.  It gives a light crumb with a rich moist taste.  It is the easiest cake to make, and once you have made it, you will feel like a master of your kitchen.  I can tell you now you will make it again and again.  It is a failsafe recipe.

I've linked up with Darcy's P52 today, why don't you do the same.

What is your favourite cake?

That's it for now ...

Nics

Salt and Sparkle  = Life Remarkable