Quinoa Fritters with Green Goddess Sauce

A new book from Claire Thomson (aka Five o'clock Apron) is always a treat and New Kitchen Basics is no exception. Like all Claire's books it manages to be both practical and inspirational with recipes you can fit in with daily life but which give your cooking a real lift. And they work too. This she describes as 'bombproof'!

"Quinoa is a brilliant and speedy ingredient for the kitchen. Tender when cooked, with a delicate white furl of a tail, it has a nutty, satisfying taste. Mixed here with eggs, feta and herbs, and fried as a fritter, the cooked quinoa provides some welcome ballast to a dish that is bombproof.

I’m a sucker for a striking name, and it doesn’t come much better than Green Goddess – a pungent mayonnaise-based sauce made intensely green with masses of herbs and spring onions (scallions). I’ve supplemented some of the mayonnaise with yogurt to lighten the result.

Serves 4

200g (7oz) quinoa

100g (31⁄2oz) shop-bought or homemade mayonnaise

100g (31⁄2oz) Greek yogurt, crème fraîche or sour cream

big bunch of at-leaf parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped

small bunch of mint, leaves picked and finely chopped

1 bunch of spring onions (scallions), very finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

zest of 1 unwaxed lime or 1 small unwaxed lemon, plus a squeeze of juice

3 eggs

100g (31⁄2oz) feta cheese, crumbled

1 teaspoon ground cumin

50g (13⁄4oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

vegetable oil, for frying

chilli flakes, to serve (optional)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the quinoa in 500ml (17 oz) salted water for about 15 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Spread out the cooked quinoa on a large plate or tray to cool.

Mix the mayonnaise and yogurt with half the herbs, half the spring onions (scallions), half the garlic and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the cooled quinoa with the remaining herbs, spring onions and garlic, the eggs, feta, cumin, lime or lemon zest and flour. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat about 4cm (11⁄2in) of oil in a non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Drop tablespoons of the fritter batter into the hot oil and fry, in batches, for 3–4 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp. Keep each batch warm while you cook the remainder.

Season the fritters with a little more salt and pepper, or use chilli flakes if you like, and serve warm with the Green Goddess sauce and the leftover lime or lemon.

What to drink: Any crisp dry white would work. I'd probably go for a sauvignon blanc myself.

From New Kitchen Basics by Claire Thomson (Quadrille, £25) Photography: Sam Folan

Ottolenghi's slow-cooked chicken with a crisp corn crust

If you're an Ottolenghi fan you'll love this easy, incredibly tasty chicken bake from his new book Simple, which is ideal for entertaining as you can make the base well ahead.

Easy Korean Kimchi Hotpot

Want to cook something authentically Korean to celebrate Korean New Year next week? Try this easy, traditional Korean kimchi hotpot suggests Nathalie Gardiner.

My friend and fellow student, Aehyeon from South Korea, tipped me off that the best way to start cooking Korean food is using ready-made kimchi as she does in this simple recipe.. The delicious fat of the pork belly and the sharpness of the kimchi is a perfect combination.

You can switch the pork for beef or chicken and make it as spicy or mild as you like. You can use authentic Korean kimchi* (I used this one, which I sourced from an Asian supermarket here in Paris), a couple of jars, which you can find in most major supermarkets, or you could even make your own*. This recipe is super-adaptable so feel free to play around with it and work out what you like. You can even make a batch ahead for weeknight meals or take-to-work lunches.

Serves 6

500g chopped kimchi

450g pork belly, cut into bite sized pieces

2-4 tsp chilli powder (depending how hot your kimchi and chilli powder are and how much of a tolerance you have for chilli heat. Koreans like it hot!)

2 tsp of sugar

4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped

400g firm tofu, cut into bite sized cubes

Salt (add with caution as kimchi can be quite salty)

1. Combine the kimchi (with any liquid from the pack or jar), chilli powder, pork and sugar in a large saucepan.

2. Add 1.5 litres water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Add the cubes of tofu, and cook on a low to moderate heat for 10 more minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and check the seasoning, adding salt if it needs it. Add the chopped spring onions

5. Serve alone as a soup or with noodles or sticky rice and hot sauce on the side if you want to ramp up the heat.

What to drink

Best served with an ice-cold Hite lager and some good old fashioned Soju, or if you want to drink like a local, mix the two together (70/30 beer to soju) for a somac. Seol-nal!

If you're a kimchi fan you'll also enjoy this recipe for kimchi fried rice

* If you live in Bristol Caroline Gilmartin of Every Good Thing runs excellent kimchi classes.

Root Vegetable Stew with Herb and Mustard Dumplings

If you've been experimenting with vegan food this January or 'veganuary' as it's been dubbed you'll know that vegan food doesn't have to be insubstantial or, indeed uninteresting. For those of you who remain to be convinced here's a hearty stew from Rachel Demuth of Demuth's Cookery School in Bath which contains both cider and sherry!

Rachel writes: Stews and slow-cooking dishes are perfect for cold winter days. Winter food needs to be piping hot, comforting, filling, sustaining and hearty.

The choice of vegetables can be altered to what you have in the kitchen. If you like swede or turnips, add some. Dumplings are the ultimate in comfort food!

Root Vegetable Stew with Herb and Mustard Dumplings

Serves: 4

Dietary: Vegan

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 shallots, peeled and quartered
• 4 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 440ml dry cider
• 1 tbsp sherry
• 2 bay leaves
• a few sage leaves
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 1 tsp Marmite
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Dumplings

• 110g self-raising white flour
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 50g vegetable suet or margarine
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• ½ tbsp chopped fresh sage
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• cold water to mix

Method:

1. In a large casserole dish fry the shallots in the rapeseed oil until they are golden.
2. Add the garlic and the leeks. Fry for a couple more minutes, and then add the carrots, parsnip and potatoes and stir-fry.
3. Add the cider and sherry and bring to the boil.
4. Mix the Marmite into the vegetable stock and add to the stew along with the bay leaves and sage leaves.
5. Season to taste and simmer gently for about 25 minutes or until all the vegetables are nearly cooked, before you add the dumplings.
6. While the stew is simmering, make the dumplings. They need to be added 15 minutes before the stew is ready.
7. Sieve the flour with the mustard powder into a large bowl then add the vegetable suet or margarine, salt and freshly ground black pepper and fresh herbs. Just before adding to the stew, mix in enough water, a little at a time, to make a firm but not sticky dough. With floured hands, break the dough into about 12 small pieces and roll them into round dumplings.
8. Before adding the dumplings, check the stew for seasoning and add the chopped parsley. At this stage you may need to add some more liquid so that there is sufficient for the dumplings to cook through. Add the dumplings to the stew, push them down into the liquid and simmer gently for 15 minutes or until the dumplings have doubled in size.
9. Serve in large deep bowls in front of the fire.

What to drink: Since you're using cider to make this delicious stew I'd definitely drink cider with it.

You may also find this post on pairing wine with vegan food useful.