Courgettes with Georgian Spices and Walnuts

I’m a huge fan of Caroline Eden’s writing and this is a recipe from her latest book Green Mountains, the final part of a trilogy on her travels through the Balkans and Central Asia. 

This volume is based on the Caucasus, specifically Armenia and Georgia, a country I visited a few years back and absolutely loved, myself.

It has ingredients you don’t find - or at least I haven’t found -anywhere else though Eden helpfully suggests substitutes for the harder-to-find ingredients. 

She recommends you serve the dish alongside salads and bread as part of a wider meze spread.

SERVES 4

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 onion, finely chopped

3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

80g/2 2 3/4 oz walnuts, toasted and broken into pieces

100g/3 1/2 oz sundried tomatoes

1 tbsp khmeli suneli (a mix of coriander seed, dried marigold petals, chilli pepper and blue fenugreek; if you don’t have khmeli suneli then make a spice mix combining at least the chilli and the coriander seed)

1⁄2 tsp sweet paprika

3 courgettes (zucchini), cut into 1cm/1⁄2in diagonal slices

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

70g/2 1/2 oz feta, crumbled

Handful of fresh summer herbs (a mixture of coriander (cilantro), parsley, mint, tarragon, dill), chopped

Line a large roasting tray with foil that will accommodate the courgettes in a single layer and preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion until soft and starting to colour, then add the garlic and cook for another minute or so. Remove to a bowl. Combine the walnuts, sundried tomatoes and spices, then combine with the onion mixture.

Arrange the courgette slices in a single layer on the lined tray, then cover thickly with the nutty, spicy tomato mixture, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for around 25–30 minutes, gently stirring the topping halfway through and, if it’s looking a bit dry, drizzle over a little more oil. Serve garnished with crumbled feta and the fresh herbs.

What to drink: Given this comes from Georgia it would seem perverse not to drink an orange wine with it - a lighter style without too long a period of skin contact I suggest. Otherwise dry rosé would work perfectly well. FB

Extracted from Green Mountains by Caroline Eden, published by Quadrille at £28. Photograph by Ola O. Smit.

Asparagus, hot-smoked trout and pea shoot tart

I love a book that shows you how to make the best of the produce that’s in season and Angela Clutton’s big, beautiful book Seasoning really does that to perfection.

The book also includes some really helpful tips for using up the fresh ingredients you’ve bought of which you can see some examples below.

Angela writes: “This is a springtime joy of a tart. At its best when it’s not been out of the oven too long, but also very lovely at room temperature. Serve with new potatoes and perhaps a bowl of dressed leaves.”

Serves 6 as a main

250g (9oz) asparagus (typically 1 bundle)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 whole eggs, plus 2 yolks

200ml (7fl oz) double (heavy) cream

100ml (3 ½ fl oz) whole milk

1 1/2 tbsp freshly grated horseradish

300g (10 ½ oz) hot-smoked trout fillets

4 dill sprigs

handful of pea shoots

salt and black pepper

For the pastry case

250g (9oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

150g (5oz) cold butter

1 egg yolk

pinch of salt

1 orange

23cm (9in) loose-bottomed tart tin

For the pastry case: Put the flour into a mixing bowl. Dice the butter and use your fingers to rub it into the flour until it feels like breadcrumbs. Beat the egg yolk and add with a pinch of salt and the zest from the orange. Bring together into a smooth dough. (You might need to add a little cold water to help it come together, but add as little as you can get away with.) Shape into a disc, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170°C fan/375°F/gas 5 with a large baking sheet inside.

Roll out the pastry between 2 pieces of greaseproof paper until about 3mm (1/8in) thick and generously large enough to line the tart tin. Ease the pastry over your rolling pin and carefully lift over the tin, gently pressing it in. Let it overhang the case as the pastry will shrink as it cooks. Prick the base a few times with a fork and chill for 30 minutes.

Sit the tart case on the hot baking sheet, line with a large piece of baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Take it out of the oven and sit on a wire rack to cool. Up to this point can be done up to a day ahead.

To make the tart: Snap the woody ends off the asparagus spears. Get a griddle pan very hot, toss the spears in the oil and quickly griddle them to take on some colour. They don’t need to be cooked, just charred. Do this under a grill if preferred.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/400°F/gas 6 with a baking sheet inside.

Whisk together the whole eggs, yolks, cream and milk in a bowl or jug. Season and stir in the horseradish.

Flake the trout into the pastry case, layering it with the asparagus spears and the dill leaves. Pour over the egg mixture. Just as it gets nearly full, put the tart onto the preheated baking sheet, pour over the last of the egg mixture and then carefully lift the tart into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes until just-about set, rotating it partway through if cooking at all unevenly.

Lift the tart onto a wire rack. Scatter over half of the pea shoots to wilt in the heat of the tart, but don’t try to take it out of its tin for about 30 minutes. Serve with the rest of the pea shoots on top for a perky garnish.

Waste tips

Citrus (bergamot; lemon; lime; orange): Once you have zested away the fruit’s protective outer layer it will start to dry out. Juice it soon, and if you have no immediate use for the juice you can freeze it. Ice-cube trays are good for these relatively small amounts. Freeze slices of citrus fruits to use in drinks. 

Egg whites: I like to make mayonnaise; ergo I like to make meringue, mousses and macarons with the many egg whites I have left behind from the mayo. Freeze the whites in an ice-cube tray where each space in the tray equals 1 egg white.

Horseradish: I use fresh horseradish a lot, and always seem to end up grating off more of the root than I need for a recipe. The happy outcome of that is stirring it through whatever crème fraîche or full-fat Greek yoghurt I might also have around, giving it a good squeeze of lemon and lots of black pepper, then keeping that in the fridge for a ready-made horseradish sauce. Note also that horseradish – like fresh root ginger – will keep brilliantly in the freezer to grate straight from there without any bother to peel first.

For stocks

- Keep in the freezer a bag or container into which you can easily put the (washed if necessary) peelings and trimmings of vegetables or herbs to use as the basis of making stocks. As the seasons roll round what you add to the freezer bag will change, giving the stocks a natural seasonality of flavour.

- Put the trimmings straight from the freezer into a large pan, cover with an equal volume of water, add salt and whatever fresh herbs might be around. (Add poultry bones for a meat stock.) Simmer for about an hour, strain, and that’s your stock ready to use/freeze.

Good things to use: Asparagus ends; broad (fava) bean pods; carrot peelings; cavolo nero ribs; celeriac peelings; celery trimmings; cucumber peel, seeds and core; fennel trimmings; garden pea pods; soft herb leaves and stems (e.g. basil, coriander (cilantro), mint, oregano, parsley); leek trimmings; onion skins; parsnip peelings; pumpkin and other squash fibres/skin (not flesh); shallot skins; spring onion (scallion) trimmings; sweet pepper (capsicum) trimmings; tomato skins, seeds and vines; woody herb leaves and stems (e.g. rosemary, thyme).

Soft herbs: The leaves and/or stalks of soft herbs can be blitzed into herb-infused oils. Blanch herb sprigs for barely 10 seconds in very hot water, then run under cold water and delicately dry in a cloth. Put the herbs – stalk and all – into a blender with the oil. Two or three bushy sprigs per 150ml (5fl oz) oil. Blitz, then strain through a fine sieve/ muslin (cheesecloth). Pour into a sterilised bottle and store out of direct sunlight. I like to put a fresh (blanched) sprig of the chosen herb in the bottle. For prettiness as much as to remind me what it is. (I seldom remember to label them, but I know that I should and so should you.)

What to drink: In general quiches work well with smooth dry white wines such as unoaked chardonnay, chenin blanc and pinot blanc but given the asparagus and pea shoots I’d be tempted by a Loire sauvignon blanc like Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé, or, more economically, a Touraine sauvignon. FB

Extracted from Seasoning by Angela Clutton. Published by Murdoch Books at £30. Photography by Patricia Niven

 

 

Berber breakfast eggs

It’s easy to get into a rut with egg recipes so why not try this delicious Moroccan egg dish from Nargisse Benkabbou’s Casablanca: my Moroccan Food which gives a modern twist to traditional Moroccan cuisine.

Nargisse writes: “In my parents’ home, eggs are something we used to enjoy almost religiously. They were allowed only for breakfast and never on weekdays. Nevertheless, my brothers and I used to quietly sneak into the kitchen in the afternoon to experiment with highly questionable egg recipes. And by recipes, I mean something that contained way too much butter and ketchup.

In my opinion, eggs are much more than a cheap way to have our daily serving of protein; they are delicious, especially when cooked the right way.

This Berber recipe is one of the many ways my mum used to prepare eggs for us at the weekend.”

Berber breakfast eggs

Serves 4 [although I think two could demolish it without too many problems FB]

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tomatoes, grated

1 green pepper (150g), cored, deseeded and chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

pinch of cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons water

4 eggs

To garnish

½ red onion, finely chopped

handful of chopped spinach

Warm up a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the tomatoes, pepper, garlic, parsley, spices and salt, give it a good stir, then add the water. Cover the pan and leave to cook for 20 minutes, stirringoccasionally. If it looks like there is not enough liquid in the pan at any point during the cooking process, add a couple more tablespoons of water.

Break the eggs straight into the sauce, re-cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Garnish with the chopped red onion and spinach and serve immediately with khobz [a simple Moroccan bread for which she also gives a recipe in the book]

What to drink: I personally wouldn’t drink wine with this though if you fancy it, a glass of dry southern French rosé would work. A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice would be nicer though

See also Which wines pair best with eggs

From Casablanca: My Moroccan Food by Nargisse Benkabbou, published by Mitchell Beazley at £20. Photograph © Matt Russell

Nargisse was nominated an Observer Rising Star in Food 2018 and blogs at mymoroccanfood.com

Khao Soi Noodles

After the carbfest that is Christmas I fancy clean spicy flavours in January so leapt on this easy, delicious dish from Claire Thomson’s The Art of the Larder.

As the title suggests the book is designed to help you make the best of ingredients you may already have to hand and is an incredibly useful and inspirational resource for everyday cooking.

Claire writes: Thai curry pastes add a pungent boost to many dishes. You can make your own, but there are some brilliant versions available to buy fresh or with a longer shelf life. The trick to getting the most out of them is to almost fry the paste along with the garlic, unlocking the flavour, before you begin adding any other ingredients. Use wide at rice noodles here in this fragrant spicy broth.

Khao Soi Noodles

Serves 4

50ml vegetable oil

4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste – use more if you like it spicy (or less!)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

4 boneless skinless chicken pieces (thigh is best), thinly sliced (equally, cold leftover roast chicken or pork here will work well enough)

200ml chicken stock

1 x 400g tin of coconut milk

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

200g rice noodles

Put the oil into a medium saucepan over a moderate heat and cook the garlic for about 30 seconds.

Add the curry paste and the spices and cook for another 30 seconds, giving everything a good stir.

Add the chicken and stir to coat in the sauce. Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce and finally the sugar. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, remembering that the fish sauce should make the sauce salty enough.

Cook the noodles according to the packet directions, then drain and divide them between the bowls. Top with the sauce and serve immediately with the garnishes.

GARNISHES

Choose any or all of the below; you want to add texture to the finished noodles:

• thinly sliced raw shallot or red onion • sliced spring onion
• beansprouts
• Thai basil leaves
• coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• mint leaves, roughly chopped
• peanuts or cashew nuts, roughly chopped • limes, cut into wedges
• chilli flakes

What to drink: Even if you’re not doing Dry January I’m not sure I’d drink alcohol with this with the possible exception of sake. Kombucha (fermented tea) would be a good alternative.

From The Art of the Larder by Claire Thomson (Quadrille, £20) Photography: Mike Lusmore