Someone said the other day that preserved lemons were out of fashion. They might be, but not in my kitchen. It is harder to find really good ones, tho, so it is a boon to make your own.
Some dishes need a tangy dressing – salads appreciate it, and Brussels Sprouts really pick themselves up when they come within cooee of a tangy dressing.
We roast Brussels Sprouts and serve with a dressing with preserved lemons and spring onions. If it is the season, we toss in cumquat juice and peel. This salad is AMAZING.
Today I have a variation on sautéed or stir fried okra for you. It is a dish heavy with coriander leaves that lightens the deep flavours of onion, ginger and garlic. It is delicious – something that can accompany other Indian dishes, or can be eaten as a delicious mid-afternoon snack.
7 mai 2005 - Kool Shen en concert à Bagneux, je photographie les balances, les discussions et puis le live, en côté de scène. Un privilège de bosser pour un mag à qui on donne ces accès.
May 7th, 2005 - Kool Shen plays in Bagneux, I'm here for the soundchecks, the discussions and then the concert, from the side of the stage. A privilege to work for a magazine that gets this access.
Rasam – I cannot say enough about this wonderful Tamil dish that wakens the digestive system and enlivens the palate. We have quite a number of different recipes. Today’s pic is one that includes some toor dal, is flavoured with tomato and uses lemon as its tart/sour flavour.
We love our salads and often they are made using whatever is on the kitchen bench. Here it was snake beans (simmered till tender), quarter of a fennel bulb, a couple of radishes, quarter of an onion, fresh dill, some daikon radish shaved thinly, and 4 or 5 spring onions. They are scattered with nigella seeds.
At these times we like to add a delicious dressing. Once you have a few dressing recipes under your belt they can be thrown together very quickly. This one is a yoghurt based dressing that is gorgeous for salads like this. It can be spread over the vegetables, or the veg can be dipped into the dressing.
I adore dishes that can be made in 10 mins or under. This is an easy pasta dish – delicious – that is the perfect week night dish. It is great for lunches too, if you are at home. Put the pasta on to cook, dice the avocado, make a herb-garlic oil, mix all together and serve.
I am not much of a breakfast eater, and in general prefer the savoury options common in Northern and Eastern Europe, and those of India and S.E. Asia, to the sweet and sickly options of the West English speaking countries. Don’t get me wrong, I love a true French croissant with jam, and sometimes pancakes with honey (or sugar and lemon juice). I even have a large container full of my overnight oats mix on standby for mornings when I am super hungry as there is no other cereal in the house. But mostly we either skip the morning meal or prefer something more savoury. Even the overnight oats is unsweetened beyond the dried fruit and dried citrus that it contains.
Breakfast Rice and Raisin Porridge
This breakfast, however, is a little sweet – it has raisins in it – but is rice based, so that is a plus. It is for the days that I do crave some sweetness. Rice is ground to a coarse mix then cooked with the dried fruit. Cinnamon is added to bring a warm sweetness to the dish. You can sweeten it more with your sweetener of choice – I’ve always loved Golden Syrup. It is also great with spiced glazed apples or poached oranges and vanilla ricotta.
Rice porridge is mostly made for breakfast but in this house, it can be eaten at any time of the day. It is a great Winter dessert when your cupboards are bare. Rice and raisins – there isn’t anything more simple. Top with cream and fruit.
This dish can also be made savoury – omit the raisins and cook with Indian spices. Gorgeous. Use spices that you might use for Upma. Top with cashew nuts sauteed in ghee.
One of the most wonderful tastes on this planet is the tangy spice, chilli and tamarind mix of Indian street food. It is glorious, addictive, and quite mind blowing. The flavours have a party in your mouth. No, truly! If you are doubting me, head off to your nearest good Indian restaurant and try Pani Puri, or Samosa Chaat – any chaat for that matter – and even Rasam will give you a sample of the hot and sour tastes that make up Indian food.
This recipe from #Ottolenghi's #PlentyMore takes the notion of the hot, sour, salty and sweet flavour mix and stuffs it inside a potato cake made from mashed potatoes. It mimics the Aloo Tika and Potato Cutlet snacks of India, Podimas recipes of South India, and more recently I saw a fabulous BALL of mashed potato full of North Indian street-food flavours.
Poha! Just with chillies, spices, curry leaves. A simple dish.
Poha (aka pohe, aval, pauwa, sira, chira, chivda, avalakki, and other names) is Indian flattened rice.
Rice is parboiled before flattening so that it doesn't require a lot of cooking.
It is particularly delicious and can be used for savoury and (more rarely) sweet dishes.
This isn't the real thing, or not quite the real thing. I make it with 3 ingredients - pasta, butter, parmesan - gloriously mixed together. For other recipes you almost need a chef's training to get the consistency right. I just mix the butter and parmesan with the pasta and a little pasta water.
This gorgeous and quick pasta dish of 3 ingredients – so unusual in today’s current fashion of long ingredient lists - is often called Fettuccine Alfredo, although it’s original name was Fettuccine al Burro.
Traditionally this dish did not include cream – the sauce was an emulsion between butter and parmesan. However, of course, the American version is made with cream, butter and cheese. Choose which ever version you prefer. But look for simple recipes, not ones that have, say, cornflour in it 😶
It is said that in the 1020’s Alfredo, a restaurateur, was trying to find a dish that his pregnant wife, who had lost her appetite, would eat. He added cheese to a simple pasta-and-butter dish and she loved it. When he introduced it to his restaurant it became popular around the world.