Fennel salad

 Mid week meals and i am run off my feet and need something fresh fast and healthy to fix for dinner and i am loving my veg ottolenghi style, we normally eat fennel and sweetcorn but this has been pimped up with beautiful fresh flavours from all the added herbs.

Another fresh crunchy delicious side is this wonderful fennel dish, i love fennel and this has a feta in it however i found a wonderful smoked feta which i added to my salad.

1/2 pomegranate
1 fennel
11/2tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sumac
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 bunch of each fresh tarragon, flat leaf parsley chopped
70g feta

use a mandolin to fine slice the fennel add the chopped herbs, pomegranate and feta, olive oil, lemon juice and sumac, simple and fast as that.

This is why i love Ottolenghi he really does do fast easy recipes that are full of flavour unlike some other celebrity chefs that bleat on about their supposed fast recipes.

Lamb Shawarma

I love lamb especially with a good pile of salad and great garlic roast salad potatoes on the side, even though the ingredient list looks a faff it really is not and the flavour has great impact with lamb.

Ingredients
2 tsp black peppercorns
5 cloves
1/2 tsp cardamom pods
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 star anise
1/2 cinnamom stick
1/2 a nutmeg grated
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp sumac
3/4 tbsp maldon salt
25g fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves
40g fresh coriander
60ml fresh lemon juice
120ml ground nut oil
1 leg of lamb

• Pre heat the oven to 170c
• put the first 8 ingredients in a pan and roast off for 2 mins until the spices pop
• add the nutmeg, ginger and paprika and toss for a few seconds
• transfer all the above roasted spices to a grinder and grind to a powder
• add the powder to a bowl and add all the remaining ingredients except the lamb
• score the lamb and rub the spices all over 
• cook in the oven for 30 mins then add one cup of water over the meat 
• cook for a further 4 hours basting the meat every hour add more water if needed cover for the last 3 hours of cooking so the spices do not burn
• rest for 10 mins before carving

Courgette and hazelnut salad

Yummy i do love courgettes and this is a really tasty side salad and simple to do.

Ingredients

50g Hazelnuts

3 large courgettes or several small ones

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic

30g or 1 pack of fresh basil

80g parmesan thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

• Roast off the hazel nuts in the over at 150c for 12 mins and allow to cool then chop up roughly
• Cut the courgette on the angle at 1 cm chunks 
• Toss the courgette in a mixture of oil and salt and pepper and add to a very hot griddle 2 mins each side once cooked put in a bowl and add the balsamic toss and allow to cool
• Once cooled add the olive oil from first tossing before cooking, parmasan, basil and hazlenuts      

Saffron and Orange chicken

 Ar another wonderfully fresh and tasty meal from my new Jerusalem cook book by Ottolenghi. The left over from this made amazing wraps the next day.

Saffron and Orange chicken

Ingredients to serve 6
50g honey
1/2tsp saffron
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
300ml water

1kg of chicken breast although i used theighs
4 tbsp olive oil
2 bulbs of fennel
15g coriander
15g basil torn
15g mint leaves torn
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 red chilli thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves crushed
salt and pepper

pre heat the oven to 200c

Top and tail an orange then cut into wedges place into a small saucepan with the honey, saffron, vinegar and enough water to cover.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour top up with water if needed.  After the hour the orange will be cooked and there will be about 3 tbsp of syrup. at the end.  Process the orange and syrup with a bit more water to make a smooth paste.

Toss the Chicken in the oil, salt and pepper and place skin down on a griddle to crisp up the roast off in the oven for 20 - 30 mins till cooked cover and allow to rest and cool.  Pull off the skin and shred then shred the chicken and coat with half of the orange paste, save the rest for another dinner such as salmon.

To make the salad thinly slice the fennel add the herbs olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.  Top with the shredded orange chicken and then top off with crispy chicken skin.

Pumkin, Saffron and Orange soup

 Soup is so nice and heart warming especially with this awful weather we have been having, so cold and wet.

In a large roasting pan place peeled and chopped pumpkin, butternut squash, 2 -3 carrots, 1 sweet potato, half a bulb of garlic, 1 large onion, season all with salt and pepper and a good glug of olive oil.  Roast off for 30-40 mins

While roasting prepare the pumpkin seeds.  Heat the oven to 180c toss all below together
60g of pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1tbsp Maple syrup
1/2 tbsp soft brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper
big pinch of cayenne pepper

spread over a baking tray and put in the oven for 10 mins or till golden brown then leave to cool


Once the vegetables are roasted transfer to a blender to make a paste, i like mine with a bit of texture, everyone to there own if you like it smooth then blend it a bit further.  Add the zest and juice of an orange and 1 tsp of Saffron fronds and fresh thyme then transfer the paste to a pan and add 1 -1 1/2 liters of vegetable stock to break the paste down to a soup at a consistency you prefer, and heat to serve.  Serve in shallow bowl add a big blob of creme fraiche in the middle and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds to serve.

Rhubarb relish roast pork belly

 Here is a lovely roast to do with a cheaper cut of meat belly of pork is definitely fashionable to eat again and is really tasty and probably a winner with the boys if you get your crackling done right.

We tend to buy a massive bit of belly then cut it in two but im sure when the girls grow bigger we wont be cutting it.

So this recipe surprise is from my most favourite kitchen companion Ottolenghi and i am busy cooking my way through the book and have already bought another of his books Jerusalem so i cant wait to try some of these.  I love love these recipes so quick simple and with all the herbs incredibly fresh and tasty.

Recipe for the pork

bunch of thyme rough chopped

bunch of rosemary rough chopped

1 head of garlic peeled and crushed

150 ml olive oil

1 piece of pork belly 2-3 kg

1 bottle of white wine

sea salt and black pepper

• Heat the oven to 250c
• lay pork in pan skin side down and press in herbs then turn skin side up 
• Wipe skin with kitchen paper to make sure it is dry and evenly cover lightly in salt to much salt can create a crust preventing crackle 
• put in the oven at 250c for 20 mins then check if you have crackle on the skin if you have turn the oven down to 170c however crackle can take up to 60 mins so check ever 20 mins. 
• after 1 hour turn the oven down to 170 if you have not already and put in the wine making sure not to get the crackle wet and roast for another 1 hour  if the starts turning black cover with foil
• finally cook for 1 more hour at a temperature of 110c so the crackle drys out 

Recipe for the Rhubarb relish
4 sticks of rhubarb cut to 3cm cubes
5 red plum
thumb size piece of ginger grated
1 red chilli halved and seeded
2 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise
100ml red wine vinegar
150g caster sugar

• place plums, chilli, cinnamon, star anise, 100g of sugar, vinegar in heavy pan.  Stir and bring to boil then simmer foe 25 mins  the plums will have a jam consistency
• heat oven to 150 c put rhubarb, ginger and rest of the sugar in an oven proof dish and rub together with your hands then roast for 30 mins then leave to cool then combine with the plum 

Sweetcorn salad

 Mid week meals and i am run off my feet and need something fresh fast and healthy to fix for dinner and i am loving my veg ottolenghi style, we normally eat fennel and sweetcorn but this has been pimped up with beautiful fresh flavours from all the added herbs.

Ingredients
2 fresh corn on the cobs
15g lemon thyme
1 1/2tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp maple syrup
2tbsp olive oil
1 green chilli
10g coriander, mint, flat leaf parsley
2 spring onions
sauteed red peppers and put this in as great addition for colour

As it was just Ali and i eating this i used 2 fresh corn on the cobs to make the dish, which i cut off the husks and gently brought the just to the point of boiling and then drained and left to come to room temperature.

in a bowl mix lime juice, maple syrup olive oil, chilli salt and pepper and mix then add the herbs and spring onions followed by the corn and peppers.

Chicken and three rice salad

im in love with my Ottolenghi so im trying another recipe and the flavours are just dancing in my mouth and happy wave spread out over dinner 

there is a gentle heat from chilies and pepper from the rocket balances out with fresh flavours from coriander and and mint 

here is the recipe 

i used 1 pack of chicken thighs

70ml olive oil

200g basmati rice

50g wild rice

50g brown rice

1 onion thin slices

6 spring onions

4 mild chillies ( i used 2 birds eye chillies)

bunch of coriander chopped

20 g mint chopped

20 g rocket ( i used half a pack)

dressing

65ml lemon juice

30ml sesame oil

30ml Thai fish oil

35ml olive oil 

i seasoned my chicken skin in salt ans pepper and browned in a pan before roasting it off which is different to the recipe, as i think chicken with a crispy skin is really nice.  once cooked chop into slices.

cook the basmati in 400ml of water bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins remove from the the heat and leave for 10 mins.

put the wild and brown rice and cover with three times the amount of water bring to the boil and simmer for 40 mins drain and run under cold water 

fry the onions with some salt till golden leave to cool 

once everything is cool toss all ingredient in a bowl with the dressing and serve