Greek -style baked beans

Frank Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’ occasionally comes to mind when  I cook.  It was a case of “..flying high in April”  when the children wholeheartedly enjoyed the gnocchi but this dish, equaIly as earthy, was my ‘shot down in May’ moment.  Refused to take a bite!  Regardless of the dismal reception by the little dears in my life, this is my favourite way of cooking beans.  The recipe is my mother-in-law’s although probably not strictly adhering to it as I’m relying on my memory of the many occasions she’s graciously procured it over the phone when asked.  In Greek, it’s called gigantes because the lima beans expand whilst soaking and literally become giant beans.  Beware, despite the flavours being simple and clean, the process requires overnight soaking and pre-cooking so commence this the night before. Serve as a main with a green salad and a piquant fetta like piperati, and for extra protein add grilled meat or fish.   …Serves 6 as a main

500g lima beans

2 bay leaves

125ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

2 medium brown onions

2 celery stalks with leaves, roughly chopped

2 large carrots, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely sliced

2 tsp ground allspice

800g of coarsely grated ripe tomatoes, or tinned

A handful of parsley chopped

½ cup of breadcrumbs

Soak the beans overnight in a large bowl of water. Drain then place in a large saucepan, add the bay leaf and cover with water.  Bring to the boil then reduce heat to medium – low, and cook till very tender, approximately 1.5 hours.  Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.  Add a couple of shakes of salt towards the end of the cooking time.  Drain the beans, reserving about 400ml of the liquid.

Preheat oven to 180⁰ C.  In a frypan, sauté the onions with the garlic in about 2tbs of olive oil till tender and translucent.  Remove from the heat and mix in a bowl with the remaining ingredients, including the precooked beans with the reserved liquid, except for the breadcrumbs.  Season with salt and pepper.

Place in a large baking dish and insert into oven.  Cover with foil and bake for about 45 mins.  Remove the foil and stir the beans add extra water if they seem to be drying out.  Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and return to oven, baking for another 30 mins.

Serve warm with a final flourish of olive oil.

It's not all in the mind Babka

To my undying shame I have only just discovered a means of keeping abreast of current trends – listening to podcasts.  And one of my favourites du jour, is the ABC’s ‘All in the mind’ which features illuminating discussions on subjects related to the brain and social behaviour. 

A recent episode which was of much intrigue to moi, was the subject of curiosity.  According to clinical psychologist, Todd Kashdan, one of the benefits of retaining a sense of curiosity and pursuing what impassions us is it can prevent cognitive and mental decline.  Our brains are‘exercised’ when we learn a new skill or language, when embracing novel experiences; when we actively seek uncertainty in our lives.  Not only is this invigorating to us as human beings, but also leads to less likelihood of developing dementia. 

Well in the spirit of embracing a novel experience I opened up Tess Kiros’ intoxicatingly magical ‘Falling Cloudberries’ and stumbled upon her recipe for Babka.  This is a Jewish sweet bread characterised by swirls of cinnamon. Since I have never eaten babka myself  I didn’t know what to expect.  My variation is the use of melted butter instead of vegetable oil, because it just tastes better.  When eaten warm from the oven, it is divine! I’m glad one  part of my body benefitted from the babka experience (wasn’t my waistline that’s for sure!!) 

Serves 6 …..

 

625g plain flour

1tsp salt

80g caster sugar

15g dried instant yeast

250ml milk

100g butter

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cinnamon filling

1 tbs ground cinnamon

100g dark brown sugar

60g butter, softened

Glaze

1 egg yolk

2tsp milk

30g sugar, to sprinkle

Mix together the dried ingredients till well combined in a large bowl using a whisk.  Melt butter in a saucepan with the milk over medium heat.  Once melted take off heat and incorporate into the bowl of dried ingredients using your hands. 

Add the eggs and mix a little to combine.  The dough will be thick and sticky.  Turn it out onto a floured work surface, incorporating more flour if necessary so that it is sticky but not so sticky that it sticks to your hands.  Knead it for about 10 mins. Grease a large clean bowl with melted butter.

Place the dough in the bowl turning it greased side up.  Cover with plastic wrap and then a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm location until it is light and doubled in size, about 1^1/2 hours.  Halve the dough and roll out one half on a lightly floured surface .  it will still feel quite sticky.  Roll it out to make a 25 x 45 cm rectangle about ½ cm thick. 

Mix the cinnamon with the brown sugar. Spread half the butter over the rolled out dough (if butter is quite hard grate it instead) and scatter half of the cinnamon sugar over the surface.  Roll up the dough into a long cord along its longest edge.  Set aside and do the same with the other half.  Braid the two dough ropes together, pressing hard to seal the edges together.  Twist the dough braid to tighten the loaf. 

Place onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment.  Cover with plastic and leave in a warm place for another hour or so, until it puffs up again.  Preheat the oven to 180^oC.  Mix the egg yolk with the milk and brush over the top of the babka, then sprinkle with sugar.  Put the baking tray on the bottom third of the oven with no shelves above it and bake for 30 – 40 mins.  It will have risen into a beautifully golden loaf.  A skewer inserted into the highest part should come out clean without any dough sticky to it.  If the ends look too brown but the dough doesn’t seem cooked enough,  then cover them with aluminium foil and cook for a little longer.  Cool for a few mins before cutting up and eating as is.  Oh,…so good for the brain!

 

 

 

Perfect-as-it- is Avgolemono soup

I like to gild the lily.  If something tastes great, I like to think if I add a pinch of smoked paprika or an extra dash of tabasco, I can make it better, make it taste absolutely sensational.  Sometimes this superfluity can lead to delightfully surprising outcomes, other times it can lead to disaster.

This mantra of 'if a little is good, then a lot is better' led to my downfall as an undergraduate Chemistry student.   Fondly I recall my Chemistry lab experiments at Uni where I often shamelessly pipetted too much hydrochloric acid, or other type of acid, into a solution and remaining agog at the toxic gases produced.  I even had my supervisors bewildered with the mysterious reactions that were occurring in the incubators of which I presided.  Invariably there was smoke, there were menacing hissing noises, dubious smells, dangerously overheated test-tubes, holes in my lab coat ...Alas, I was not a highly sought after lab partner!

But I'm learning that sometimes it is best to do as little as possible, add as little as possible to a dish and the results can be absolutely sensational.  Like this avgolemono, from Stephanie Alexander's the cooks companion - a Greek lemon-egg soup which needs to be served straight after cooking. It is certainly not one of those soups that can be reheated and served later as it tends to go gluggy.  This has to be one of my favourite soups.  And please, do not even think about buying the cartoned chicken stock!  Quelle horreur!!  Serves 4....

1.5 litres home made Chicken stock
90g long grain rice
3 large eggs
juice of 2 lemons
salt and pepper

Bring stock to simmering point.  Adjust seasoning and drop in rice.  Simmer for 15 mins until rice is cooked. 
Beat eggs and lemon juice vigorously (or use hand held mixer) till frothy. Add a ladleful of hot stock to egg mixture and continue to whisk..Remove stock from heat and allow to cool for 2 -3 mins. 
Swiftly tip in egg mixture, whisking to mix well.  Taste again for salt and pepper.  Serve at once.

Caramelised onion and vintage cheddar bread

It was a chilly, autumnal morning and something warm and comforting was in order.  Flipping through my latest Gourmet Traveller I found the following recipe for a scone-like savoury bread. Although it is called a bread, there is no yeast.  It's very rustic and accessible unlike some of their recipes which even for someone with altispheric tastes like moi, can be a little too intimidating.  No, this one just calls for onions and vintage cheese amongst other homely ingredients.  If you do want to make it a little more sophisticated, swap the vintage cheddar for a mix of fetta and tasty or halloumi.  Or instead of thyme in the caramelised onion concoction, use mint or oregano. Although, my daughter did complain that there just wasn't enough caramelised onion, otherwise she would have given it a 10/10. Wonderful with a light, brothy soup like  avgolemono....Serves 8

450g (3 cups) SR flour
160g (1 cup) wholemeal SR flour
100g cold butter, chopped
120g (1 cup) coarsely grated vintage cheddar
1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs such as chives and thyme
1 egg, lightly beaten
310ml buttermilk

Caramelised onions
2 tbs olive oil
3 medium sized brown onions, thinly sliced
1 tbs fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 tbs sugar
salt and pepper to taste

For caramelised onions, heat oil in a large fry pan and cook onion with bay and thyme leaves over medium heat till soft.  Add sugar and salt and pepper with 2 tbs water and cook stirring occasionally for 20 mins till onions are soft and charred around the edges.  Cool.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.  Line a large oven tray with baking paper.
Whisk flours in a large bowl for a minute till thoroughly aerated.  Rub in butter.  Stir in half the cheese and half the mixed herbs.  Add egg and enough buttermilk to mix to a soft, sticky dough.  Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead gently until smooth.

Roll dough between sheets of baking paper into a 30cm x 40cm rectangle.  Spread caramelised onions over dough, leaving a 2cm border along the far long side.  Sprinkle remaining cheese and herbs over onion. Roll up firmly from long side and transfer to tray turning edges to form a horse-shoe shape. Brush with a little extra buttermilk,

Bake for about 40 mins.  Stand on tray for 20 mins.  Serve.  If you can't be bothered with the soup, just open a beautiful bottle of Beaujolais, or any reputable red, and imbibe with pleasure! It would be just as warm and comforting.....

Wildfell Hall Butterscotch Peach Cake

It was destined to be a nutty day.  I had been to my in-laws' chestnut farm earlier picking chestnuts, which incidentally is rather gruelling.  You're stooped over picking chestnuts strewn on the ground, sometimes extracting them from their prickly encasings.  Despite wearing gloves cactus -like prickles invariably find themselves impaled in your hands.  So by the end of it, you're battling sore back and leg muscles and stubborn prickles.  Thankfully, the chestnut harvesting season is short lasting for around 6 weeks in autumn.

Anyway, later in the day inspired by the chestnuts I decided to make one of Belinda Jeffries' nut-based creations, for my monthly bookclub.  We were discussing Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which was considered hugely shocking for it's time given the themes of marital abuse, divorce and alcoholism.  Published in 1848, it is supposedly the first feminist novel.  It made for a very scintillating discussion.  Because Anne is undeservedly the lesser known of the Bronte sisters and because she was brave and honest enough to bring to light the injustices suffered by women in the 19th century, I thought I'd name this cake after her pioneering novel.

If you want the heavenly effect of the butterscotch sauce cascading over the cake, the right sized tin is imperative.   Belinda used 24cm round cake time.  As you can see by the photo, my tin was a little too large!  Supposed to serve 8...

100g almond meal

90g SR flour

160g caster sugar

3 eggs

200g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Peach and caramel topping

80g unsalted butter

½ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

3 largish, just ripe peaches

Preheat oven to 180⁰C.  Lightly butter a 24cm round cake tin, lining base with baking paper.

For the topping, melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat.  Add the sugar and salt and stir until the mixture is smooth.   Pour it into your prepared tin, tilting it so that the bottom is coated evenly.  You will need to hold it with a tea towel so as not to get scolded by the heat.

Leaving the skins on the peach, slice them into 6mm segments.  Lay the peach slices over the top of the caramel, layering as you go so the base of the tin is completely covered in peaches.

Whiz the almond meal and flour in a food processor for 10 seconds until well combined. Tip them into a bowl.

Whiz the sugar and eggs in the processor for a minute then add butter and whiz a little more to combine thoroughly.  The sides of the machine may need to be scraped down with a spatula so that all the butter is incorporated.  Mix in the vanilla.  Return to the almond mixture to processor and pulse briefly, just enough time for the liquid and dry ingredients to combine. Dollop the subsequent batter into the caramel and peach covered tin as evenly and gently as possible.

Bake for about 45 mins or until a fine skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Leave it to cool for a few mins then run a blunt knife around trhe inside of the tin to loosen the cake.  Leave it another couple of minutes then invert it onto a serving plate.  For an extra sheen, brush the peaches gently with golden syrup.  Serve warm with a dollop of cream or scoop of vanilla ice-cream.  This cake really needs to be eaten on the day it’s made, for a superior taste sensation.

 

Boot camp gnocchi

Maybe it was the guilt of having a sackful of organic potatoes from my in-laws’ farm languishing in the cellar.  Perhaps it was the potent sense of wellbeing after a long, soul -enriching bike ride on a trail replete with nature’s bounty….but I decided to make gnocchi.  This involves boiling potatoes then peeling them whilst hot, before passing them through my manual rotary food mill.  It is a mammoth effort using this contraption which involves holding the long handle with one hand whilst rotating the blade with the other.  And when you’re using 1 kg of potatoes it is a workout.  It made me think of other manual kitchen activities that require exertion such as using a mortar and pestle to grind spices, kneading and rolling out dough, juicing oranges…it’s boot camp but with delicious results!

I first made gnocchi 10 years ago after following a recipe in a food magazine.  It was just potato and flour.  No egg.  And so I have never used egg and either has Stephanie Alexander.   To achieve the desired result of light and velvety dumplings  incorporate as little flour as possible.  So do not delay the shaping and cooking of the gnocchi otherwise the dough will become sticky and require more flour.  In this recipe I make a  neapolitana sauce using the last of the late summer tomatoes and bake in the oven with a layer of grated cheese.  When my son first looked at his plate he declared with disdain that he was not having any of this dinner.  But after some gentle coaxing, he tried some.  And just like his name sake in Seus’ Green Eggs and Ham, he loved them!  He even said they tasted like ‘clouds’.  The sheer effort of this dish was worth it….Serves 4.

Olive oil

1kg potatoes

Salt

325g plain flour

Neapolitana sauce

1 kg of tomatoes, peeled

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbs dried oregano

1 bay leaf

4 garlic cloves

Handful of basil

200g of mixed cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar

In a large saucepan, boil potatoes in lightly salted water for 15 – 20 mins till tender.  Drain and peel swiftly using a teatowel to hold potato if too hot to handle. Pass potatoes through a food mill or potato ricer directly onto work surface, then sprinkle with salt.  In the meantime, have a large saucepan containing at least 3 litres of water boiling in preparation for cooking the gnocchi.   With one hand sprinkle potato with some flour and, using the heel of the other hand, work it in.  The skill is to be as deft and quick as possible.  Continue until dough is a pliable consistency.  You may not even need to use all the dough.  When cooking water is at a fast boil, roll potato mixture into a long rope and cut into 1cm pieces.  

Reduce heat slightly so that water is simmering.  Drop in some gnocchi, but not too many at once as they do expand.  After a few mins the gnocchi rise to the surface.   Lift them with a perforated spoon, drain momentarily over the pot before laying them flat on a large roasting tray smeared with olive oil.  Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

Preheat oven to 180⁰C.  Make sauce by heating oil first.  Then pour in all other ingredients excluding the basil.  Cook for about 20mins on medium heat mashing the tomato as you cook it.  Adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper.  Add 2 ladlefuls of the potato cooking water to thin it out a little.  Stir in basil at the end before pouring over the gnocchi in the roasting dish.  You may not require all the sauce, so keep the rest in the fridge for use at a later time.  Then sprinkle cheese evenly over the top before putting into the oven to cook a further 10 -15 mins when it will be golden and bubbly.  Cloud-like indeed!

 

 

 

Cauliflower and beetroot salad with harissa dressing

It’s become an obsession ….salad making.  Recently, I watched with a sense of wonderment and awe an episode of Ottolenghi’s “ Mediterranean Feast”which featured Tunisian cuisine.  To my shame, I had never heard of him until I stumbled upon this TV series.  Against a bejewelled Mediterranean sea or in the bustling markets of Tunis he beguiled his guests with his keen interest in their food.  I loved his warm and engaging manner, he is what Italians would call a ‘sympatico’ spirit.  I have read a little more about him since then.  ‘Otto’ is a regular food writer for The Guardian and renowned for being inventive with his flavours, incorporating less commonly used ingredients in his dishes. He challenges cooks not to be intimidated by the use of caraway, cardamom or verjuice. To me his adventurousness encapsulates what a culinary dalliance should be! In this episode Otto concocted a most magnificent salad, his take on the Nicoise salad, with a harissa dressing.  Harissa is a piquant chilli sauce used in almost all Tunisian dishes. Like wasabi, a little goes a long way.... I subsequently was inspired to create this colourful salad which uses caraway seeds and harissa as stellar flavourings.  Serves 4 – 6.

1 head of cauliflower, separated into florets

2 large carrots, cut into 2cm lengths

4 small beetroots, quartered

1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges

100g baby spinach

1 tbs caraway seeds

¼ cup olive oil, plus extra 4 tbs for dressing

1 tbs dried oregano

2 tbs roasted pepitas

2 tsp harissa paste

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbs red wine vinegar

2 squeezes of lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200⁰C.  Grease 2 roasting tins.  Thoroughly mix first 4 vegetables with olive oil, oregano and caraway, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Place on trays and roast for 40 – 50 mins till caramelised.

Make dressing by whisking olive oil, vinegar, lemon, garlic and harissa in a large salad bowl.  Then incorporate roasted vegetables with spinach leaves in the bowl.  Scrape any juices remaining in the trays to augment the flavours. Scatter with pepita seeds.