M'Hancha

Veering now to the other end of the Mediterranean here is one of my favourite 'smart' desserts that I first developed for a course entitled Casablanca. Ostensibly it's a Moroccan 'serpent' cake based on almonds and cinnamon, but not being a great lover of what is basically just marzipan I've introduced a few additional flavours (one of which is distinctly not north African!) and I do recommend serving it with something like fig and sherry ice cream.

Ingredients

50g toasted almonds, chopped

150g ground almonds

100g unsalted butter, melted

75g white chocolate, finely chopped

45g citrus peel, chopped

½ large orange, grated zest only

50g caster sugar

2 tbsp orange blossom water

1 medium egg, lightly beaten

300g filo pastry

To garnish

1 tbsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp icing sugar

100g strawberries/orange segments

Makes enough for 8 (and can be frozen too).

Melt 60g of the butter and pour into a large bowl. Add the nuts and the next six ingredients and mix well to form a paste. Shape roughly into five long logs.

Cut the filo pastry into 10 rectangles approximately 220mm x 250mm and melt the reamining butter in a small pan. Brush one sheet with butter and place another sheet on top.

Place one of the logs across the middle and brush with more butter, before rolling to look like a snake or very small strudel.

Repeat this process until you have five ‘snakes’, then join them together to make a large coil on a large baking sheet. This is the tricky bit and best to do in the privacy of your own kitchen with no one watching. Don't worry it you have any cracks - these can be masked with artful decoration. Brush lightly with the rest of the butter and bake for 20-25 minutes on Gas 5/190C until golden brown.

When the cake has cooled sprinkle all over with cinnamon. Then cut three long strips of baking parchment, place 2 or 3cm apart on the cake and sprinkle icing sugar to create a striped effect. Add the fruit wherever you think appropriate.

If you're nervous of filo don't buy the very fine Greek version; several supermarkets have decent chilled versions which give you a little more 'working' time before they dry out and crack. Jus Rol frozen filo is ok, but defrost very carefully.

Imam Bayaldi

In honour of last week’s course, Mysterious Middle East, a recipe featuring one of our other favourite ‘a’ vegetables.  The aubergine can be an awkward customer both to cut and cook gracefully. Frankly any aubergine slice is only going to be as good as your knife and I save my Global for this special occasion. The other piece of advice is to pace the amount of oil you need…there does come a point when aubergine will start to release a little of what is has thirstily glugged, so if you don’t want to end up with something slimy have a little patience (not something I used to have much of until I started cooking!).

There are many ways of cooking and presenting Imam Bayaldi, including the one below, but I find my method easier and possibly tastier.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ tsp coriander, ground

½ tsp dried dill

½ tsp paprika

¼ tsp cinnamon, ground

1 tbsp tomato purée

½ can tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp coarse ground black pepper

 salt to taste

4 tbsp olive oil

2 medium sized aubergines

4 tbsp flat leaved parsley and mint, finely chopped

Makes enough for 4 servings

Method

First of all heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a medium sized frying pan and sauté the onions for 5 minutes. Add the spices, garlic and tomato puree and sauté for a further minute or two before adding the tomatoes, sugar and seasoning. Cook gently for another 10 minutes until the mixtures starts to get a bit sticky.

Then trim the aubergines and peel the skin lengthwise in 2 cm strips (this isn’t strictly necessary but it helps with the flavour). Cut the aubergines in half or thirds length ways and make diagonal slashes on one of the flat sides.

Heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the aubergines until golden on both sides. Spoon the onion mixture into the slashes and place the aubergines into an oiled baking dish and cover with foil

Bake in a preheated oven 190ºC/ Gas 5 for about 30 minutes until cooked (the aubergine flesh should be really soft by now) and then finish off by drizzling over some extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with parsley and mint. Much nicer served at room temperature than piping hot.