Aubergine Polenta Terrine

Possibly my favourite UK city is Edinburgh, not just for the food but also the wonderful art gallerys - and of course shops! As usual there was a 'lazy' wind (it goes through not around you) but we had a wonderful evening out at Nonna's in Morningside with the best B & B owner we know - Clarissa - and as a fellow American ex-pat we got to discussing the pros and cons of cornmeal (aka polenta).  She's a big fan, but I have to say I really need that strong maize taste knocked back, so here is my compromise, which I have to say is rather tasty. As with all terrines read the recipe all the way through to the end to make sure you get the layers in the right order.

Aubergine Polenta Terrine
___________________________________________

Ingredients

100ml  olive oil

1 medium  aubergine
3 medium red onions
60g quick cook polenta

250ml light stock

125g baking potato (cooked)

125g soft goats cheese

2 tbsp semi-skimmedmilk

½ tsp thyme, dried

100g spinach, wilted, drained and chopped

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1-1 ½ tsp sun dried tomato paste

1 large tomato, thickly sliced

5-6 black olives

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

First of all heat your oven up to Gas 5/190C.  Then cut the aubergine into thin slices (about 5mm) preferably lengthwise. This is the hardest part of the recipe - best tip is to use a really sharp knife. Then place the slices on an oiled baking sheet, brush with oil (you will probably need 75ml) and bake for 10 minutes until soft and golden, turning once.

Then peel and slice the red onion into thick rings (you should get 4 out of each onion). Place flat on a baking tray, drizzle with the remaining oil and roast for 15 minutes until soft.

At the same time cook the polenta with the stock according to packet instructions (usually 5 minutes). Do not worry it will take on the consistency of wallpaper paste!

Mash the potato, three quarters of the cheese and all the milk together and season with thyme, salt and black pepper. Then combine well with the polenta. I know it is faster just to boil the potato but it does need to be dry so baking is a more fail-safe method.

To assemble the terrine: take a long 1lb loaf tin and strip line with baking parchment so you will be able to life out the terrine. Then divide the polenta mix into three. Spread one third on the bottom with a plastic spatula. Brush a little sun-dried tomato paste over this then cover with half the aubergine slices. Spread another third of polenta on top and place the onion over this followed by the spinach and nuts. Then spread the final layer of polenta on top, followed by the tomato paste and aubergine. Dot over pieces of the remaining cheese, cover with sliced tomatoes, add the olives and drizzle with a little oil and balsamic vinegar.

Finally bake for 20 minutes.  You'll find the terrine will be quite soft when hot, but becomes firmer as it cools (very nice for lunch the next day!)

Update
Having just featured this dish on a course at LucyCooks in the Lake District, we have come up with an even better terrine with roasted red peppers on the bottom layer and thin strips of courgette (using a potato peeler) on the top. This version is called Fern's Terrine (thank you Fern for being allergic to aubergine!)

Mango Coconut Creme Brulee

I did promise that we would also be including reviews of places to find inspired – or even just decent – vegetarian food, which would of course give us the perfect excuse to eat out more regularly.

Returning to one of my old favourites in Manchester, the Thai restaurant Chaophraya, I was deeply disappointed. What used to be an exquisite platter of vegetarian tapas had now been transformed into a bizarre selection of indistinguishable deep-fried blobs with a fiery salad overpowered by fishy nam pla! The most interesting sounding dessert (green tea and coconut cream crepe) arrived with ice cream that resembled the inside of an Arctic Roll. It was all very hard work, despite providing a moderately acceptable photo. However… it did make me think about how to combine Asian flavours with traditional European desserts.

Mango Coconut Crème Brûlée

____________________________

Ingredients

250mg mango puree

150ml coconut cream (not milk)

100ml double cream

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

¼ tsp cinnamon powder

1-2tsp lime juice

4 tbsp cater sugar

Makes 4 small brûlées

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find ripe, flavoursome mangoes. For cooked desserts, unless I can find the luscious Alphonso, which has a very short season (April to May), I often use canned slices or puree.

If you are using a fresh mango, cut down towards the flesh to create a ‘hedgehog’ effect as shown in the picture below. An average mango should yield approximately 150-200mg pulp, then pop the slices in a small blender and pulse until you have a thick puree.

Spoon 150mg along with the two creams and the sugar into a small pan and bring to just below boiling point, stirring occasionally. Although it might be more authentic to use a dark sugar, that turns the crème rather too dark I find. Have a taste at this stage before adding the eggs – you may find it needs a little more sugar.

Then whisk the egg and egg yolks in a bowl and slowly pour into the crème, whisking all the time. Pour the mixture into 4 small ramekins and place in a roasting pan half full of hot water. If like me, you find it hard to manoeuvre this into the oven just pour the water in after you have popped the pan on the oven shelf.  Bake at Gas 2/150C for 25-30 minutes until just set but a bit wobbly.

Take the puddings out of the pan and let them cool. Sprinkle a tablespoon of caster sugar onto each and use a small blow torch to create a thin caramelized topping. If you don’t have a blow torch (or find it difficult to fill as I do) place the puddings on a baking tray and caramelize under a hot grill. Do remember that the ramekins will be very hot once you have completed this stage!

For the accompanying coulis just process the remaining mango with the cinnamon and lime juice, again you may want to add a little extra sugar. Serve as below, with a raspberry or two.

Spinach Roulade with Red Pepper, Olives and Goats Cheese

Marise and I have just run one of long standing favourite courses, Easy Vegetarian Entertaining. Part of the key is remaining calm and relaxed and here she is to prove the point! This recipe of Marise’s has been a winner on so many occasions, particularly when catering for special events such as weddings and birthdays. Even hardened carnivores have been heard to say “I never knew vegetarian food could taste so good – I even had seconds!” It’s partly the colours which make it so splendid, but I think it’s mainly the fabulous balance of flavours that makes it absolutely amazing.

Spinach Roulade with Red Pepper, Olives and Goats Cheese

_____________________________________________

 

Ingredients

For the roulade

20g butter

50g onion, very finely chopped

200g frozen spinach, defrosted and most of the liquid  

4tbs crème fraiche

Pinch nutmeg

to taste            salt and pepper

4 large free range eggs, separated

For the filling

150g light Philadephia cream cheese

60g Somerset goat’s cheese

50g red pepper, very finely diced

30 – 40g pitted Nicoise olives*,(to taste), finely diced

a little milk to mix if needed

Serves 6

For the roulade, lightly sauté the onion in the butter until soft but not coloured. Then squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the spinach through a sieve lined with thick kitchen towel – or you could use a tea towel. Take a large bowl and mix the spinach and onion with the crème fraiche, nutmeg (which really complements the spinach). Season well and beat in the egg yolks.

Using a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff – but not dry – and fold them into the spinach mixture. Don’t worry this is much less stressful than making a soufflé, all you need to do is introduce some air to keep the roulade light. Pour into a shallow baking tin (25cm x 35cm) lined with baking paper and spread flat. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 200C/Gas 6 until it feels firm and springy.

Take out of the oven and turn out onto another piece of baking paper (larger than the tin) placed on a cooling rack. Carefully peel off the piece of baking paper that the spinach has been cooked on. Use the paper on the cooling rack to roll up the spinach mixture, rolling the paper inside.  Cover with a clean tea towel to prevent drying out and leave to cool.

To make the filling mash the two cheeses together and then mix in the red pepper and enough olives to taste – take care not to add too many olives as they can make the filling very salty. (If you prefer Kalamata that is fine). Chill for at least 30 minutes before filling – otherwise the filling will be too runny – it needs to be fairly firm. If you find it is too thick however just mix in a very little milk.

Finally, carefully unroll the spinach and spread with the filling, leaving a 3cm border top and bottom. Fold the bottom border up over the filling, then carefully roll up the roulade. Turn the roulade so that it sits on the join. Wrap in cling film and chill, still with the join underneath.

It looks great served cut in slices, garnished with salad spinach leaves and paprika and, if you like, a few olives and strips of red pepper.

Taro Leaves in Coconut Milk

Having decided we were well overdue for a little research shopping, Mo and I popped down to Rusholme the other day - not quite as exotic as Kerala, but equally vibrant and bursting with tempting vegetables.  Heading straight for our favourite store, Ravi’s, I got rather side-tracked by the wonderful purple carrots (so much more flavour) and fresh curry leaves (so addictive and fortunately easy to freeze) while Mo  as usual, left to her own devices, made new friends. The result…. a great recipe from ‘The Reverend’ using an ingredient I had never heard of before – taro leaves. Hard to describe, but rather like a larger, tougher spinach leaf and a lovely delicate flavour.

Ravi Rev’s Rusholme Recipe

_________________________________________

Ingredients

10-12 taro leaves

1 can coconut milk

2 large tomatoes, sliced

1 lemon sliced

1 bunch spring onions, sliced

2 chillies, sliced (or to taste!)

salt & pepper

Serves 3-4

First of all wash the leaves and remove the tough stem. Pat dry. Roughly shred the leaves, they will reduce in much the same way as spinach.

Line a medium sized casserole dish with plenty of foil so that you will be able to enclose all the ingredients as if in an envelope. Then place all the taro leaves on the bottom, then place in layers on top the tomatoes, lemon slices, spring onions and chillies. Finally pour over the coconut milk to cover (make sure you shake the can well before opening so that there are no big blobs of coconut cream) and season.

Bring the foil up over the dish so that it completely covers the ingredients and then fold the sides together to seal in the flavours.

Bake in a pre-heated oven (Gas4/180C) for about 30-40 minutes. This works perfectly as a side dish, but make sure you also have some carbs (noodles or rice are best) to absorb the luscious juices.

Red Bean and Beetroot Cakes

Time for a change of continent – and an excuse to recall Kerala, where I fell in love not only with an exciting new cuisine (far removed from the curry houses adapted to British tastes) but also a whole new palette of flavour combinations. I also discovered that my liver has a low tolerance for the huge amount of coconut milk used in Southern Indian cooking! Of course this didn’t hinder me from trying as many dishes as possible, often thali style as presented below (dessert – a wonderful dish called Paysam – came on the same tray)

So now, a favourite recipe from northern India, which is a wonderful variation on the ‘rissole’ – a regular vegetarian nightmare (closely followed by stuffed peppers). It also gives me a chance to use both beetroot and pulses, which is quite a feat.

Red Bean and Beetroot Cakes

_________________________________________________

Ingredients

2 tsp groundnut oil

¼ small red onion, very finely chopped

1 small green chilli

2 tsp curry paste (preferably Pataks Korma or Rogan Josh)

50g carrot, grated*

175g red kidney beans, cooked (or canned, rinsed and drained)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

25g white breadcrumbs

25g ground almonds

50g raw beetroot, grated (if desperate use organic vac-packed, but pat dry)

4-5tbsp gram flour (for coating)

3-4 tbsp groundnut oil (for frying)

Makes 12 small cakes.

* rissoles with random large lumps are just not nice, so do grate the vegetables finely (but not with a microplane)

First of all sauté the onion in a small frying pan until soft and then add the chilli and curry paste. Then cook for another few minutes.

Then pop the beans, lemon juice and garlic in a small processor and pulse to a rough mash not a puree – please avoid the effect of nasty canned refried beans.  (We always try and use some citrus with pulses and wholegrains to help release the calcium, iron and zinc). If fresh garlic is too strong, just sauté some with the onion.

Take a large bowl and tip in the paste, bean mixture, carrots, breadcrumbs and almonds and mix really well.  You’ll find a lot of rissoles use breadcrumbs as a binder but I prefer using ground nuts which not only give a more interesting flavour, but also add a bit of protein (and vegetarians tend to be given rather a lot of wheat anyway). Finally stir in the beetroot. There is usually plenty of salt in commercial curry pastes so I tend not to season further – but it’s up to you!

Now form 12 cakes – large walnut size, but a bit flatter. Roll in gram flour, shaking off any excess and chill for 30 minutes. Plain flour can be used at a pinch, but gram flour (which is made from chickpeas) is far more sticky and works very well in sealing the surface of the cakes.

To cook, cover the base of a large non stick frying pan with the remaining oil and when hot add the cakes gradually so as not to reduce the temperature of the oil too drastically (that’s how rissoles fall apart). Fry gently on each side for approx 3-4 minutes (gentle is the operative word here, they can burn a little if the heat is too high). Drain on kitchen paper before serving.

Instead of serving with raita (which is rather predictable) try making a fresh relish with coriander, mint, mustard, lemon juice and oil and perhaps a garnish of cucumber and onion for a bit of crunch.

Spiced Rice Filled Squash

This post features one of Mo’s lovely winter recipes, and here she is, doing what she enjoys most – making bread - once she decides which are her favourite doughs we’ll be posting those too.

We’re sticking with orange vegetables and middle eastern flavours, but moving on to squash, which can often be tricky not only to attack, but also taste-wise (personally I’m not a big fan of pumpkins apart from their seeds, so if you have any astounding ideas for making them taste interesting you must let me know).

This recipe only requires that you cut a squash in half, usually pretty achievable without accidents, using a big, sharp knife. Then it’s filled with a delicious, moist rice mixture.  Don’t be tempted to substitute couscous – it’s far too dry, and anyway vegetarians get fed far too much wheat!

Spiced Rice Filled Squash

_________________________________________________

Ingredients

2-3 medium squash (eg. Acorn or Onion)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tangerine, juice only

1 tsp allspice

Filling

50g white basmati rice

50g red rice

50g wild rice

1 ½ tsp vegetable stock powder

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cardamom

50g dried cranberries

25g dried apricots

50g pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp cold pressed pumpkin seed oil

Serves 4-6

First of all, preheat your oven to Gas 5/190C.

Cut your squash in half and scoop out all the seeds. Combine the oil, juice and allspice together and brush or rub over the flesh. If you have the ‘bulb’ end of a butternut squash left over, these are also great for stuffing. Place on a baking tray, cover with foil and bake for around 30 minutes until the flesh is soft. Take out of oven and set aside.

Cook the rices separately according to instructions, each with ½ tsp stock powder. Drain and combine. Wild rice will take the longest time, and is in fact a seed. It’s also a bit pricey but we love the chewy texture. Red rice has all the benefits of brown rice (easy to cook, not stripped of nutrients) but the bonus of a rather more exciting colour.

Heat the oil and sauté (I hope you’re using that word now) the onion and celery until soft. Then add the spices, dried fruit and seeds. Scoop out a little of the cooked flesh and add to the mixture.

Combine this with the rice and fill each squash half. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes until completely heated through.

ps. the filling makes a lovely pilaf on its own with roasted cubes of squash and/or courgettes together with chopped herbs (although if making this for Mo, make sure you leave out the coriander!)

Sweet Potato Salad

The first post is the hardest I guess, but the best way is just to jump in. So far I’ve not told you very much about myself but gradually I expect I’ll reveal all my loves, hates and foibles.

My second great passion, after food is travel, which seems incredibly common with food bloggers, so I make no apologies for my first theme – Morocco. Why? Well, next weekend our ‘Casablanca’ course runs at Cordon Vert, being born with Californian blood I’m also reminiscing about last year’s winter trip to Marrakech and finally my new year present to myself of a digital camera hasn’t turned up yet, so instead of a picture of my recipe you’ll find my photos from the medina.

I’m always fascinated by how simple peasant food becomes an exotic cuisine once transported back to the UK. Is it really just the herbs and spices? Anyway Morocco was no exception, so of course I went with high expectations, which were a little dampened after the 5^th or 6^th vegetable tagine. But you know what? It just reminded me that the most challenging culinary problem in this country is usually vegetables. So here is a fabulously easy warm salad made with one of our favourite vegetables for vegetarians – the sweet potato. It’s not just the colour (we try to avoid too much brown) but it’s also full of beta-carotene (did I tell you I spent 5 years studying nutrition?).

Moroccan Sweet Potato Salad

_____________________________________________________

Ingredients

1 ½ tbsp olive oil

1  medium onion, finely chopped

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp tumeric

450g/1lb sweet potatoes

½ tsp stock powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 preserved lemon, skin only chopped

8 green olives, stoned & chopped

3 tbsp flat leaf parsley and coriander, finely chopped

Serves 4

Sauté (I prefer that to ‘fry’) the onion gently until soft in a large pan. Then add the spices. We’ll have a whole section on spices soon, but for the moment, trust me, the best way to get the most flavour is to add them at this stage.

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into thick wedges (the exact shape isn’t vital, but make sure they’re a similar size so they cook evenly). Add to the pan and coat with the onion and spice mixture.

Then just cover with water and add the stock powder (we like to use Marigold, but we can’t agree on which variety to use – the green label is easiest to find and is also yeast & gluten free, but a wee bit salty). Anyway, bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until the sweet potatoes have softened but are still keeping their shape.

Add the remaining ingredients. These are what will give the dish it’s wonderful balance of flavours – a bit of saltiness and a bit of sourness (the umami is in the sweet potato – but I digress). Reduce the sauce a little with the lid off and add the herbs. I prefer to serve at room temperature.

ps. Preserved lemons are a wonderful addition to any North African dish but please don’t ever be tempted to use the flesh – no one told me so sadly I avoided them for years.