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.

Suzy's Summer Salad

In celebration of this brief glimpse of summer I thought I'd share one of my favourite starters. It's so simple and so unexpected and makes a very welcome change from mezze style dips (which even I tire of occasionally). Suzy is a very special friend whom we used to spend wonderful, not entirely sober weekends with in Edinburgh until she abandoned us for Sydney (the place!). Suzy's fridge was always full of fabulous deli delights, but she tends to be more of an 'assembler' than a cook so you can rest assured this is dead easy to make.

Ingredients

1 small melon (charentais is good for colour, but ogen or honeydew is fine)
1 large punnet cherry tomatoes, halved (or 5 really ripe tomatoes, deseeded and quartered)
1 small cucumber
4 tbsp white balsamic condiment
1/2 - 1 tsp sugar
handful mint

Makes enough for at least 4 or 5 starter portions

If you have the patience make melon balls, otherwise just cut into  large dice. Pop these and the tomatoes into a large bowl (along with any juice from the melon). Use a potato peeler to make long strips of cucumber (exclude the first two or three strips which will be mainly skin)... or you can just cut into slices... the aesthetics are down to you. Anyway add the cucumber to the bowl too.

Then cut the mint into very fine ribbons (if you chop it instead it bruises very easily and black is not a good look for this dish). Add to the balsamic and 'season' with the amount of sugar that suits you. Best chilled before serving. Drink with plenty of Australian chardonnay.

Asparagus Rice Paper Rolls

We are mourning the end of the asparagus season at the moment, so here is the last recipe of the season before we say bye bye. It's adapted from Mo's brilliant mezze selection on our World Tapas course and was one of the favourites at the Claremont asparagus evenings this year (as well as the soup of course!)

Ingredients

4 large rice paper roll wraps

20 asparagus spears, trimmed and steamed lightly

4 spring onions, thinly sliced

several handfuls baby spinach

4-5 tbsp sprouted mung beans

Dressing

1 tbsp golden syrup

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 red chillies, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

25g salted roasted peanuts, ground

Serves 4 as a starter

First of all moisten the rice paper wraps one by one in a wide bowl of warm water. Lie them on a flat surface then place some spinach along the centre, add 5 spears of the asparagus and sprinkle with the bean sprouts and onions.

Then drizzle over some of the sauce and roll into a wrap folding in the edges. (This sauce is fab with all sorts of oriental dishes...) Cut in half  and serve with thinly sliced cucumber and mint. You may need to make double the quantity since they slip down rather easily - who would have believed healthy food can taste so divine...?

Chile Rellenos

As you might suspect, Mo is very fond of Mexican cuisine (the spicier the better in her book) and I still have very happy memories of eight scorching days in the Yucatan during 2004. The end result is a proper Mexican cookery course which we love teaching – no Tex-Mex but lots of simple, easy to prepare dishes, based on beans, corn, tomatoes, chocolate and avocadoes. During our research there was one traditional vegetarian dish we came across (which is quite unusual in Mexico!) so we have included it here. It is spectacularly unhealthy, but quite delicious and best eaten using fingers.

Ingredients

6 poblano chillies or dried ancho chillies

300g mature cheddar cheese, cut into wedges

2 large eggs

1 tbsp plain flour

salt and pepper

vegetable oil for frying

Salsa

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp vegetable oil

6 large vine tomatoes

1 medium onion, peeled, cut into 4

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 jalapeno pepper (optional)

1 tsp sweet or hot smoked paprika or chipotle sauce

2 tsp Mexican oregano (Italian will do if necessary) 

2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Serves 2-3

To make the salsa pop the tomatoes, onions, garlic and jalapeno (if using) into a sauce pan, cover with water and bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Drain, blend and then do the boring bit - sieve the mixture into a bowl. Mix in the paprika or chipotle powder, oregano and coriander, season to taste.

This is the point at which you decide how much heat you want…. chipotle is a wonderful way of boosting heat but be careful it has an evil kick that creeps up on you. If you can’t find chipotle en adobe at your local deli, it’s easy to order from The Cool Chile Company (along with the anchos!)

Then heat the oil in a frying pan and toast the cumin seeds until they release their aroma, before adding the tomato mixture. Cook for 5 minutes and set aside to cool.

To deal with the chillies make a small incision at the top of each chilli, place on a rack and grill until charred all over. Throw into a bowl, cover with cling film and when cool enough to handle remove the skin. Or, if you are using dried anchos just rehydrate with boiling water in a large bowl for several hours; then drain, dry and cut a slice down the side of the chilli

Carefully stuff the chillies with the cheese in the incision, secure with a cocktail stick if needed. To make the batter separate the eggs and whisk the whites until stiff, mix the flour into the egg yolks, season with a little salt then mix into the whites.

When you are ready to eat dip the chillies into the egg batter and shallow fry until golden on both sides. Serve with the tomato sauce (and sour cream as well if you fancy a dairy overdose – tho it can help cool down the heat…)

Passionfruit Tart

Now there are lots of recipes for passionfruit tart out there and I thought I'd found a pretty good one by Gordon Ramsey, which has a chocolate lined pastry case! But I have to say I've just eaten a rather large portion of one that tasted even better... no doubt because it was made by the greatest loss to the culinary world -  my ex-restaurant partner, Lee (with the help of ace pastry maker Craig). The recipe comes from The Accidental Vegetarian by Simon Rimmer and although we have a few reservations about his restaurant Greens, this really is divine! Maybe it's a patience thing.....

Asparagus Tapenade

It wasn't perfect weather, but we still had a great Asparagus evening at Claremont Farm last Friday. Once everyone was thoroughly exhausted after striding through the strawberries and down to the asparagus fields to cut their own little harvest, we sat down to a feast of our favourite vegetable. We still love the pre-dinner canapes so here they are - asparagus and strawberries (yes - it's a fab combo....) with pomegranate molasses and orange and spicy (of course if Mo has cooked it!) tapenade on smart little bread 'spoons'. (Please note it's ever so healthy with the pumpkin seeds and did you know that asparagus is really high in something called glutathione - a natural anti-oxidant that's great for the liver.....)

Asparagus Tapenade
_______________________________

Ingredients

450g asparagus, trimmed and cooked

75g pumpkin seeds, toasted

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp dried tarragon

2 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp salt

 ½ tsp black pepper

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method

Just whack all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired texture (smooth or rough - whatever suits your taste ... or patience threshold). Then transfer to a serving dish, chill a little and serve with crackers.