Tag: tahini

Claudia Roden’s Fried Fish with Cumin and Tahini Sauce

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

As I started typing up this recipe, it struck me that there is not a Claudia Roden recipe I haven’t typed.

I am new to her cooking; the only question, is why?

This recipe is just lux.

Total joy.

Total simplicity.

Total genius.

If you served this to friends as part of a long lunch in the sun, there would be smiles all around. It’s just that good.

Ingredients

4 firm white fish fillets, such as bream or sea bass, skinless
3 tbsp plain flour
1 – 1 1/2 ground cumin
2 tbsp olive oil, for frying
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 lemon, quartered, to serve
Saltt

Tahini sauce

3 tbsp tahini
Juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon, to taste
1 small garlic clove, crushed

Method

  1. For the tahini sauce, stir the tahini in the jar before putting 3 tbsp in a small serving bowl. Gradually add the lemon juice and 2 – 3 tbsp water, beating vigorously with a fork and adding just enough water to get the consistency of a runny cream. The paste with stiffen at first and then become light and smooth. Add a little salt and the garlic.
  2. Season the fish with salt. Put the flour, cumin and a pinch of salt on a plate and mix well. Turn the fish fillets into this to coat them all over, then shake vigorously to remove the excess flour.
  3. Heat a small amount of oil in a non-stick fry pan. Put the fillets in and cook over a medium-heat, turning them over once, for 3 – 10 minutes depending on their thickness, until crisp, lightly browned and just cooked through.
  4. Serve the fish with a sprinkling of parsley and the lemon quarters. Serve with the tahini sauce.

Nigella’s Beef and Eggplant Fatteh

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

Hats off Nigella, as simple – and predictable – as this recipe seems, when everything comes together; especially cooking everything as slow as you can, it is a wonderful weekend meal.

And it is quite literally is about it al coming together: the toasted pita chips, the mince and dollops of the warm yoghurt/tahini mixture.

Throw on top toasted pine nuts, shredded mint and pomegranate seeds* and you really couldn’t ask for more except for a second glass of wine as you watch Masterchef** on Monday night.

Hats off again. A cracker.

Ingredients

Base

4 pita breads, slit open and cut into nacho-sized triangles.

Topping

500gm Greek yoghurt
75gm tahini
45ml lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 – 2 tsp salt, to taste

Eggplant-beef layer

3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 eggplant, cut into small cubes
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground paprika
1 – 2 tsp salt, to taste
500gm minced beef

Garnish

125g pomegranate seeds
50gm pine nuts, toasted
1 – 2 tbsp finely shredded mint leaves

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180c.
  2. Spread the pita triangles on a large baking tray and toast in the oven until toasted, moving them around regularly to ensure even toasting. Set aside until needed.
  3. Bat the yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice and 1 tsp of salt together in a heat proof bowl which will later be used to sit over a saucepan. Check the salt levels and adjust as needed.
  4. Warm the oil over a low heat in a wide, heavy frypan. Add the onion and sauté for 10 – 15 minutes until softened and caramel.
  5. Turn the heat up to medium, add the eggplant cubes and stir well to mix with the onion. Cook for 10 minutes or until the eggplant is golden, stirring frequently.
  6. Stir in the cumin, coriander and teaspoon of the paprika and a teaspoon of salt. Increase the heat to high and add the beef mince, breaking it up. Cook until browned. Reduce the heat and cook for another 10 minutes. Check the seasoning.
  7. Heat a saucepan of water and bring to a slow simmer. Place the bowl of tahini-yoghurt mixture on top, ensuring the bowl does not touch the water. Beat until the yoghurt is slightly above water temperature and has the consistency of lightly whipped cream.
  8. To assemble, arrange the crisp pita triangle on a large plate. Top with the eggplant-beef mixture, followed by the tahini-yoghurt sauce. Sprinkle with paprika to give a light dusting. Scatter over pomegranate seeds and toasted pine nuts and then finish with the shredded mint leaves.

* In a rush, I grabbed a Fuji fruit rather than a pomegranate. Laughs all round.

** Where we saw this recipe.

Tobie Puttock’s Roast Cauliflower with Chickpea Salad

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 as a side

This is an excellent salad.

A bistro-quality, this-is-excellent, Tuesday-night-just-got-better salad.

It is another Tobie Puttock recipe and it is super simple: like all things cauliflower, not only does it taste wonderful roasted, with a crispy, charred, nutty flavour, though it is satisfying.

Potatoes play no role here.

We love to cook new recipes every time we cook, though having a repertoire of interesting, wonderful salads to whip-up every time we just want a grilled piece of steak, is definitely a thing for us.

This salad makes the cut.

Honestly, get onto it.

Ingredients

1/2 large cauliflower
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp, hulled tahini
2 tbsp low-fat plain Greek-style yoghurt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp warm water
Good handful of mint leaves, torn
Good handful of continental parsley, roughly chopped

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Use a small, sharp knife to remove the florets from the cauliflower and discard the core. Place the florets in a large bowl and season with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, a good pinch of both salt and pepper and the chilli flakes. Spread over one of the prepared baking trays and roast for 30 – 40 minutes until the cauliflower is becoming dark around the edges and crisp. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
  3. Meanwhile, scatter the chickpeas and garlic cloves over the other lined tray. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive and shake the tray to combine. Roast for 20 minutes or until golden, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
  4. Squeeze the roasted garlic flesh into a bowl, discarding the skins. Mash the garlic with a fork and then add the cayenne pepper, tahini, yoghurt, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and water and stir to combine. Adjust the seasoning as necessary.
  5. Divider the cauliflower and chickpeas among serving plates, drizzle with the dressing and scatter the mint and parsley on top. Serve.

Eggplant dip (baba ghanouj)

.Reading time 1 minute.

Eggplant dip (baba ghanouj)

Serves: 10

Fresh Baba Ganoush is the bomb.

Served with some oiled and grilled Turkish bread, you have heaven.

This straightforward recipe is about as traditional as I can find and we served it across a few days including a family dinner where it was a hit.

The effort is worth the reward.

Ingredients

3 medium eggplants
1 ½ tbsp tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 – 2 garlic clove
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sweet paprika
Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Finely diced tomato
Oiled, grilled Turkish bread slices to serve

Method

  1. Grill the eggplants whole over a gas flame, turning with tongs until the skin is evenly blistered and the flesh is soft. Soak in cold water for 10 minutes to cool.
  2. Peel the eggplants and leave to drain for 15–20 minutes.
  3. Place the eggplant in a food processor with the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt and process until well combined and creamy. Add extra tahini, lemon juice or salt to taste.
  4. Scoop into a serving bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the oil into the well and sprinkle paprika, parsley and tomato on top.

Kofta b’siniyah

.Reading time 4 minutes.

With a glass of Pinot and a salad at the side, this is seriously heaven.
With a glass of Pinot and a salad at the side, this is seriously heaven.

Serves 6

This recipe is from a book called ‘Jerusalem’ (Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi), bringing together recipes from the city; east and west. The book was a birthday present from our great friends, Woodles and Billy and they swear by it. After cooking this recipe, I do too.

This dish stood out immediately for two reasons.

Firstly, I love mince and anything to do with mince.

Secondly, it was a different sort of mince recipe than I had cooked before; mainly the use of the warmed tahini as a base and the burnt butter whilst serving.

What is really grabbing about it, is the presentation; it is beautiful and dramatic and perfect for a simple Sunday lunch with friends. I served it with a warm potato salad, though it would be well served with a salad of cucumber and tomato and some pita bread at the side.

Ingredients

150gm light tahini paste
3 tbsp lemon juice
120ml water
1 medium garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp sunflower oil
30gm of unsalted butter (or ghee)
Sweet paprika to garnish
Salt
Chopped flat-leaf parsley

Kofta

400gm minced lamb
400gm minced veal or beef
1 small onion
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
50gm toasted pine nuts, roughly chopped, plus extra whole ones to garnish
30gm finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish
1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
1½ tsp ground allspice
¾ tsp grated nutmeg
1½ ground black pepper
1½ tsp salt

Method

  1. Put all the kofta ingredients in a bowl and using your hand, mix well together.
  2. Shape the koftas into long, torpedo-like fingers, roughly 8cm long. Press the mix to compress it and ensure the kofta is tight and keeps it shape. Set aside and refrigerate for up to a day.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200c.
  4. In a bowl, whisk together the tahini paste, lemon juice, water, garlic and ¼ teaspoon of salt; the sauce should be a bit runnier than honey and add one or two tablespoons of water if it is not.
  5. Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan (I used a griddle) and sear the kofta over a high heat; do this in batches so they are not cramped. Sear them on all sides until they are golden brown; around six minutes per batch. At this point they should be medium rare.
  6. Transfer the kofta to an oven tray and spoon the tahini sauce around the koftas. Place in the oven for a few minutes, both to cook the koftas a bit further (2 – 4 minutes depending on your preference) and to warm the sauce.
  7. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and allow it to brown a little ensuring it doesn’t burn.
  8. Spoon the butter over the koftas as soon as they come out of the oven; scatter with pine nuts and parsley and finely sprinkle paprika on top.