I’ve been watching these cauliflowers growing over the last couple of months and up until a week ago I thought they were cabbages. Suddenly the creamy white florets appeared and grew very quickly inside their leafy layers.
Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that I used to hate but now love, like aubergines. I think I had a bad cauliflower cheese experience at some point that put me off them for a long time.
For those of you that don’t know, a Scotch egg consists of a hard-boiled egg (with its shell removed) which is usually wrapped in a sausage meat mixture, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. They are traditionally served cold as picnic food.
The London department store Fortnum & Mason claims to have invented Scotch eggs in 1738 but they were most definitely taking inspiration from the Moghul dish Nargisi kofta where hard-boiled eggs are encased in a spicy meatball mixture. Continue reading
The wait is over. I have finally got around to taking step by step pictures of The Washer Up making his samosas with spring roll wrappers. I have to say that he is not happy with his “old man hands” but I took the red hue down loads as well, it must be all that washing up…. Continue reading
This is the third and final recipe in the Aubergine series for this season. Designed to convert even the most stubborn of aubergine haters out there. The previous two recipes were Berenjenas con Miel (Andalucian Fried Aubergines with Cane Honey) and Curried Aubergine with Chickpeas & Tomato.
I have to admit that I have saved the best for last. I first saw this recipe on Gary Rhodes’ Rhodes Across China series. He visited many different regions in China cooking their signature dishes. At the end of the series he cooked a banquet showcasing all of his favourite Chinese recipes. This was one of his favourites. It was from Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province.
“It is said that ‘China is the place for food, but Sichuan is the place for flavour’. Food from the region is famously spicy, and girls from the capital Chengdu are reputed to be the most beautiful in the country as the chillies purge their skin of impurities.
Peel the aubergine by cutting off the top and bottom and peeling with a knife from top to bottom. Cut in half lengthways and then cut into “chips” about 5cm x 1.5cm x 1.5cm.
Meanwhile cook the noodles in boiling salted water according to the instructions on the packet, drain in a colander and rinse under the cold tap to stop them cooking and sticking together. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan until hot. Deep-fry the aubergine chips in about 3 batches until soft and golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and leave to drain on kitchen paper.
Carefully pour away all but 1 tbsp of the hot oil into a heat proof bowl and leave to cool before discarding. Heat the remaining tbsp of oil in the wok and add in the chilli bean paste, sambal oelek, ginger, garlic, coriander stalks and the white parts of the chopped spring onion. Stir fry for about 30 seconds
Pour in the rice wine/sherry and stock, bring to the boil and reduce for 2-3 minutes. Then put the aubergine back into the sauce.
Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt and cook for 2 minutes. Taste for sweetness, it should be sweet, tangy and hot. Add more sugar, soy sauce or vinegar if necessary. Dissolve the cornflour in the water and add to the sauce, stir until thickened slightly.
Stir through the cooked noodles and reheat.
Serve in warm bowls garnished with the green parts of the spring onion, chopped coriander leaves and sprinkle over some sesame seeds.
This really is the best aubergine recipe out there. It converted me and I was a hater. Because the aubergine is peeled it melts right into the spicy sauce coating the noodles in beautiful deliciousness.
Try it!!
Things That Made Me Smile Today……
These beautiful hot pink flowers. I don’t know what they are but they look like bright pink feathery fans. The kind they use for Burlesque dancing…..
And these dying sunflowers look like those gorgeous big shower heads. I want…
Enjoy the rest of your weekend….
First of all, sorry for my lack of posts recently. I’ve had some sort of virus and I couldn’t eat. I know, it was awful. Everything made me feel sick, even the smell of food was repulsive. I haven’t cooked anything for a week. The Washer Up has been surviving on pasta (and beer obviously) and is now desperate for something different.
This has been on my “to make” list ever since these beautiful long emerald peppers first made an appearance in the fields where we walk the dog about a month ago. They are known as frying peppers here and are used in a typically Andaluz dish called Pimientos Fritos (fried peppers) where they are simply fried in lots of good olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt.
This Spanish/Japanese fusion came to me because I wanted to do something a little different from the usual fried peppers and I saw Nami’s recipe for Shrimp Tempura. She also posted a video of a Japanese chef making proper tempura and I was intrigued. It looked light, airy, crispy and delicate. A million miles away from the doughy excuses you get for tempura in most places.
They are not perfect but I’m really pleased with my first attempt at making tempura. They are light, crispy and gorgeous with the dipping sauce. It’s not as hard as I thought. The kitchen’s a bit of a state though, better clean that up before The Washer Up gets home…
I’d definitely recommend heading over to Nami’s blog and watching the video if you are going to have a go at this. It’s amazing to watch and so much easier than me trying to explain it!
Green Pepper Tempura with Dipping Sauce Recipe
Serves 2, vegan. Adapted from Just One Cookbook
For the dipping sauce:
First make the dipping sauce. Heat all the ingredients in a small sauce pan over a medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the dashi. When boiling remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Cut your peppers in half lengthways, through the stalk so that both sides has a bit of stalk to pick them up with. Lay them on a plate and sieve over the cornflour. Turn the peppers in the cornflour until evenly coated. Heat up your oil in a wok or deep frying pan over a medium high heat, 170 C.
Sieve the flour, baking powder & salt into a bowl and whisk in the ice-cold water until just combined to make a batter. Don’t over whisk.
Dip your peppers into the batter and coat them well (you will need to do it in two batches). Carefully lower them into the hot oil and sprinkle over some more batter from a height with your fingers. This gives it that extra light crispy coating. Use a metal slotted spoon or chopsticks to move the peppers onto the bits of batter (watch the video it explains it so much better) and cook for 2 or 3 minutes turning once to cook on both sides.
Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the rest.
To serve, pile up the peppers sprinkle with sea salt and shichimi pepper and pour some of the dipping sauce into a bowl.
Buen Provecho!!
Things That Made Me Smile Today……..
I’ve been trying to get a shot of this for ages. There’s a pair of them in the spring where Rufus likes to cool down. They look like a cross between a dragonfly and a butterfly. The Washer Up got the shot in the end, he was more patient then me and willing to balance on a rock in the stream while trying not to fall in.
He also spotted this one through a gap in a fence….
I love that you can see it’s cute little face…
Have a great weekend…
Berenjenas con Miel is a typically Andaluz dish from around Malaga and Granada. It has saved my life, on more than a few occasions, when eating out here, as it is on most Spanish restaurants’ menus and it’s usually the one and only vegetarian dish, apart from tortilla (no more tortilla, por favor!) on offer.
It is the second in my aubergine season series, the first being an Aubergine & Chickpea Curry, designed to convert even the most stubborn of aubergine haters out there.
The reason it will convert is that it is sliced very thinly, lightly coated in seasoned flour and fried until golden. Then comes the good bit, it is drizzled generously with Miel de Cana. Miel de Cana literally translates as “sugar cane honey” or, as it known elsewhere, molasses.
Miel de cana is produced in the Malaga area and it comes in a glass jar with a beautiful printed label.
It says on the side: “Did you know that…?”
“In the 5th century BC, the Persian king Dario discovered sugar cane on his expedition to the Indus Valley. He described it as a cane that gives honey without the intervention of bees.”
If you see some anywhere, buy it, I’ve heard that they have stopped producing it because all the sugar cane plantations have been destroyed to make way for the new runway and terminal at Malaga airport.
I don’t know whether this is true or not, but it would be a real shame to lose this important local product with such a long history, the company was started in 1929.
Berenjenas Con Miel Recipe
Serves 2-3 sharing as part of a meal. Vegan. From Spanish Food About
Wash and dry the aubergine, cut off the stalk end and carefully slice into 3 mm thick circles.
Put the slices on a baking tray or large platter and lightly salt each one on both sides. Leave for at least 20 mins up to an hour to draw out the moisture, then pat both sides dry with kitchen roll.
Heat the oil in a med-large frying pan over a medium high heat. Tip the flour onto a large plate and season it with salt and pepper, mix it together with your hands. Put about 4 slices of aubergine in the flour and press down, turn over with tongs and coat the other side.
When the oil is hot (it should sizzle when you put the slices in), lift the slices with tongs, shaking off the excess flour, and place in the oil. Cook for about a minute on one side until golden brown and then turn over with the tongs and do the same on the other side. When cooked on both sides remove to some kitchen roll to drain. Meanwhile put some more slices in the flour and continue until all the aubergine is cooked.
Arrange the slices overlapping in one layer on a large serving dish/platter and drizzle generously with the miel de cana/molasses. Serve immediately with extra miel de cana on the table.
Buen Provecho!!
Things That Made Me Smile Today……….
The cactus fruit or prickly pear are called Chumbos here and are everywhere at the moment.
I love their bright acid colours against the burnt earth and the almost cartoon-like shapes of the cactus. It feels very Mexico to me.
They make me smile because every time I see them I think of The Jungle Book and I just can’t get that song out of my head. “Do be do I wanna be like you oo… I wanna walk like you, talk like you, ooo….”
As you probably all know by now, I have a chilli plant on the terrace which is producing lots of beautiful red birds-eye chillis at the moment. We are overrun with them. I pick some every day and freeze them in a plastic pot. Make that two plastic pots, that are full.
I love Thai sweet chilli sauce so it didn’t take me long to realise that I wanted to make some with our chillis. This homemade version has none of the nasty chemicals that you find in many of the store-bought sweet chilli sauces and it tastes just as good. I think it’s even better. The Washer Up thinks so too, he said it’s less sweet and more rounded, so there you go.
Inspiration for what to make to go with this fabulous sauce came from watching these towering sweetcorn plants growing while walking the dog in the morning. I swear they must grow about a foot every day.
This one has pink hair for some reason, does that mean the corn will be pink too?
I made two attempts at these corn cakes/fritters. The first recipe I used didn’t hold together very well in the pan. I ended up with a spicy sweetcorn hash with some very small cakes because the sweetcorn breaks away very easily from the cakes.
For my second attempt I followed The Washer Up’s instruction. He wisely explained that sweetcorn is a bit of a nightmare (in his experience) and that it would hold together much better if I blended half of the mixture and then added the rest of the corn kernels for some texture. So that is what I did, and it worked.
Those Thai street vendors who are knocking out hundreds of the things every day, no problem at all, obviously know something we don’t. If you are brave enough, you can try it without blending the mix first, to see if you have any more success than I did. I would definitely add a bit more egg though, and keep your fingers crossed.
Thai Spiced Corn Cakes & Homemade Sweet Chilli Sauce
For the Sweet Chilli Sauce:
makes a 250 ml bottle, vegan, gluten-free. From Chilli World
Remove the stems from the chillis and finely chop them (wearing gloves is a good idea). Put them in a small saucepan with the sugar, water, vinegar, garlic, paprika and salt and bring to a rolling boil over a medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar for a few seconds then reduce the heat to low
Simmer until the liquid reduces slightly and thickens to a light syrup, about 10-15 minutes. Mix the cornflour with a few tablespoons of water in a cup until smooth then stir this into the sauce. Cook for another few minutes until thickened slightly then remove from the heat and stir in the soy (or fish) sauce and lime/lemon juice.
Pour the hot sauce into a sterilised (boiled in water, then dried in a warm oven for 5 minutes) bottle, seal and leave to cool before storing in the fridge.
For the Thai Spiced Corn Cakes:
serves 2-3, vegetarian, gluten-free
Mix the corn, polenta, masa arepa flour (or plain flour), eggs, curry paste, green beans, spring onion, coriander, chilli, soy sauce and lime juice in a bowl until well combined.
Take out about half of the mixture and blend it to a chunky paste. Add this back into the rest of the sweetcorn and mix well. Season with salt and white pepper then taste to see if you want to add any more curry paste/lime juice/salt. Cover and put in the fridge for at least half an hour to firm up.
Pour a thin layer of polenta onto a large flat plate. Remove the mix from the fridge and start to take small handfuls of the mix and make them into pattie shapes. You may want to squeeze them to make them hold together well. Put them on the polenta plate and lightly coat both sides. You can cover and refrigerate again now if you like.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the corn cakes for about 3 minutes on each side until golden & crispy. Serve immediately with the sweet chilli sauce and a lime cheek to spritz over.
The sweet chilli sauce can be used as a dipping sauce for anything really. Fried food works particularly well and it is also great as a base for a Thai salad dressing or marinade. Just add some soy sauce, lime juice and sesame oil, taste and adjust to your liking.
Enjoy!!
Things That Made Me Smile Today….
We finally found some Agapanthus. We’ve been looking for some since we came back from here. Their season is nearly over but we had to have them anyway.
We are having some cushion covers made for this seating area on the terrace. The fabrics we bought are different faded blue linens, so all the plants in that area now are going to be on a blue and white theme. I can’t wait for the cushions to be ready and then I will take some proper pictures with it all set up, exciting!
He does planting as well as washing up!
The Washer Up’s dad came to stay for a few days and we decided to take him to the Alhambra in Granada.
In 40 degree heat.
Alhambra translates as The Red Fortress. Its palaces were built in the middle of the 14th century for the last Moorish kings of Spain and their court. It is a World Heritage site and a unique and beautiful example of Muslim art and architecture.
The majority of the palace buildings are built in the same style, with all the rooms opening out on to a central courtyard. 
The Alhambra was extended by the different Muslim rulers who lived there but each new section followed the theme of “Paradise on Earth” by using column arcades, elaborately decorated archways, fountains with running water and reflecting pools.
Blue, red and a golden-yellow, all somewhat faded with time are the main colours used for tiles and decoration.
The Alhambra was made into a city, complete with an irrigation system composed of acequias (water channels) for the gardens of the Generalife located outside the fortress. These acequias are still used today throughout Andalucia for irrigation.
Generalife means Gardens of the Architect. The Palacio de Generalife is a villa dating from the beginning of the 14th century. Whilst fountains and flowing water are a common feature around the Alhambra, they are particularly prevalent in the Palacio de Generalife.
The gardens of Generalife were definitely my favourite part of the Alhambra. It may have something to do with all the running water cooling the air and the shade created by the trees. The flowers were beautiful too.
You can actually imagine Arabian princesses running around giggling and hiding behind trees from handsome princes. As you can probably tell I read a book before going: Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving.
It was published in 1832 and immediately attracted pilgrims to Granada from all over the world. He was an American diplomat, historian & traveller who actually lived in the Alhambra for a while.
It paints a romantic, colourful impression of local legends and traditions as well as telling enchanting tales of Moorish princesses, towers, love and war. I would definitely recommend reading it if you are thinking of visiting or are interested in the history of Moorish Spain.
The picture below is of the Washer Up’s dad, Jim Burns. He is a published poet and writer and a recognised authority on 1930’s -1950’s Beats & Bebop Jazz. He is also an expert on the Spanish Civil War and 19th Century European art and history.
He is 75 and fared better than us on this exceedingly long, hot day. We walked around the Alhambra for around 6 hours in the blazing sun.
He didn’t even fall asleep in the car on the way home. We were listening to Miles Davies though.
Like father like son. The Washer Up loves his music too. He’s more into early punk than jazz but his dad bought him the first Sex Pistols record Anarchy in the UK when it was released in 1976. He was 13.
Fattoush is a Middle Eastern salad made with toasted or fried pieces of pita bread, fresh herbs and seasonal vegetables. Fattoush belongs to the family of dishes known as fatta which means crushed. Stale flatbreads are used up by crushing or crumbling them into the dish, a lot like the Italian Panzanella salad.
This is a salad we served at the restaurant. Instead of using stale pita we cut soft flour tortillas into triangles, deep-fried them and sprinkled them with sumac and cumin while still warm. This way you get crispy, spicy crackers to eat with your salad and it also makes for a more dramatic presentation. You just arrange them pointy side up around the serving bowl.
They are also great for dipping in hummus.
The basic ingredients for a fattoush salad are: salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, radish, mint, parsley, sumac, fried bread, olive oil and lemon juice.
With that as your starting point you can add whatever else you like: feta, olives, dates, peppers, garlic, pomegranate seeds, the list goes on….
I like to add a little sweetness to counteract the sour lemon juice and sumac. Chopped dates are lovely but I had a fruit bowl full of gorgeous looking nectarines just desperate to be included.
I remembered seeing a recipe in the Ottolenghi Cookbook (I know, I’m obsessed) for a chargrilled peach salad with speck and orange blossom. I didn’t need any more encouragement than that. Any excuse too use my new griddle pan and I’m happy.
Chargrilled Nectarine Fattoush Salad
serves 2, vegan
Toss the nectarine wedges with some olive oil, salt & pepper in a bowl. Heat up your griddle pan and cook the nectarines for a minute or so on each side until they get some nice charcoal lines all over. Remove to a bowl and cook the rest, if necessary then sprinkle over the orange blossom water and leave to cool.
Heat the sunflower oil in a wok or deep frying pan over a medium high heat. You can tell when it’s hot enough by sticking a corner of tortilla in and seeing if it sizzles. Carefully put the tortilla triangles (2 batches will be best you don’t want to overcrowd the pan) into the hot oil and cook for 10-20 seconds or until they are a golden colour. Be careful they burn quickly.
Remove to a bowl lined with kitchen paper and sprinkle over some salt, cumin and sumac. Do the same with the rest and leave to cool. Once cooled they can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.
Put the garlic, salt, lemon juice, preserved lemon and olive oil into a large bowl with the tomatoes, sumac and cumin and stir together well.
Just before serving add the cucumber, spring onions, radishes, salad leaves, fresh herbs and any other ingredients (except the nectarines) to the bowl and toss everything together. Check for seasoning and add more salt if necessary.
Either serve in one big bowl/ serving dish or in individual dishes. Arrange the chargrilled nectarines on top and place the tortilla crackers around the edge of the plate so it looks like a crown. Sprinkle over a little sumac and take to the table.
It’s a royal looking salad fit for the last Moorish King of Spain.
A word of advice, if you are thinking about going to the Alhambra, I wouldn’t recommend going in the summer, May or October would be nice. I’ll try and remember that next time!
Mee goreng which translates as fried noodles is a very popular dish in Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore. Thought to be derived from Chow Mein, it is believed to have been brought over by Chinese immigrants.
There are hundreds of different variations of Mee Goreng. It is sold from stalls as street food as well as in high-end restaurants. Some versions contain prawns, chicken or beef. This recipe came from Ami’s Vegetarian Delicacies who lives in Malaysia. I changed the egg noodles to soba noodles to keep it vegan & gluten-free and used cashews instead of peanuts but apart from that it is fairly similar to her original recipe.
Malaysian Mee Goreng Recipe
serves 2-3, vegan, gluten-free. Adapted from Amis Vegetarian Delicacies
For the sauce
To Garnish
Heat the olive and sesame oils in a large frying pan or wok over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cashew nuts and cook for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms are browned. Tip this into a bowl and set aside.
In the same pan add a bit more of the oils, when hot , stir in the cabbage, carrot, celery and chilli bean paste and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Tip this into the bowl with the mushrooms and mix well.
Meanwhile cook the noodles in boiling salted water according to the instructions on the packet, drain them in a colander, rinse under the cold tap to stop them cooking and set aside.
For the sauce heat the sesame oil in the same frying pan over a medium heat and stir fry the spring onion, garlic and ginger for 2 minutes but don’t let it burn. Then add the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir everything together for a minute.
Reduce the heat slightly, stir in the noodles and cooked vegetables and mix everything to coat in the sauce and heat through. Serve immediately garnished with more cashews, spring onions, crispy onions and fresh coriander/chives.
This is also equally delicious served cold/room temperature the next day as a salad. This gives the flavours time to develop and mingle together.
Enjoy!
Things That Made Me Smile Today……
A field of lilac flowers….
Apricot Oleander….
Bright orange/coral rose, amazing…..
I was looking for a recipe to use up the other half of the cabbage I used to make my Cabbage, Potato & Leek Soup and found this on 101 Cookbooks. The origianl version is called Okonomiyaki but is also known as Japanese Pizza. It is nothing like a pizza except, I suppose, it’s round. It is delicious though and you can add whatever flavourings you like. I added some toasted sushi nori (the seaweed sheets) and some Thai Massaman curry paste which gave it great flavour. It’s kind of like street food in your own home. It has that crispy, fried, spicy addictive thing that you want to eat with your hands. The shredded cabbage is mixed with leeks, eggs, wholemeal flour and whatever seasoning you fancy.
It’s a mixture of a pancake, frittata, tortilla, rosti and squeak without the bubble. But it definitely is not a pizza….
Thai Spiced Crispy Cabbage Pancake (or Japanese Pizza)
makes 3 or 4 large thin pancakes, vegetarian. Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
In a large bowl, mix together the cabbage, leeks, flour, salt & black pepper until everything is coated in the flour. Stir in the beaten eggs, curry paste, oyster sauce and finely crumble over the toasted nori sheets. Mix well to make sure everything is evenly distribited.
Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add a quarter of the cabbage mixture to the hot pan and press it out and down to fill the pan with a metal spatula. Make sure it is quite thin & flat. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the bottom is golden brown. To flip it, slide it out onto a plate, place another plate on top and turn them over. Add some more oil to the pan if necessary and slide the pancake back into the frying pan. Press down with the spatula and cook for a further 3 -5 minutes until golden on that side too.
Serve straight away garnished with lots of fresh coriander leaves. This is a perfect quick and easy supper or brunch dish with bags of flavour. Great hangover food that isn’t bad for you!!
I am a bit of a soup freak at the moment. They are quick, easy, cheap and good for you. Lunch doesn’t have to mean a sandwich especially if you are a bit of a delicate flower like The Washer Up. Bread is not his friend, it gives him all sorts of grief that I […]
This is another one of the recipes from my party mezze workshop. We served this spicy, warming soup in little cups with teaspoons. You don’t really need a big bowl of soup as part of a buffet/mezze but a little cup is just the right amount to get you started. I put little bowls of the dukkah […]
It has turned really cold here now so soup is what I want for lunch every day and this is one of our favourites. I have actually managed to get the “caramelising onions” time down from the usual 90 minutes in most recipes to a much more realistic 30 minutes. I am always too hungry […]
Beetroot is one of those vegetables that I used to hate. It’s because of that nasty pickled stuff in the jars that leaks pink juice over everything else on your plate, contaminating it with cerise vinegaryness. Or is that just me? It turns out that unpickled freshly cooked beetroot is sweet, earthy and delicious when roasted or […]
They are busy harvesting leeks at the moment where we walk the dog in the morning. I like leeks, they have a milder flavour than onions and they don’t make you cry when you chop them. Leeks are one of those vegetables that have a strong supporting role in many dishes but hardly ever get […]
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Sometimes Up a Mountain in Andalucia and sometimes Down by the Sea on the English South Coast
Placemaking for Healthier Communities and a Healthier Planet
Gluten-Free Deliciousness
A girl who loves to cook fresh, fun, and global cuisine.
Mind, Body & Spiritual Growth
Cook Eat Live Vegetarian 