A very grown-up dinner party and the revelation that is Ottolenghi

I was a bit cheeky recently. Eram's birthday was close but I had not heard anything from her about celebrating the day! Well, I wasn't having that. We may not be in our twenties anymore, but that's no reason to sit back... we may not be 'larging it' like we used to, but we are still on fire... let's mark the day with some 'in yer face' attitude, and have fun!  (This, coming from the girl who is staying in this friday night to write this blog cos its 'too cold out' to party...oops! No cheeky comments Mandi, I know they are coming!) So anyway, I harassed her with text messages, and poked her on StalkBook, wrote on her 'wall', demanding we gather some friends and have a good time, goddammit. In return I promised to bake cakes. Rock n Roll.

And so it was. We skipped and hopped through the London rain with our sad little faces all fed up with winter, and wandered into Erams flat to find it filled with culinary sunshine!

It was a feast of gorgeous veggie fare:

Here are just a few shots of some of the dishes. They tasted Gorgeous. Now I needed to know where the inspiration and recipes for these dishes came from. So it wasn't long after we finished discussing the latest developments in World Current Affairs, and our favourite literature releases, and after we had our heated debate of, errr....'Buffy' versus 'Smallville'... (of course, I had nothing to contribute at this point, I desperately wanted to shout about 'Heroes' instead...) that we finally got round to discovering the lovely story behind the food that we all enjoyed. 

It all began when Eram passed a wonderful deli on Upper Street in Islington, called Ottolenghi. Now, this is where the gushing and 'ooh-ing' and 'aaah-ing' began, I have never visited this deli, but at this point I think there were 3 different people clamouring to extoll its virtues at the same time...it was a the sort of excitable babbling women usually reserve for the praise of chocolate. Needless to say, I am gonna get myself to that deli. 

Ottolenghi is run by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sam Tamimi. Both born in Jerusalem in the same year, one was raised on the Jewish west side, the other on the Arab east side. They did not meet till they moved to London, and it was here that their love of food built bridges where governments could not. A very apt story, especially with recent events in mind.

 All the dishes Eram prepared were from their new cookbook. 

They describe their food as 'familiar and straightforward, yet highly innovative'.

The food is simple, but beautifully considered. The dishes, like the website, and their own blog, are unpretentious and welcoming. (Although this does not apply to the signage on the deli fascia...bit cold for my liking...) However, the food sings, and the passion behind it is clearly visible (at least I think it is on the website). I don't know much about the food of the 'Mediterranean basin' as they describe it, but I was thrilled to see that most of the dishes are vegetarian. The recipes are realistic enough to be able to recreate at home, and look and taste impressive. 

Despite having only been exposed to them through the food of the evening, and from the passionate descriptions from the 'fans', I couldn't help but feel that the excitement and genuine warmth that their food inspired was more than anything that the likes of  Nigella could ever hope for. After a little more online research, I discovered there were more than a few people who adored them. I also realised that I'm one of the last people to hear about them! 

I was also pleased to discover that Ottolenghi writes a regular column for TheGuardian, called The New Vegetarian. Take a look. Dishes featured here are globally inspired, an interesting mix. 

So thankyou Eram! Thankyou for laying out such a great feast, and thankyou for introducing me to great new cookbook and deli store! You were on fire! 

And most of all thankyou for a 'right ol proper grown up night, pet. T'was great'.

The evening was a roaring success. Who said we don't know how to have fun, hey?

xxx

Flighty Food

Click on the title of this post, and you will find something to truly make you chuckle.

It is a letter of complaint that was written to Richard Branson regarding the terrible quality of the food that was served on a flight from Mumbai to London.

It's been doing the rounds on the emails at work, and had the whole studio giggling throughout the morning, and reciting lines buy the afternoon.

A very well written moan it is too...

I hope he got an upgrade for his next flight.

x

Aforementioned Slater recipe tested

1. Onions, once cut into quarter chunks lengthways, are roasted with butter, salt, pepper. 

The result is charred, sticky and sweet.

.

Once cooled enough to handle, slice into thinner slithers. 

Cook with the white wine, allowing the wine to bubble intensely away till alcohol has burned away and you are left with a thick, syrupy concentrate. Takes a little while.

Once reduced, add stock and any other flavours. I added a pinch of chilli powder, black pepper, paprika, allspice (cinnamon/clove/nutmeg), a drizzle of honey, bay leaf or two and some sliced garlic. (Had no plans to kiss anyone). Also teeny amounts of dried green herbs, such a Rosemary & Thyme, for the woody warmth. Allow to simmer and bubble away till all the flavours have gotten to know each other and become friends. 

I also had some teeny baby onions kicking about (as you do) so I peeled them and sliced them in half and allowed them to soften in the bubbling broth. Adds another layer of texture and onion-ness. Worked beautifully. Result:

Thanks Mr Slater. I won't be intimidated by making this soup again. The white wine reduction was the revelation for me, took the flavour of the soup to another level. Nigel would probably be horrified at the amount of additional spices I added, but in the small quantities that I used, it all worked together really well, giving it a bit of depth and background warmth. Besides, I'm indian, I can't resist reaching for the spices and having some fun with them. It worked.

I decided against adding the melted cheese bread on top that day. I wanted the gentle soothing broth alone, it wasn't a cheesy sort of day. Its such a simple soup that you can get very creative with.

Enjoy it, its a winter treat.

No tears Soup

This is one of my favourite cookbooks that I own. Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries.

It's an honest, intimate peephole into his life, through his kitchen year.

It's a simple concept: he writes down the recipe for what he eats every day, one recipe per day.

He writes in such a loving, evocative way, and the photography is shot very beautifully & unpretentiously. All shot in natural light, no harsh shadows, printed on matt paper, the colours are slightly muted and the food looks gorgeous. As you read, you can almost feel and smell the way the weather is changing throughout the year, and how the light is changing and the recipes reflect that. In the UK, whilst we are busy moaning about the terrible weather especially at this time of year, its easy to forget that we are such seasonal creatures. Secretly we love it.  (I think...) I am leafing through this book to remind me of what is to come in the spring, to lift my spirits a bit, and get some comfort in the cosy moments that winter can bring. Right now I'm looking for a culinary hug.

I needed soothing.

The recipe for today, January 11th, spoke to me. In fact, it didn't just speak to me, it practically stroked my hair, it was so soothing. 'Onion Soup Without Tears'. 

French Onion soup is one of the top soups in my list, but I rarely make it because of the amount of labour involved, the whole hassle of slicing a mountain of onions for so little soup isn't my idea of fun cooking. Not least because I'm usually bawling my eyes out all the way through it...my eyes are too sensitive to onions. Ol Nige has a great solution: bake the onions with butter till they caramelise instead! Genius...and better still, his recipe dosen't demand that you use beef stock, which is a refreshing change. Its rare to see that in a recipe for this soup. Not that you should ever be a slave to any recipe, and I never use meat stock anymore anyway, but I was pleasantly surprised that he went for a veggie stock, because that means that the soup should not lack any depth of flavour despite not being meaty.

Nigels' recipe is surprisingly simple:

4 medium onions, butter (40g he says...but when you are raised in an indian household, you dont measure anything...unless baking...so I wont), a glass of white wine and vegetable stock.

French bread and gruyere/emmental cheese for toasting on top at the end.

I would be tempted to add a kick of black pepper, maybe a little nutmeg and a tiny bit of allspice for some background warmth. (and tabasco at the end...of course...)

To put it all together:

Peel onions, slice in half along the middle, roast in a hot oven with butter/salt/pepper till brown and toasted dark. When cooked, cut into smaller segments, bubble in the wine till the wine is reduced to almost nothing (alcohol is all cooked off leaving concentrated flavour only) then pour in the stock. Let it all simmer for about 20 mins (I would add any extra personal spices at this point). Serve with toasted bread and cheese on top.

Enjoyed reading about it so much, tomorrow I might actually cook it.

x

Looking back...

...over the last blog post, I realise it is pretty dull. Not the food...the food was great! I meant the way I wrote it...reading it back, it wasn't the voice of excitement.

So apologies for it not being that engaging...inspiration is a little low in my words right now.

But, the meal didn't lack any feeling, care or attention. In fact, despite myself, the whole experience of preparing that meal was gentle, very engaging and inspired in its own way.

I was totally immersed in what I was doing, I barely even thought about it.

I love that about cooking. Undisturbed, in that space, my mind can relax, ideas and thoughts flow so freely and there is no anxiety. I realised there are so few times I feel that complete ease in what I am doing.

Even when I draw and paint, there is an element of worry, nervous tension, that holds me back. My demons in my mind whisper to me, 'it wont work, its not good enough...'. Not when I cook... there is no worry, no fear. I just know it will be fine, because I feel calm and and completely involved in every moment. A Zen experience. I think the key is, that even if its not fine, even if it falls apart and is tasteless, it actually dosen't matter. And I am not worried. Because the people that love me (and have to eat it!) will forgive me my errors and just see the attention and care that has gone into it. They would know that my intentions were in the right place.

That's the lesson. Try not to worry...god knows that's not easy. Don't worry about the mistakes. You will inevitably make them, I seem to all the time. The ones who care will get over it, laugh with you, encourage you on and you will only get better. In anything in life, I guess. 

Now I just have to try to apply that philosophy of fearlessness and calm to everything else in my life. Good luck to me!

'Do something with those mushrooms' she said...

So I did.

It's been a long day. Not a great day, so the prospect of spending some calming time in the kitchen was a welcome relief. A slow, leisurely meander through the fridge revealed some ready-to-roll puff pastry, eggs, a small carton of soya cream and a stray leek. All clues pointed to a Quiche.

To blind bake or not to blind bake? Always blind bake shortcrust pastry before making a quiche. All that means is that you need to half bake the pastry before putting the filling in. Otherwise you risk undercooked pastry, not nice. On the telly they tell you to fill it with 'baking beans' or rice, this weighs down the pastry so it dosen't puff up. But the nature of Puff pastry is to puff, so I just let it...it still works. Here's what to do:

Roll out the pastry and line the base of your dish:

Bake it for about 10 mins on a moderate oven, and it will come out looking like this:

Prick the puffy bit to flatten the middle, to make space for the filling, and it will look like this:

Then prepare the filling.

My filling was simple. Heat butter and olive oil, saute the mushrooms and any other veg, I added broccoli. Flavour with herbs, I used dried thyme, mint, and rosemary, also some garlic. Add any herbs, fresh or dried, whatever feels good. When it cooks down, the mushrooms release a lot of water. You don't want this in the quiche or else the lovely crispy puff pastry will go soggy. So remove the veg with a slotted spoon to lift away from the liquid and fill the pastry.

Whisk together a mixture of eggs (i used 3), single cream (i used a soya based cream), and any seasonings you like. Salt, Pepper, more dried herbs, chilli powder and a touch of Sweet Smoked Paprika complements the mushrooms beautifully. Add a little of the mushroom liquid too. You don't have to use cream, milk is fine, but using cream gives a nicer result. Pour this all over the veg mixture. Here it is pre-bake:

Bake for about 30-40 mins, depending on your oven.  

While its cooking, return to the pan with the excess liquid that cooked out of the mushrooms. Bring back to a simmer, add some butter and flour and whisk it all together. It will turn into a lovely thick mushroom sauce. Add water to adjust the thickness, and adjust seasoning to taste. Keep this intense sauce to drizzle over the top.

Here's tonights cooked quiche:

The pastry is now completely cooked to perfection, the filling is set, holding the veg together.

It's lovely to leave it just as it is, and serve the mushroom sauce on top.

However, I had a bit of rocket knocking about, so I dressed the quiche with the leaves and drizzled the sauce over the top. The fresh rocket leaves add a nice texture, and some will be wilted by the warm sauce on top. Makes the whole dish more layered and interesting. The peppery rocket with the intense mushroom flavour is lovely.

I served it up with a side of minty mash, and more sauce over the top.

Went down a treat. My mum loved it, Dad went back for seconds, and bro was silenced through it. So I know it tasted good.

I, however, have totally lost my appetite and couldn't eat a bite.

But cooking it was great therapy anyway.

x

Banana Cake Recipe

Here it is for Lulu!

•2-4 Overipe bananas (or baked in foil, as per previous post) You can be flexible with how many bananas you use. Sometimes I put in a whole bunch, for extra punch. Still works! Just get a more moist cake. Never a bad thing.

• 175g (6oz) brown / demerara sugar

• 3 large eggs, room temperature

• 250g (9oz) Self Raising flour (I use wheat-free alternatives which work well too)

• 175g (6oz) Unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Optional extras, which I always add

• chocolate chips - lots

• best quality vanilla extract. Just a few drops, as they tend to be strong. Or if you can get a real vanilla pod, scoop out the seeds and use fresh (and preserve the 'shell' in a jar of sugar, for some home flavoured vanilla sugar. That's a Jamie O tip!) 

If its a grown up cake, a slosh of booze works well too. Brandy or Rum, or just get creative, within reason! 

Method: 

- Preheat the oven to 'moderate' which is apparently around 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

- Line baking tin base with greaseproof paper. Dust with a little four on the insides, all round.

- In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. If the butter isn't at room temp, will be much harder. Aim for a lump free, smooth butter sugar paste. Try and enjoy this bit, its as hard as it gets. Play some Jazz, or Old Soul, something 'smoochy' to help it along. It works.

- Whisk in all the liquid-y stuff: Eggs, bananas, vanilla extract, booze (if adding) and combine well.

- Now add dry ingriedients. Sift the flour and baking powder over the bowl. Add the choc chips, and fold all together gently to retain as much of the air as possible.

- Step back, admire the beautiful gloopy batter, jewelled with chocolate, then gently pour it all into the prepared baking tin. Leave enough in the bowl to lick out for yourself.

- Bake in the centre of the oven for around 40 mins to start with, then check it. Will probably need longer, so test it in the middle with a skewer. It will be done when it comes out clean. Final times depend on your oven, so just keep an eye on it.

- When its cooked, the whole kitchen and beyond will smell amazing. Allow it to cool al little, then decorate it however you like. I cover it with grated chocolate, I love the light powdery texture of it against the rich moist cake. 

Admire your creation and Enjoy!

Let them eat Cake!

I love baking cakes. Everything about it. Cakes are all about celebration, feeling happy, treating yourself and others, or just showing love. When you bake a cake you cant help but smile the whole way through it. 

Making a banana cake is a personal favourite, because you are guaranteed to get something that is moist and crumbly -  never dry. The trick is to get bananas that are so over ripe they are almost black, they will give you the most fragrant cake. If you want a cake but cant be bothered to wait till the bananas over-ripen, I thought of a little trick! Wrap them in foil and bake them in a hot oven till they look like this:

The skins will go black and the flesh inside is aromatic and gooey and gorgeous. I got the idea from a summer recipe, where you slit open the top of a banana, add chunks of chocolate just under the skin, wrap in foil then cook on the BBQ. But for here, just the flesh is all you need and when its baked in this way its perfect for this cake. 

My original recipe for this was taken from the Green&Blacks' recipe book, but I always change some of the details to suit my own taste. I add choc chips, lots of them, that way I find the kids get more excited when they see the actual chocolate (by the way, don't tell them its a banana cake, they won't eat it! Most kids think bananas are not fit for human consumption, but give them this cake and they will come back for seconds...and they did.)  To make a lighter cake you can substitute some of the flour for custard powder, this also adds a slightly warmer colour to the cake, but I didn't do that this time round. I use a wheat & gluten free alternative to regular self-raising flour, and I find that is already lighter and works brilliantly. The thing about making cakes is enjoying every stage. Put some 'smooth' sounds on, a bit of Al Green always seems right when I'm creaming the sugar and butter together! Take your time with that bit, be patient and enjoy it. When your arm aches you know its gonna be a good cake. Then the fun begins, combine all the rest of the good stuff together and you get a beautiful batter, thick, moist and gloopy. Pour into a lined baking tin, place gently in the oven, and find a quiet spot where you can lick out the bowl without being disturbed. You regress back to childhood when you take a moment to enjoy the full pleasure of licking out the bowl and spoon, slowly, almost in a zen like manner. Talk about being in the moment! (Ok, I don't get out enough...)

As its baking, the smell coming from the oven is the most comforting, warming fragrance for a freezing cold winter day. I literally let out a little squeal of joy when I took it out. It was so beautiful - I felt like doing a little dance. (In fact, I did.) Then, let it cool a little, cover the top with grated chocolate, and you have a little something like this:

Moist, crumbly, fragrant, soft and totally indulgent. 

Perfect for deepest darkest winter days.

Perfect covered with custard, for keeping kids quiet (at least till the sugar high kicks in...then you hand them back to their own parents),

Perfect for sharing with your girl friends whilst getting hysterical/teary/laughing like hyenas/whilst watching re-runs of SATC,

Perfect for eating alone, served with a large mug of frothy hot chocolate, curled up on the sofa, and watching the world go by.

Just Perfect.

The Annual Family Xmas/New Year Gathering

It's late, I'm completely exhausted, there are still dishes to wash in the kitchen and unfinished glasses of red wine scattered around the living room, but it's all evidence of another end to one of our regular family gatherings. My sisters, their husbands and kids descend on us en masse all at once, very rarely, because of the sheer organisation involved. Once gathered, there are 13 adults and 8 kids (plus one on the way), and this is 'immediate' family. We are such a cliche of an Indian family, but I love it. When we do get together it ends up being a major food fest, the preparation for it usually starts two days in advance. Me and my mum have our work cut out, but tonight was a success and seemed to be quite a smooth operation. The kids were brilliant entertainment, and made me laugh no end, was lovely to be able to kick back and catch up with the siblings, and I got spoilt with lots of lovely gifts for xmas, which I totally didn't expect. The kids have great taste!

The greatest success and my pride of the evening were my desserts, the promised Apple Crumble and also my Banana and Chocolate Chip Cake, both served with custard as optional. There's nothing like the smell of baking to warm up a house, and the looks of excitement on the kids faces when they knew they had that to look forward to was too cute. They suddenly become angels, and are on their best behaviour! Priceless. It was great to have my homegirl, Manders, joining us as special guest too, so she can back me up on this one!

So watch this space and I'll post the details very shortly.

For now, this hostess is crashing out. 

Thank goodness Christmas and New Years is out the way! x

Welcome

Why the humble Apple? Symbol of purity and health. Also the fruit of sin and temptation.

I love the duality of what it represents.

I grew up with an Appletree in my back garden. In the Spring I would look forward to waking up to seeing the blossom bloom, the beautiful pink flowers on the tree would remind me that my birthday was not far away. In the Summer I would play on the swing my Grandfather built for us, hanging from the tree. Leaning back on the swing, kicking my legs in the air, gazing at the sun filtering through the leaves, that tree would be where I would go to when I wanted to lose myself in my imagination. In the Autumn I admired the leaves changing colour and looked forward to the jars that would be filled with my Granny's homemade Apple Pickle and Apple Jam. My Grandfather would beam with pride at the ripest, reddest fruit falling off the tree. In the Winter, my least favourite season, the branches stripped bare looked cold and lonely, but I would comfort myself in the knowledge that it was just sleeping. I wished I could sleep through the Winter. My Appletree gazed over our family dreamily as I grew up. I loved that tree.

But that tree came to a predictable fate. After all, it grew in a Punjabi garden in west london. It was eventually replaced by concrete and an extension. The perils of having a builder for a dad. No more apple jam, apple pickle or apple blossom. No more dappled sunlight filtering through my bedroom window, no more chirping birds to wake me in the summer. Now I just hear the pigeons that crawl through the cracks in the roof and get lodged in the loft. The romance of my childhood has made way for the realities of adulthood.

However, I'm a shameless romantic and the love is still there. My love for that fruit has its legacy. My love for everything about food started with the apple. The apple is to me what the egg is to Delia. Where it all begins. I have even cemented a solid reputation as favourite aunty to my nieces and nephews by feeding them with my apple crumble at every opportunity. Buying their love through homebaked goods. Works every time.

From the humble apple, my passion for food grew. So after much procrastination I have given in to the temptation to take time out to create this food blog. (Yawn...who needs another blog?!...I hear you cry!) Well no one needs another blog, just like no one needs to eat calorific, stodgy desserts. Its not about need, its about pleasure and indulgence. This little venture into cyber writing is my little indulgence. 

As Dusty once sang, we are all But an Apple Whirling Silently in Space. With the haunting melody of the Windmills of Your Mind playing in the background, I invite you on this journey with me. A journey into my world through the food in my life.