January 13, 2016
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Thai Mushroom & Vegetable Tom Yum – A Fiery Soup for a Freezing Day

I am an aficionado of anything spicy, especially when I need warming up after walking my Beagle, Millie, in the wilds of Westchester County NY and what could be better than a spicy Thai Tom Yum soup for this purpose on a freezing day?

After braving the crisp outdoors this morning, I made a batch of this Thai soup and boy, did it hit the spot! If you are a fan of chili and lemon like me, this is the soup for you. The combination of crunchy vegetables, exotic lemongrass with its strong citrus tones and the hot sour flavors of the Tom Yum paste topped with fresh cilantro just do it for me every time

Ingredients (for 2)

Some of the ingredients needed

Some of the ingredients needed

  • Up to 1 tbsp of Tom Yum Paste (I used a genuine Thai vegetarian version available from H-Mart, of Hartsdale NY which was quite spicy, so one may need to adjust depending on tolerance for chilies)
  • 1/4 birds eye chili – seeds removed (optional only!), 1/2 tsp of sliced lemon grass, 1/2 tsp of fresh ginger finely sliced, 1/4 peeled clove of garlic finely sliced
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, 2 green onions sliced horizontally, 1 carrot peeled and sliced horizontally, a handful of chestnut mushrooms, a few cubes of soft tofu and a small handful of fresh cilantro / coriander
  • Ground nut / peanut oil
  • Plus soy sauce to season
Ingredients chopped

Ingredients chopped

Method

  • Warm 1 tbsp of the oil in a pot
  • Add all the vegetables except the mushrooms and cilantro and stir for a minute or two
  • Then stir in the Tom Yum paste
  • Add the tofu and mushroom and stir again
  • Add around 1 pint of hot water and stir heating gently
  • Simmer the soup for around 5 minutes
  • Add the soy sauce and cilantro  to taste

    In the pot

    In the pot

That’s it.  A fiery pottage guaranteed to heat you up from the inside when the mercury reads below zero in Celsius or, in the teens in good old Fahrenheit. Enjoy!

January 10, 2016
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Pomegranate & Walnut Stuffed Aubergine (Eggplant) Rolls – Veganuary Special!

I wanted to continue the Middle Eastern theme this weekend following on from  my co blogger’s fantastic chicken and rice recipe. A friend’s teenage daughter has recently become vegan and it is also Veganuary. This recipe is from Honey & Co.’s award winning “Food from the Middle East” book which I have tweaked slightly to serve two. Honey & Co. is a fabulous Middle Eastern restaurant in Central London. I was lucky enough to hear Sarit & Itamar, the founders talk about their food journey last year at a food event organised by Julia Platt-Leonard from the legendary cook shop Divertimenti, London.

Heat the oven to 200 C (390 F)

Ingredients

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 2 aubergines, top & tailed
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • Seeds from 1 small fresh pomegranate, reserve a few for decoration
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 40 g (1.4 oz) walnuts, roughly chopped, reserve a few for decoration
  • 1 dessertspoon pomegranate molasses
  • 10g (0.3 oz) fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1.5cm (0.6 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated
  • pinch of smoked paprika
  • pinch of chilli powder
  • freshly ground sea salt & black pepper

Method

Aubergine Slices Ready to Roast

Aubergine Slices Ready to Roast

  • Toast the walnuts for about 5 minutes on a baking tray in the oven, remove & cool. Watch to ensure they don’t burn
  • Slice the aubergines(eggplants) lengthwise about 0.75 cm (0.3 inch) thick.
  • Keep the outer slices with skin for the filling.
  • Lay the inner slices on a foil covered baking tray that’s been brushed with olive oil
  • Brush each slice and season with sea salt & black pepper

    Aubergines Roasted

    Aubergines Roasted

  • Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, turning over half way, until soft and golden
  • Remove slices & cool

Stuffing preparation:

 

Onions & aubergines diced & cooking

Onions & aubergines diced & cooking

 

  • Chop the outer slices of aubergine (eggplant) finely
  • Cook the chopped red onion in a tablespoon of olive oil on a low/medium heat until soft.
  • Add the chopped aubergine, freshly ground sea salt and continue cooking on a low heat for another 8-10 minutes until soft,take off the heat to cool
  • Mix the pomegranate seeds & chopped walnuts, reserving a few for decoration

    Stuffing prepared - let's get rolling!

    Stuffing prepared – let’s get rolling!

  • Add pomegranate molasses, grated ginger, chopped parsley, paprika, chilli powder, cooked chopped onion & aubergine (eggplant)
  •  Season with sea salt & black pepper
Roll up Roll up!

Roll up Roll up!

 

 

 

To finish  preparation:

  • Take an aubergine (eggplant) slice and add a dessertspoon of filling one end & roll up
  • Repeat with the other slices
  • Place in an oven proof dish and scatter the remaining stuffing around the edge
  • Heat for 5-8 minutes at 200 C (390F)

 

To serve scatter the reserved pomegranate seeds and toasted chopped walnuts.

Deliciously healthy & a Veganuary special!

January 7, 2016
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Chicken, Rice & Shitake Mushrooms – A kind of Middle Eastern Fusion

Now that one of the warmest Winter Holiday Seasons in memory in NY is finally over, I thought I’d explore my taste again for the Levantine (after all with temperatures in the 70 f / 21 c range just before Christmas, it was certainly more Middle Eastern, than North American here!)

This dish was inspired by Iraqi dishes I’ve tried at the home of my Best Man’s parents, when I lived a stones throw from my co-blogger in London.  So thanks to Mr S for the inspiration!  When I first came up this recipe, I happened to have a bunch of fresh Shitake mushrooms to hand. So, just for the hell of it, I added them to the pot. I concede, they are not exactly traditional in middle eastern cuisine but, to my surprise they just worked and a new version of a more classic dish was invented. My wife loves it, as I hope you will too

The key ingredients

The key ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 lb skinned boneless chicken thighs chopped into 1″ cubes
  • 6 oz shitake mushrooms roughly chopped
  • 1 large yellow onion diced medium fine
  • Just under a 1 tbsp cardamon seed pods, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and a pinch of chili flakes
  • Bunch of flat leaf parsley finely chopped
  • Juice of half a lemon (if small use the whole lemon)
  • 1 cup of Basmati rice
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to season

Method

Chicken, Mushrooms etc in the pan

Chicken, Mushrooms etc in the pan

  • Cook the rice in water – I used a rice cooker
  • Add a few lugs of the olive oil to a large skillet and heat up on a medium light then stir in the onion, mushrooms and spices until the vegetables soften
  • In a separate skillet add a little more oil and saute the chicken
  • Stir the chicken into the spiced vegetable mix, add the lemon juice and cook for 10-15 minutes on a lower light, until all the flavors are combined, season to taste
  • Then simply mix with the rice and the fresh parsley. That really is it!

Serve with a basic middle eastern salad of chopped tomatoes and cucumber mixed with chopped fresh parsley with a lemon and olive oil dressing. Delicious easy to make…. almost middle eastern fare…..