July 11, 2015
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Honey.. it’s a home made BBQ Sauce

Hiver also do a honey brown ale (4.5%) made with raw blossom & heather honeys to complement the darker roasted malts. In  a moment of taste2taste inspiration I decided to create a home made BBQ sauce.

Ingredients:

small red onion, peeled & roughly chopped, 1 large fresh red chilli top removed, 2 cloves garlic peeled,  few sprigs fresh thyme leaves only, 1 bayleaf, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika, 100 ml (1/2 cup) Hiver honey ale (or other brown ale), 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar, 600g (21oz) tin chopped tomatoes, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt & pepper.

Hiver Honey Ale

Hiver Honey Ale

Preparation:

Chop the onion, chilli & garlic finely in a food processor till use have a fine paste.

Add this to a pan with olive oil and cook gently for 5 minutes until the onion is soft.

Add the other ingredients and simmer gently for at least 30 minutes.If you want a thicker sauce just cook for longer! Remove the bayleaf & use.

It’s ready honey!

Great with lamb koftas, burgers, chargrilled aubergine anything BBQ.

Honey beer BBQ Sauce

Home made BBQ Sauce

July 11, 2015
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Lamb Koftas – it’s not Greek it’s Moroccan to me!

This week the Greek economic situation has been headline news and hopefully it will be sorted soon as it must be an extremely worrying time for people living there. I love a kofta and wanted a recipe that could do justice to Simon’s delicious carrot salad. I have used some Moroccan ingredients to spice things up.

Ingredients

500g (16 oz)Minced Lamb , 1 or 2 Red chilli’s, fresh garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, fresh mint,

Pomegranate syrup, Ras El Hanout spice mix, salt & pepper

A few ingredients to spice it up!

A few ingredients to spice it up!

Preparation

Chop up the red chilli, garlic, herbs (leaves only). Add to the minced lamb & mix well. Add 2 teaspoons of pomegranate syrup , 2 teaspoons of Ras El Hanout spice mix, salt & pepper & chill the mixture for 30 minutes to make it easier to handle. It can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge overnight. Form the kofta balls or burgers & grill or BBQ. It’s not Greek it’s Moroccan!

Lamb Kofta with Home made BBQ Sauce

Lamb Kofta with Home made BBQ Sauce

Lamb Kofta Burger with home made BBQ sauce

Lamb Kofta Burger with home made BBQ sauce

July 9, 2015
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Carrots, Carrots, Carrots – Moroccan style salad in the Garden State

Last weekend, we were visiting our friends in Ridgewood, New Jersey for the July 4 festivities. Knowing my penchant for all things food, they asked if I could bring a ‘simple salad’ to go with dinner.  The Moroccan Carrot Salad I produced simply blew them away, as it has everyone to whom I have served it over the last few years.

This salad is possibly the most spectacular way I’ve yet found of making the humble carrot turn into a firework so exciting, that even Bugs Bunny’s taste buds would rocket skyward on contact! Even better, this Moroccan treat is really easy and fast to make and if you are able to find multi colored carrots, it will be a visual fest too!

Ingredients (for 4)

Beautiful Colorful Carrots & the Other Ingredients needed

Beautiful Colorful Carrots & the Other Ingredients you will need

  • 4 x large carrots (multi colored, if you can find them)
  • 3 x garlic cloves finely chopped
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/4 tsp of ground cumin
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp raspberry vinegar
  • 2 tbsp chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves
  •  Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Slicing - Par Boiling - Dressing

Slicing – Par Boiling – Dressing

Method

  • Peel and then thinly slice all your carrots horizontally at a 45 degree angle so they resemble elongated discs
  • Par boil the carrots in lightly salted boiling water until tender but not too soft
  • Chuck all of the remaining ingredients (except the cilantro / coriander leaves) into a bowl and mix to form a dressing
  • Drain the carrots, place in a bowl and pour and stir the dressing over them
  • Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours, or overnight
  • To serve, remove from the fridge, place the salad in a bowl, mix in the fresh cilantro / coriander

With just 10 minutes or so of prep you’ll have a genuine North African taste full of contrasting sweet and sour flavors just perfect for a warm evening in the Garden State (NY and London etc)!