Autumn

has been slow to show her face this year, but now she is turning golden. 

I want autumn colour from the food cupboard too, so what could be better than a bowl of golden soup? 

Ingredients

2½ pints of vegetable stock

1 large butternut squash

2 large red onions

crushed garlic

3/4 carrots

2 sweet potatoes,

Cumin, turmeric, coriander, chilli flakes & natural sea salt, season to your own taste.

2 tbspns Tahini & 

a tin of Coconut Milk

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Cut the butternut squash in half, deseed, and roast until soft. The flesh is then easily scooped out of the skin for the soup.

Par boil the chopped sweet potatoes & carrots.

Cook the onions & garlic in your preferred oil until it begins to turn brown.

Add the veg stock to the onions, then the par boiled root veg, finally add the squash, along with seasonings and the tahini. I put my mine in the Slow Cooker and leave it for several hours, but it will take about 30mins on top of the cooker. If you have a stick blender, blend smooth when finished, and then add the tin of creamy coconut milk at the very end.

A bowl of steaming golden soup, topped with chopped parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my previous post - they cheered me up. I am pleased to say that my wrist & hand are now slowly making progress. I always read & appreciate every message received from you all. 

Autumn Tart

Ingredients

Sheet of shortcrust or puff pastry
Butternut Squash
Sweet potato
Red onions
Garlic
Red pepper,
Runny honey
Pesto
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Black pepper
Natural salt crystals

Prepare the vegetables, drizzle over some runny honey, then sprinkle with the spices, add olive or rapeseed oil and roast for about 20mins at 220℃ or until the vegetables begin to caramelise.
Allow the roasted vegetables to cool then place on to the pastry - top with some pesto, and cook for 20 more mins at 200℃.

I made some pesto but used a generous amount of cashew nuts rather than pine nuts. Pine nuts are such a ridiculous price for so few these days, and I also added much more Parmesan cheese than usual to the pesto for this tart.

Enjoy

A Spicy Snack

Roasted chickpeas + spices makes a delicious snack. They are also good as a topping on soup or add crunchy flavour to a salad.

 Line a roasting tin with parchment paper then scatter all of the chickpeas in a single layer removing any loose skins

Dry roast for 30 mins at Fan 190℃
 Whilst roasting tip into a bowl a little rapeseed (canola) oil, or whatever you prefer - just enough to coat the chickpeas when they leave the oven.

 Prepare one teaspn each of smoked paprika, ground corriander, ground cummin, and cayenne pepper.
Take the chickpeas from the oven, toss in the oil and then add the spices and mix well.  Return the chickpeas back to the oven raising the temperature to fan 200℃ and cook for a further 10-15 mins until they are golden and crunchie.

Spicy Lebanese Potatoes - Batata Harra

These are flavourful spicy potatoes which are suitable as a side dish to a main course or a party snack.

Simply cut potatoes into bite sized pieces and place in a bowl with a small amount of rapeseed oil (canola) a sprinkle of sea salt flakes and then mix around so that all of the potatoes are covered.  Line a large roasting tin with greeseproof paper making sure that all the potatoes are evenly spaced and in one layer to enable them to become crispy and golden. Roast for around 30 mins at 220℃. When the potatoes are cooked, crush 2 or 3 garlic cloves and lightly cook in oil for 1 minute only to take away the raw flavour, remove from heat and whilst the oil is still warm add 1 teaspn each of cayenne pepper, cummin, and corriander, this process blooms the spices.

 Spoon over the potatoes and toss so that they are all covered in the spices and garlic.

Add some freshly chopped basil (corriander or parsley) whatever you prefer.
 I then sprinkled on some optional Sumac which is a lemon flavoured middle-eastern spice. In this dish you can use whatever oil, fresh herbs, or spices that you prefer.

Soon I shall be refilling my Masala Dabba - the Indian spice box bought home from Delhi. We are visiting an island during the month of May where spices grow in profusion-Turmeric, Cinnamon, Pepper, Cardamom, Clove,   Nutmeg, Vanilla etc.
                    

 

Having recently discovered the delights of using coconut milk in my own cooking I was interested to read that on the island it is a staple used in many of their savoury and sweet dishes. I look forward with anticipation to tasting their ice cream made using coconut milk.

There are large pineapple plantations on this island - a popular and tasty snack is prepare by simply cutting up cubes of the fruit, and sprinkling it with chilli powder and a touch of salt which is left to infuse for 30 mins before eating.  I can imagine that this would make a tasty addition when making a pineapple upsidedown cake.

Lastly there is a plant grows on the island, which results in a commodity found in most British kitchens and used on a daily basis.

 

Kashmiri Kahwa

Flying to Kashmir from Dehli last year we were seated next to a man from Srinagar who urged us to taste their special tea known as Kawah. A small single cup of Kawah is said to lift the spirits, create a sense of wellbeing, energise, and dispel headaches. Kahwa is an anti-oxidant - some Kashmiris consider it to have magical properties.

Our first experience of Kawah was made for us by our lovely houseboy. We imbibed the tea whilst relaxing on our houseboat's veranda, and enjoying the views across Dal Lake towards the snow capped foothills of the Himalayas. It was indeed magical, but whether it was the view or the tea I could not say.

It is possible to make yourself some Kawah, all of the ingredients are readily available. I still have a small stash of Kawah which travelled back home in my suitcase. In Kashmir they obviously use green tea and saffron grown in their mountain valleys, but whatever you have to hand will suffice.

2 teaspoons of green tea leaves

2 cardamon pods slightly crushed

1 inch piece of cinnamon bark slightly crushed,

a little honey or sugar,
two or three threads of saffron, the colour and flavour is dissolved separately in a little water by crushing gently with a teaspoon,
4/5 almonds shredded or ground (optional)  

when in season Kashmiri rose petals are used

Boil 2 cups of water add cinnamon, cardamom and tea, boil for 3 minutes and then allow to infuse over low heat,

strain, then add the saffron liguid together with the threads 
a little sugar or honey

Top with almonds, serve hot 

The result is a delicate, spicey, fragrant flavour.

Falafel

Falafel is a Middle Eastern recipe made using chickpeas which are highly nutritious and cheap to buy - full of protein, complex carbohydrates and fibre. Dried and soaked chickpeas are normally used, but I used pre-soaked ones that come in a sealed packet with water - they are firmer and give a much better result than the tinned ones which are too soft. I used some Indian gram flour to help bind them - gram flour is made from finely milled chickpeas and dried split yellow peas

1 large cup of chickpeas

1 or 2 onions cut in chunks
a large handful of fresh coriander - I use the top part of the stems as well as the leaves

2 large cloves garlic

ground black pepper

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

good pinch of ground cardamon

pinch of salt if you wish
gram flour and egg to bind as necessary

I used cold press rape seed oil for cooking which is ideal to use at high temperatures and doesn't go toxic. I normally cook with olive oil, but I learnt fairly recently that it is not suitable for cooking at high temperatures.   

Put everything apart from the flour and egg into the processor and pulse gently so that it still keeps some texture. You don't want the mixture to be smooth and turn into hummus.

Place in clean bowl adding flour and beaten egg to bind the mixture

If you have a deep fat fryer roll the mixture into traditional balls - I do not, so made patties. Cook in hot oil until golden brown. Mine were finished off in the oven for 30 mins to make sure that they were properly cooked inside

There are many variations you can make to the mixture according to your taste - use fresh parsley or mint; give them a taste of Morocco by adding chopped dried apricots with paprika and cayenne pepper - the choice is yours
Traditionally served inside warm pitta bread with humus and salad
P.S I use gram flour to make pizza bases - it is more nutritious, and  flavoursome. It contains no gluten and is suitable for vegans - it is an Indian/Middle Eastern flour and can be found on ethnic shelves in the supermarkets

My Masala Dabba

Twilight Taj Mahal
Tasting different spicy foods whilst travelling in Northern India and Kashmir earlier this year has encouraged me to be more experimental 

An Indian spice tin known as a Masala Dabba is a staple in most Indian homes. Cooking is so much easier when all the spices you need are close to hand rather than tucked away in the back of a cupboard, often forgotten, and turning stale.

A good Masala Dabba is made of quality stainless steel and has an inner transparent sealing lid in addition to the air tight outer lid to keep the spices fresh.

They have seven little bowls which are filled with favourite spices.

The best way to obtain spices for a Masala Dabba is to visit a an Indian shop where the spices are often cheaper and fresher than those purchased in small jars from the supermarkets. However, because I visited Istanbul's Ottoman era Spice Bazaar my Masala Dabba has been filled with spices purchased there.

Rooftops Istanbul

As I selected the spices I wanted in the bazaar, they were vacum packed for transporting home, and accompanied by a sample of turkish delight to taste - pompegranite with hazel nut, pistachio, mixed nuts, rose, orange and creme de menthe...... 

Spices to make curry apart from the Sumac - a spice used in Middle Eastern cuisine to enhance humous, meze, sprinkle on fish, chicken, raw onions, and in salad dressings. It can be used as a substute in any dish which uses lemon juice.