Cannellette

The use of food in children’s literature seems to be a hot item. I must say I also find it very interesting and worth writing about. I am particularly fond of old fashioned English books and the descriptions of food eaten at various picnics you find in those. I love the descriptions of crumbly sweet scones with clotted cream and jam, small triangle sandwiches. gingerbread cookies and all those other treats.

The Village Voice blog put together a top 10 of the best food-themed children’s books. Now I must say that I don’t know half of those, but I do agree with certain worldwide favourites as Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham.

From my childhood I remember the food used in Alice in Wonderland (who does not love the teaparty at the Mad Hatter’s?) Furthermore I fondly remember the picnics in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books and the Malory Towers books - I always wanted picnics like those!

And what about the unbirthday party in Alice in Wonderland, full of half cups of tea and buttered clocks. Somehow the Eat Me cookies never struck me as particularly interesting, I liked the Drink Me drink better as it had all those different tastes. Eat Me cookies are easier to make, though. (Heston Blumenthal proved that the Drink Me drink IS possible, however ;-)).

Now a children’s book recipe you CAN make and take with you on a picnic…

Hot Dogs
-From Roald Dahl’s Even more revolting recipes
Makes 8

Ingredients
1 packet of bread dough mix
8 sausages 
8 rashers of bacon (optional) 
Tomato ketchup 
Mustard 
1 egg yolk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Make bread dough according to packet instructions.

2. While the dough is rising, cook the sausages in the oven. If you are using the bacon, wrap it around the sausages before cooking. When they are light brown (about 15 mins) take them out and allow to cool.

3. When the dough has doubled in size, weigh out 8 70g pieces. Roll each piece of dough to a 12 cm wide circle. Place the sausage in the middle of the dough and spread with the mustard and ketchup. Carefully roll it up, keeping it quite tight, and fold the sides in so that there is no chance to escape. Do the same with the rest of the sausages. Place in the roasting tin. Brush with the egg yok and allow to rise again.

4. When they have doubled in size again (20-30 mins) place in oven and cook for about 20-25 mins or until golden. Allow to cool for 5 mins before eating - tge waiting is the difficult part of the recipe. Set an alarm clock and eat as soon as the bell goes.

My mother in law brought me a seriously spicy piri piri spice blend. Even pointing at it made my eyes water. It tastes delicious, however, when you mix just a pinch of it through your ground beef or sprinkle it over some baked chicken. Spice blends are wonderful to spike up a relatively simple (or easy) dish. This made me remember a conversation I recently had with a colleague, she told me her (Greek) boyfriend never really liked spicy dishes, but when she made gyros and only sprinkled some cumin and coriander over the meat, it rocked his world. It is that easy to perk up a dish!

In the Middle East a herb called za’atar is used to perk up a common pita bread: the bread is dipped in olive oil and za’atar mixed with sumac, salt and sesame. This herb was already known and used in ancient Egypt as remains of one of the varieties of the herb was found in Tutankhamun’s tomb. And who can ever doubt a pharaoh?

As za’atar is probably not readily available everywhere, I’ll give you some other well-known spice blends you can easily make at home.

Ras el hanout is a well-known spice blend commonly used in Moroccan dishes. Many different versions exist, as the name already reveals: “best of the shop”. This is a streamlined version:

Ras el hanout

Ingredients
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Method
Combine the spices in a pestle and mortar and start grinding. Sieve your mix into a seperate bowl now and then and put the coarse pieces back into the mortar until you have a fine powder. 

The Indian spice blend Garam Masala is also very easy to make, as with Ras el Hanout many different versions exist. It is merely a matter of taste. This recipe by Camelia Punjabi is a wonderful basic blend.

Garam Masala

Ingredients
6 grams of cinnamon sticks
6 grams of cloves
6 grams of black peppercorns
the seeds from 1 black cardamom seed or from 4 green cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon of fennel seed
1 bay leaf or 1 curry leaf

Method
Heat a frying pan on high heat and toast the spices for 30 seconds or until fragrant (it will smell heavenly, believe me!). Put everything into a pestle and mortar and grind until powdered. You can store the garam masala for 3-6 months in a tightly closed jar.

Tonight there are Indian dishes on the menu. We’ll make samosas filled with spiced potatoes and peas and chicken tandoori. I have high expectations about the samosas. I’ve been wanting to make them ever since I saw some made during Masterchef - they looked so extremely delicious and I absolutely love curried potatoes. I also hope this will be a recipe to get my boyfriend to eat more potatoes and vegetables in general… 

Samosas have a long history, they probably originated in Central Asia before the 10th century. They are believed to be an innovation of the pies that were first created by the ancient Egyptians some 4000 years earlier and were passed on around 600 BC to the Greeks and Romans. 

There are many different versions of samosa, some deep fried some baked, the dough and the filling also differs from region to region. I use Anjum Anand’s recipe with filo pastry and a filling of spiced potatoes and peas. 

Potato and pea samosas
By Anjum Anand from Indian Food Made Easy
Preparation time: less than 30 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins to 1 hour
Makes 20

Ingredients
3 tbsp vegetable oil
half a tsp mustard seeds
60g chopped onion
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
60g frozen peas
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
one fourth tsp red chilli powder
half to three quarter tsp garam masala
1-2 tsp dried mango powder, to taste
salt, to taste
splash water
600g/1lb 5oz potatoes, peeled, boiled until soft and crushed into large lumps
4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
packet ready-made filo pastry
5 tbsp melted butter, for brushing
2 tbsp sesame seeds (optional) (you can also use poppy or nigella seeds)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a small non-stick pan and fry the mustard seeds for about ten seconds, or until they begin to splutter.
2. Add the onion and ginger and cook for 2-3 minutes over a high heat. Add the peas, stir well and add the spices, mango powder, salt and a splash of water. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the potatoes and coriander and cook for 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
4. Unroll the pastry and cover with cling film and a damp tea towel. Peel off one piece and keep the rest covered so that it doesn’t dry out. Lay the pastry sheet flat on a clean surface and brush with melted butter. Fold in one third of the pastry lengthways towards the middle. Brush again with the butter and fold in the other side to make a long triple-layered strip.
5. Place one rounded teaspoon of the filling mixture at one end of the strip, leaving a 2cm/1in border. Take the right corner and fold diagonally to the left, enclosing the filling and forming a triangle. Fold again along the upper crease of the triangle. Keep folding in this way until you reach the end of the strip. Brush the outer surface with more butter. Place onto a baking sheet and cover while you make the rest of the samosas. Sprinkle over a few sesame seeds, if using.
6. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and crisp, turning halfway through the cooking time.
7. To serve, place the samosas onto a large serving plate with a bowlful of chutney.

As I still have a jar of tamarind paste going to waste in the refrigerator, I decided to make tamarind chutney to go with the samosas. We both love tamarind but don’t use it often enough, there are too many good recipes around!

Tamarind and jaggery chutney
By Anjum Anand from Indian Food Made Easy
Preparation time: less than 30 mins
Cooking time: 10 to 30 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients
three quarter tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp tamarind paste (available from Asian supermarkets)
3-4 tbsp jaggery (palm sugar), chopped
half a tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch salt
70ml water
6 mint leaves, shredded (optional)

Method
1. Heat the cumin seeds in a frying pan and dry fry for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant and golden-brown. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and grind to a powder.
2. Put all of the ingredients into a small pan and mix until well combined. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened. Set aside to cool.
3. Serve as a dip with samosas, chaat or dhokla. (This chutney will keep in the fridge for 4-5 weeks.)

We also made chicken tandoori skewers (so it was not a vegetarian night :-)) 

Chicken tandoori skewers

Ingredients
400 g chicken thigh meat
500 g yoghurt
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp Garam Massala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
the juice of 1 lemon
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 heaped tbsp of grated root ginger
1 lemon (to serve)
some skewers that have been soaking in water for an hour (I always forget this, so I thought I’d add this step ;-))


Method
1. Clean the chicken (I always do this, I cut of the “funky” bits), slice it in long, broad strips and put it in a bowl.
2. Add the yoghurt and the spices, the garlic, ginger and the juice of one of the lemons, mix well. Put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours / overnight.
3. When ready to bake, preheat the over to 230 degrees celsius.
4. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and thread the chicken on the skewers.
5. Put the chicken into the oven and bake for 6 to 8 mins until the meat is cooked.
6.  Serve with rice and a wedge of lemon.

Sunday needs barbecueing and therefore I bring you a recipe! A vegetarian one today, just for the fun of it, and with a slightly unusual ingredient to spice things up: Halloumi. 

Halloumi is a small, elastical and crustless white cheese from the Middle East. It hardly melts and is therefore wonderful to prepare on the barbecue.

Grilled Halloumi with a lemon-coriander-almond pesto.

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Ingredients

A block of Halloumi 

For the pesto

A large handful of coriander stalks with leaves
1 clove of garlic
1 red chilipepper
2 tablespoons of white almonds
half a teaspoon cumin seeds
half -1 salted lemon
1-2 tablespoons of moisture from the jar

Method

1. Slice the halloumi in thick slices and grill the slices.
2. Mix the ingredients for the pesto in a blender to form a puree. Cautiously add 125 ml of olive oil or enough to make a smooth sauce.
3. Serve the grilled halloumi with the pesto (I never said this was a difficult dish).

Halloumi tastes quite salty, quite like feta, so it nicely combines with the slightly sour taste of the pesto.

Enjoy!

I envy my sister in law. She has been to Thailand a few times and took a cooking class once where she learned how to carve pretty vegetable flowers. That is high on my to do list! Luckily she brought me some Thai food greeting cards. They have amazing recipes printed on the back with a pretty picture of the food in question on the front. I use them frequently, and one of them has become one of our signature dishes. Spicy beef salad, or Yum Nua. It is a very easy dish and pretty adaptable. 

As the amazing-but-sometimes-impossible David Thompson always says in his Thai Food bible this dish should taste equally salty, sour, sweet, spicy and umami. Give it a go, it won’t fail. You can serve it with either noodles or rice or a nice baguette, whatever you like.

Yum Nua
Spicy Beef salad

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Ingredients

400 g of beef tenderloin (we used ostrich steak today)
0,25 cup sugar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic
6 fresh coriander leaves (and more for garnish)
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
2 spring onions
6 fresh red chillies (:-D it IS Thai food, we usually use 1…)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
lettuce leaves (we used red bell pepper today)   

Method
1. Grill the beef until medium rare, or as preferred, and cut into thin slices.
2. Pound together the garlic, soy sauce, sugar, lime juice, chopped coriander leaves, spring onions (thinly sliced), salt and ground black pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan and stir fry the spice paste for 3-4 minutes.
4. Combine the beef and cook for a minute.
5. Remove the beef and allow to cool.
6. Before serving, sprinkle the chillies (thinly sliced) on top and garnish with the remaining coriander leaves.

Many things count as comforting. For me it ranges from a tasty cup of coffee (and I am very picky) to reading books with titles like “Enquire Within About Everyting 1890” (with the dazzling remark printed on the cover: over one million copies sold). I am not kidding - I spent some lovely evenings leafing through it, stumbling across sensible advice as:

376. Beat a Carpet on the wrong side first; and then more gently on the right side. Beware of using sticks with sharp points, which may tear the carpet.

It may sound silly and obvious, but I completely understand the need for a book like this. Another one, just for the sake of it:

1792. Why does milk turn sour during thunderstorms? - Because, in an electric condition of the atmosphere, ozone is generated. Ozone is oxygen in a state of great intensity; and oxygen is a general acidifier of many organic substances. Milk may be prevented from becoming sour by boiling it, or bringing it nearly to boiling point, for, as the old proverb says, “Milk boiled is milk spoiled.” Heating the milk expels the oxygen.

Wonderful!

Other times just watching an episode of one of my favourite tv series (or a newly discovered one) can be just the type of comfort I need.

One of my “guilty pleasures” when it comes to comfort reading is The Babysitter’s Club series. I really like the comic books by Raina Telgemeier released last year.

Sometimes, though, you actually have to get your hands dirty to satisfy your comfort-cravings. And as one of my ultimate comfort foods are scones: here’s a nice recipe that I have to try soon - they look so delicious!

Pumpkin & Date Scones

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(from Mix & Bake by Belinda Jeffery)

Ingredients

3 cups (450g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarb/baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
120g cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
200g chopped pitted dates (not medjool, they’re far too moist and sticky for this)
1 cup cold cooked mashed pumpkin (I used butternut)
3/4 cup buttermilk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper, then very lightly dust it with flour and set aside.
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking/bicab soda and salt into a large bowl and use a balloon whisk to whisk it together. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir together the buttermilk and cooked cold mashed pumpkin and set aside for now.
3. Add the dates to the bowl and toss them through to coat them in the flour mixture, then make a well in the centre of the bowl and pour in the pumpkin/buttermilk mix. Stir it together till barely combined, then tip it onto a well-floured chopping board and lightly knead till the mixture comes together (not till the batter is smooth - just till it holds together and doesn’t have any unmixed bits).
4. Pat the dough into a round about 4cm thick, then dip a scone cutter (or glass tumbler) into some flour and stamp out your scone shapes. Alternately, you can cut the round into triangular wedges or pat it into a cylinder and just cut off rounds.
5. Carefully sit the scones closely together on the baking tray, using up all your dough (press the scraps together rather than kneading them). Either dust the tops with flour or give them a milk or egg wash, then bake for 20 minutes or till cooked through and golden. Once they’re done, remove them from the oven and wrap in a clean tea towel for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.
6. Serve whilst warm with some salted butter, or store in an airtight container for up to three days. Cold scones can be reheated in a microwave or toaster oven to make them warm and soft again.