Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Aubergine

Simple and in Season: January Round-Up and Winner

Welcome to the Simple and in Season January Round-Up on Fabulicious Food! January seemed like a long month. I have no idea why, but it did. I’ve been longing for the weather to warm up, so we can walk/scoot to school instead of having to de-ice the car and avoid ice patches, but now snow is forecast! I’m sure this is why this month has been about comfort food and food that brightens up our day or keeps us warm!

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Baked Aubergine (Yotam Ottolenghi Recipe)

I have to say that when I popped into my local Morrisons store this week, I did not expect to be met by such an amazing array of seasonal fruit and vegetables. I almost started taking photographs, but held back, in case someone thought I was mad. They did recently refurbish the store and so now it has a true ‘market’ feel but the produce was really far beyond anything I’ve ever seen at a supermarket in Britain before. Much of it was organic, there was also a section of locally grown produce as well as more unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables, such as the graffiti aubergines and the candy striped beetroot below, as well as fresh pomegranates. There must have been at least twenty different varieties of chili, fresh herbs and salad leaves kept watered and fresh, British heritage varieties of apples, pears as well as bang-in-season fresh spinach, artichokes, salsify, wild mushrooms, really everything you could imagine or look for. I am converted. It is so encouraging to see supermarkets really starting to support and push British seasonal produce and offer it at a reasonable cost.

Find the recipe here:

When I came home I immediately dived into one of my favourite cook books, Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi  to find a recipe for Aubergines with Buttermilk Sauce. I didn’t have lemon thyme, so I just used grated lemon zest and that seemed to work fine. Everything else was as Yotam suggests.

I will say without hesitation that this dish is simple to prepare – watch the lovely Yotam make it on You Tube here – (I could just keep this playing and listen to it all day!) When cooked, it looks visually beautiful (perfect for a dinner party) and tastes delicious. I was happy to be able to use some of my Steenbergs Za’atar  (Steenbergs make organic and Fairtrade herbs and spices) which was screaming to be used since being found inside my goodie bag from Food Blogger Connect over the summer. All in all, a fun and inspiring trip to the shops and a simple but tasty lunch!  I will be linking this up with Simple and in Season where already the entries are coming in thick and fast!

 

This week I also got to meet Karen from Lavender and Lovage for lunch. Karen is based in South West France and has immersed herself this year into food blogging, having been already made a career out of professional food writing, photography and food styling, writing features and columns for Country Kitchen magazine as well as other British publications. Karen and I easily spent almost three hours chatting about food, blogging and how much we both enjoy being part of such a friendly online community.  We both said how much we enjoyed finally meeting one another, it’s always lovely to be able to meet in person, in addition to enthusiastically tweeting and commenting on posts! Karen was very sweet to my children and bought me some lovely French chocolat au Citron Noir (delicious) and also these beautiful cabbage plants. In the time that we spent together I also became slightly addicted to the Oreo Cookie Hot Chocolate I was drinking ay the Secret Garden Cafe in St Albans! Thank you Karen for my gifts and for coming to meet us.

So that’s it for now, the end of another busy half-term week. A burst pipe in my kitchen is being fixed as I type, Halloween is looming, I have to work on my macaron making skills as I have been sent a lovely gift set to try by Lakeland and next week will mark my first year of blogging milestone! I’ve also been challenged to take part in a video blogging competition, which I’m very nervous about but will do my best! 

Later today I’ll also be announcing the winner of the Leon Baking & Puddings cook book giveaway which has been very popular. There’s still time to enter if you haven’t already. 

What are your plans for the weekend? Have you been inspired by any produce or cookbooks this week?

 

Spiced Seasonal Vegetables with Puy Lentils

September means change. The summer has flown by and a new term starts this week. It doesn’t feel as though summer should be over and it doesn’t feel as though autumn should be starting, but it’s windy here and there are showers and saying goodbye to the sunshine seems inevitable.

I feel like eating lentils. There is something wholesome and comforting about lentils. And I have lots of veggies left over from my organic veg box delivery, deep purple glistening aubergines, still earthy carrots, imperfect courgettes. Chopping up these veggies into very small pieces is strangely therapeutic. Minimal cooking, maximum flavour. The spices in my shiny new tin want to be used too, some cumin seeds, mustard seeds and coriander.  Nothing wild, just some extra warmth. I’m very happy to throw in ready-cooked lentils, I’m not in the slow cooking zone yet…
 
You can use any veggies that you have around for this recipe, red peppers would work well too, though I have an aversion so they never feature in my cooking. Tiny cubes of butternut squash would also be nice, if you have the patience to peel and want orange fingers.   
 

 

 

Spiced Seasonal Vegetables with Puy Lentils and Crème Fraiche
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 aubergine, cubed
5 baby carrots, peeled and cubed
2 courgettes, cubed
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
100g chopped tomatoes
1 packet or tin of ready cooked puy lentils
2 tablespoons Crème fraiche or natural yoghurt
Baby herbs to garnish
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan big enough to fit in all your chopped veggies. Gently fry the cumin and mustard seeds for one minute.
2. Add the chopped onions to the pan and cook for five minutes until soft. Add the aubergines and carrots cook for another five minutes. Add the courgettes and stir them around to coat them, cook for two minutes.
3. Sprinkle over the ground coriander and add the chopped tomatoes.  Season with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook on a gentle heat until the carrots are just soft.
4. At the end, add in the puy lentils and heat through. Serve with a few spoons of crème fraiche and baby herbs, such as coriander or Greek basil.

Look out for more changes to come in the coming weeks…a big switch over to Word Press for me.

Thank you also for all your entries into August’s Simple and in Season – a round-up will follow!
What are you eating now? Are you into autumnal comforts yet or are you staying faithful to summer?

Spatchcocked Chicken with Aubergine

You may remember that a little while ago I was invited to attend a Knorr event to meet and watch a cookery demonstration by Marco Pierre White. The day was a great success, with my expectations definitely being exceeded. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet Marco and to find that he was such a friendly chap keen to share his knowledge. 

Since meeting Marco I have definitely taken on board many of his tips, particularly when it comes to using Knorr stock cubes to make a paste, as per Marco’s Steak Challenge.
A few weeks ago, we were sent a huge chest containing and some lovely organic seasonal vegetables from Rod and Ben’s and lots of really tasty organic meat from The Well Hung Meat Company (both of whom offer delivery boxes) along with some obligatory Knorr products.
I’m pleased to say that I was very able to easily flatten (spatchcock) a chicken following Marco’s online instruction and re-create a recipe for Spatchcocked Poussins with Aubergine that Marco had sent us as an exclusive preview, ooh err. If I had got round to blogging about it sooner, it would have been exclusive to you too! As it happens, this recipe and lots of other seasonal treats by Marco are now available on the Knorr website.
I had previously bought pre-prepared flattened chicken in the supermarket, but had never tried it myself. On my first attempt I think I actually managed to de-bone the whole chicken and on my second attempt I just took out the backbone – which was much better!
I think it’s good to challenge yourself from time-to-time and this is a really great trick to have up your sleeve. It works particularly well if you are cooking food on the bar-be-que.
Anyhow, as mentioned in my earlier post, I also managed to re-create a fresh beetroot salad that had been served at Marco’s restaurant at Stamford Bridge which went really well with my spatchcocked and griddled chicken. The result was a lovely summery meal, and though I had cooked the chicken and aubergine on a griddle pan, it did have a lovely charred flavour and made me want to fire up the bar-be-que for next time.
Spatchcocked Poussins with Aubergine
Recipe by Marco Pierre White, posted with permission.
Serves 2
Blanching the poussins before you cook them on the griddle or barbecue helps speed up the cooking process so you end up with poussins that are tasty, with nice crispy skin.
Ingredients
2 Poussins spatchcocked (ask the butcher to do this for you if you can’t)

1 lemon
1 Knorr Chicken Stock Cube
1–2tbsp olive oil
1tsp chopped thyme
1 aubergine, cut into 4 thick slices lengthways

Method
1. First, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add in one of the spatchcocked poussins and blanch it in the boiling water for 5 minutes; remove and drain in a colander.
2. Repeat the process with the remaining poussin. This blanching process helps you cook the poussins through properly.
3. Set two heavy griddle pans to pre-heat. The pans should be nice and hot before you add the poussins.
4. Make the seasoning paste by taking the lemon and finely grating its zest. Mix together the lemon zest, a crumbled Knorr Chicken Stock Cube and the thyme in the olive oil until the stock cube has dissolved.
5. Spread half the paste over the skin side of the spatchcocked poussins. The great thing about using a paste like this for seasoning is that it sticks to the meat as it cooks.
6. Place the spatchcocked poussins seasoned side-down on the pre-heated griddle pans. Spread the remaining seasoning paste evenly over the unseasoned side of each poussin.
7. Cook the poussins on the griddle pan over a medium heat for 10 minutes, drizzle over a little olive oil, then turn over. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
8. Rub a little olive oil over the aubergine slices and add to the griddle pans, so they cook alongside the poussins. After 5 minutes, turn the aubergine slices over.
9. Check the poussins are cooked through with a sharp knife and, if needed, place in a pre-heated oven at 180°C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and cook for a further 10 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.
10. Place the griddled aubergine slices on a warm serving platter. Top each slice with one of the cooked spatchcocked poussins. Cut the zested lemon in half and squeeze over the juice from both halves. Drizzle over a little more olive oil to taste. Garnish with the sprigs of herbs and serve.

Thank you to Knorr, Rod and Ben’s and The Well Hung Meat Company for putting together my box of goodies.