7th June 2015: Spinach cake.

Tonight we are drawing on Italian Jewish cooking traditions, although the basic idea is common across middle-eastern and North African traditions, and – with different flavourings – this is also a type of egg dish found in Iran.

Finely dice two shallots and fry until soft. Chop a couple of tablespoons of drained capers with 5 anchovies and a garlic clove. Add to the pan, stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Then tip in some chopped pistachio and some sultanas and cook for another minute or so. Tip it into a bowl and add chopped cooked spinach (I used frozen). Lightly beat 3 eggs, whisk in a tablespoon of flour and. ½ teaspoon of baking powder.

Grease a baking dish with butter and dust with breadcrumbs. Tip in the egg-spinach mixture, and cook for 30-40 mins at 160C.

6th June 2015: Salmon in a chraimeh sauce, and chermoula aubergine.

Unintentionally, this and the next meal borrow from Jewish cuisine. As usual, Claudia Roden’s The Book of Jewish Food is a magisterial work on Jewish food traditions: as much a history of the Jewish diaspora as a cookbook. This wasn’t from that book, although I often dip into it for ideas. This was a powerfully flavoured sauce, a real kick and distinctive flavour from the caraway.

Salmon in chraimeh sauce:

Roast a tablespoon of caraway seeds, grind and blend with 2 garlic cloves, a couple of tsp hot paprika and cumin, some cayenne, ½ tsp ground cinnamon and a chopped chilli, together with some olive oil.

Cook the thick paste in a some oil for 1 minute. Add 1/3 can of tomatoes, lemon zest and well seasoned. Bring to a simmer than add the salmon to cook in the sauce.

Chermoula aubergine:

Make a chermoula by mixing a couple of teaspoons cumin and coriander, with a sprinkle of chilli flakes, sweet paprika and 3-4 chopped preserved lemons with some olive oil.

Cut an aubergine in half, lengthways, score and cover with the paste. Cook in an oven at 200C for 45 minutes.

Served with lemon and mint bulghar wheat and salad.

2nd June: Sweet potato and feta fritters.

Mrs AYATS is back, so whilst the kids finished off the leftover schnitzels, we had these fritters after they had gone to bed. Well, we would have done if both hadn’t come downstairs again after lights out and refused to go back up. Daughter AYATS in particular is brilliant at detecting a slight, barely noticeable, chink in our position. The merest hint of a potential opening (a slightly delayed request that she go back upstairs, a small smile when the the request is made, a glance between parents before they reply), and she leaps in and takes advantage. This time, both realised that Mrs AYATS had missed them and enjoyed spending after-hours time with them more than the strength of our resolve to send them to bed.

Grate sweet potato and cook in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and when cool squeeze out liquid. Make a batter with 2 eggs and some flour. Mix in crumbled feta, chopped salad onion, ground cumin, pinch chilli flakes, coriander leaves and sweet potato. Take small pieces, roll and flatten and fry in oil for a few minutes on each side.

Served with spicy beans: fry diced shallot, carrot and celery until soft. Add allspice cayenne and cumin, and cook for a minute. Add some diced red pepper and some sliced sweetheart cabbage and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1/3 a can of tomatoes, kidney beans and butter beans. Season well.

The leftover beans (I made a large batch) were used for wraps the next day.

31st May & 1st June 2015: Lamb with flatbread; and pork schnitzel.

Mrs AYATS has gone off for a couple of nights to a conference, so in time honoured tradition we are having meat. Yesterday the kids had pasta with a sausage sauce, and I had lamb in flatbreads. Today it is pork schnitzel.

Lamb with flatbread:

Mix cumin, smoked sweet paprika, chilli powder, allspice, oregano, lemon juice. Pour into a bag and add lamb steaks. Cover with the marinade and leave for a few hours.

Boil some cubed waxy potatoes. Drain, toss in oil and sprinkle with ras-el-hanout. Cook in a hot oven for 20 minutes until golden.

Take the lamb out of the fridge 30 minutes before you are going to cook it. Cook in a frying pan for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove from heat, cover with foil and keep warm to rest.

Serve by slicing the lamb and placing in a flatbread. Pour over juices, and add some yoghurt and chilli sauce. Add salad leaves, wrap up and serve with the potatoes and some pickled chillies.

Pork schnitzel:

Toss a thin slice of pork loin in flour, then dip in beaten egg, before placing it on a plate of breadcrumbs to cover fully. When ready to cook, melt butter in a pan and cook the schnitzels for 4 minutes or so on each side.

Serve with potatoes and salad.

 

28th May 2015: Cod tagine.

Chermoula, the typical marinade used across Northern Africa, is as individual as the cook making it, although there are regional variations. That of Sfax, in Tunisia, is typically made with black grapes or raisins and onions, rose petals and sweet spices (cinnamon, clove or both). This is perhaps more from the Moroccan tradition, with its punchy paprika and cumin spicing. It would work equally well with chicken as with fish.

Make the chermoula by blending a red onion, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, honey, cumin, sweet and hot smoked paprika, touch of chilli powder, parsley and coriander, and some olive oil.

In a tagine or heavy cooking pot, cook the chermoula paste for a couple of minutes before. Adding diced carrot and a quartered shallot. Add 2 chopped preserved lemons and some dried prunes. Add water to make a sauce and bring to a simmer. Let it reduce and the flavours intensify. Finally add fish and cook until done.

Serve with lemon and mint couscous: add boiling water to couscous and soak for 7-8 minutes. Drain, pour into an oven-proof dish and stir through dried mint and a good amount of lemon juice. Dot with butter, cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Serve alongside a salad.