I can't do it nearly as authentic here as I have tasted there, so I'm not going to bother actually worrying about it. Beetroot in any way shape or form is a treat, so simply dressing it up a little makes for something really quite nice indeed Roasted pumpkin and beetroot with goat’s cheese Serves 4 200g pumpkin 100g
beetroot 20g goats
cheese 1 sprig
fresh thyme 20ml olive
oil 10ml red
wine vinegar 10g rocket Salt and
pepper Preheat the
oven to 180c, wash the beetroot and pat dry, rub with a touch of olive oil and
put in the oven roast for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven
allow to cool down slightly, then peel and cut into quarters and set aside
Cut the
pumpkin in half; remove the seeds and slice into 5mm pieces. Season with salt
and pepper and put onto a lightly oiled griddle until golden brown on both
sides
Transfer the
pumpkin to a baking tray and put into the oven to roast for 8 minutes or so
until tender
Mix the red
vinegar olive oil, and thyme in a bowl then put the beetroot in to marinate,
seasoning with salt and pepper
Place the
pumpkin in the centre of the plate then top with the beetroot, sprinkle with
grated goats cheese and garnish with rocket; finally drizzle with the remaining
vinegar dressing
The place is properly magical, the food all consuming, the people curiously incredible and hypnotic. The island where your watch, quite literally, stands still for a few brilliant moments in time
Sri
Lankan fish curry
Serves 4
900g seer
fish fillet, or any firm white fish although salmon will do just fine
1 tblsp
sunflower oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
8 fresh curry leaves
½ tsp
ground turmeric
1 tsp
chilli powder
2 tblsp
sri lankan curry
powder (see below)
2
medium-sized tomatoes,
skinned and chopped
50ml tamarind liquid
400ml coconutmilk
Salt
Mango or
lime chutney to serve
For the Sri Lankan curry powder
2½ tblsp
coriander seeds
1 tblsp
cumin seed
1½ tsp fennel
seeds
A healthy pinch of
fenugreek seed
2.5cm
piece cinnamon stick
3 cloves
2 green
cardamom pods
6 black peppercorns
For the curry powder, toast
everything over a high heat in a dry pan and then simply grind everything
together in a spice grinder into a fine powder. Store in a screw top jar
Rinse the fish under cold water and dry on
kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a large, shallow pan, add the onion, garlic,
curry leaves and fry gently for 7-10 minutes until the onions are soft and
only just turning lightly golden
Add the turmeric, chilli powder and 2 tblsp
of the Sri Lankan curry powder and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes,
tamarind liquid, coconut milk and 1 tsp of salt and simmer gently for 15
minutes
Add the fish to the pan and spoon
some of the sauce over the top of the fish. Turn the heat right down and simmer gently for 5 minutes, then
cover the pan and set aside for 30 minutes. The fish needs to take in the flavour of the sauce and after 30 minutes should be
cooked through - but if not, just return to the heat for a few more minutes
until it is. Serve with some steamed basmati rice and some poppadoms should you feel inclined to do so
A cool cucumber and yoghurt dip is a refreshing
accompaniment for grilled chops. Sometimes I add a clove of garlic to it,
sometimes not. Sometimes nothing at all is needed but juicy fatty meat. Chips with chops, that might be the ticket.
4 lamb steaks
or large chops
2 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp fresh oregano
For the tzasiki
Half a
cucumber
250ml thick, natural yogurt
2 spring onions
1 handful mint leaves
Grate the cucumber into a sieve or colander, sprinkle
lightly with sea salt and sit it in the sink for half an hour. This will rid
the cucumber of much of its water.
Tip the yoghurt into a mixing bowl. Finely chop the
spring onions and stir them into the yoghurt along with the mint leaves,
roughly chopped. Squeeze any excess moisture out of the cucumber with your
hands then stir it into the yoghurt.
Don't be tempted to season the yoghurt; it should be
just fine as it is.
Keep the tzasiki cool until you need it. Get the grill
hot. In a small bowl mix the olive oil with the oregano and a seasoning of salt
and black pepper then rub or brush it over the meat. Cook the lamb over a hot
grill or in a griddle pan. Ideally the outside should be dark brown and
sizzling, the fat crisp and the inside of the meat a deep, juicy rose pink.
There aren't all that many dishes at -10 c that cut the mustard, but horseradish vodka, borscht and rabbit dumplings seem to be doing the just just fine here in Kyiv. What a splendid place, even in the dead of winter, where the warmth of the people totally overcompensate for the lacking in the city's temperature. Where else are you welcomed with a glass of 40% proof horseradish to take the chill off I ask? Follow that up with a smoked plum beer and I'd eat a dumpling filled with anything whatsoever. Interestingly enough, these dumplings are so outright delicious, they're served only with some sour cream. No need for chilli, vinegar or soy here - they simply don't need any more flavour - properly rabbity good.
On the soup thing, this is where the source of internal warmth seriously lies. There are way too many variations of this burgundy coloured soup to even start dissecting,
all of which reflect the Eastern European heritage of many Romany people. This one is,
I hope, is in the Ukrainian style befitting the incredible hospitality of these brilliant people.
Borscht
Serves 6
1.2 litres vegetable
or chicken stock
2 tblsp red wine vinegar
225g raw beetroot, peeled and grated
500g potatoes, peeled and diced
600g red cabbage, shredded
2 large tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 onions, grated
4 tblsp soured cream
12 chives
Put the stock and vinegar in a large pan and bring to the
boil. Add the beetroot and potatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the
vegetables are soft. Add the cabbage and whole tomatoes.
Add the bay leaf and season to taste. Stir in the onions and
cook for 20 minutes until the onions are soft. Garnish with a blob of soured
cream and a few chives and serve.
When a bit of an illness hits you, there's always a go to food for comfort and nourishment. hicken noodle soup from a packet seemed to be the way my Mum brought colour back into my cheeks, but now I'm all grown up and fancy I can assume another level for this miracle remedy. Pho has to be one of the better known Vietnamese dishes, a
sustaining bowl of fragrant noodle soup full of lovely bits and pieces. Good-quality
home-made stock is considered vital by those in the know, but if you're short of
time, use tubs of fresh stock from the store and just make sure you pack it full of all the amazing contrasts of flavours the broth is generally famed for. This
recipe could easily be made with big fat prawns of strips of beef instead of chicken.
Chicken pho
Serves 2 600ml chicken stock 2.5cm chunk of fresh ginger, sliced thickly 1 garlic clove, chopped 2 star anise 1 bundle of vermicelli rice noodles 1 tblsp fish sauce 1 free range chicken breast, sliced very thinly A few sprigs of fresh coriander and mint 4 spring onions, finely sliced A handful of bean sprouts 1 red chilli, finely sliced A lime, quartered Heat the stock with the ginger, garlic, star
anise and a good grind of black pepper. Simmer very gently for half an hour or
so, topping up with water if necessary
Cook the noodles according to the packet
instructions, drain while still a little undercooked and rinse under a cold
tap. Stir the fish sauce into the stock.
Divide the noodles between two bowls and top
with slices of raw chicken. Pour the boiling broth over the top, which will
cook the meat instantly.
Scatter with a little coriander and put more
on the table, along with the mint, spring onions, bean sprouts, chilli and lime
wedges, for people to add to the soup.
New Year, New You? No actually, New Year, Let's eat WELL.
This sounds properly luxurious, but was - and in some places still is - a casual (and often surprisingly cheap) snack to be eaten on the beach where lobster is in decent supply. Perfect for when the weather is exactly as it is right now (well it is here anyway)
A good lobster roll
Serves 1
1 x 500g
lobster, cooked and shelled, and meat chopped into 3cm pieces
3 sticks celery, finely chopped
10g horseradish mixed with 20g mayonnaise
Juice from ½ lemon
A quarter of
an avocado
salt and pepper
15g butter
lettuce leaves
1 brioche hot dog style bun
The method is very straightforward. Make some lobster salad by mixing
cold cooked lobster in bite-sized chunks (with as much of the sweeter meat from
the claws as possible) with some finely chopped celery, horseradish flavoured mayonnaise,
a little lemon juice, diced avocado and salt and pepper.
Lay some lettuce
leaves inside the toasted buttered hot dog bun and tumble in the lobster salad.
This dish is best accompanied by a decent packet of crisps. And better still, a sandy
beach.
I can't get enough of the energy and sheer enthusiasm the city radiates so effortlessly. It is where I eat like a King and sleep like an insomniac while generally just be with truly great people.
Now, I am a bit of a dumpling fan, and the Turkish manti being a delightful version which are also served up in Armenia do resemble my more familiar friends from my part of the world. They are quite closely related to the east Asian mantou, baozi, and mandu and the Nepali momo, and are just as delicious.
As far as I can see, in Istanbul manti
are typically served topped with a pungent garlic yoghurt which is again splashed with some dried chilli flakes that have been woken up in hot oil. There will always be a few pots on the side with some sumac, extra chilli and maybe some dried minto too for you to play around with.
Traditional Manti
Serves 4
2 cupsflour
1/2
Combine the flour and salt in a
mixing bowl. Add the eggs and water, mixing well with your hands. Add more
water, if needed, to form a soft dough. Cover and set aside for at least 30
minutes.Shred the onions and place them in a
colander or sieve set over a bowl; drain the juice and discard. Combine the
onion, ground beef, salt, and pepper; mix the meat well with a spoon until
mashed.
Divide the dough into two portions
and lightly flour a work surface. Keep one piece of dough covered while you roll
out the second portion into a rectangle, rolling the dough as thin as you can.
Cut the rectangle into 2-inch squares with a knife or pastry wheel.
Place about a teaspoon of the meat
filling in the center of each square. Seal the dumplings by gathering the edges
of the dough and pinching them together at the top to form a bundle. Transfer
the finished manti to a floured plate, and sprinkle more flour over the manti to
prevent sticking. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
Heat the oil and red pepper flakes in
a small pan over low heat just until the pepper flakes have started to colour
the oil; don't let them burn. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Stir the
minced garlic into the yogurt and set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to
a boil over medium-high heat, and cook the manti until the filling hot, and the dough is tender, no more than a few minutes. Drain well. Divide the manti
among four plates. Spoon the yogurt sauce over the manti and drizzle each
serving with the hot pepper oil.
