Saute and soften 1/2 finely chopped onion in oil, then add 1 finely chopped clove of garlic. Add 1 tin tomatoes (squashed up) and 1/2 cup red wine. Also paprika, salt, ground cumin and ground coriander to taste (not too much of the last two). Simmer until reduced (maybe 30 - 40 minutes). Add one tin drained, rinsed borlotti beans. Stir through and keep on heat for a couple of minutes.
Enjoy!
Note: If you like, you can pile this on toasted Italian bread brushed with some EVOO and rubbed with a clove of garlic.
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Home
After spending a too short two weeks in Australia I find myself thinking about what home means - and how many homes can a person have?
I live in Dubai and have lived there for over ten years. I have good friends, friends I want to see regularly and often, in Dubai, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, Macedonia, Poland ... These are all people I have met since I moved to Dubai - they are the friends of my midlife and I love them dearly.
That said, I have friends in Australia who I have known for way longer and who I wish I could see more often. Two or three weeks a year visiting the country of my birth doesn't allow me to spend the time with them that I would wish to spend.
Then of course there is family. Love them or hate them, we can't live without them. They made us who we are. They shaped our lives, supporting us in times of trouble and grief, cheering us in times of triumph, and they are just there during the plodding days of ordinary life. And that's the important thing. They are there. Always. No matter what family ties tie. I have found that even remote cousins can sometimes seem at least as close as good friends because of our shared background; the family ties we have in common making up for any lack of shared experience.
So when it comes to ideas of home, and where I will spend the rest of my life, I confess I am torn. Sure I live in Dubai, but that's more because it's convenient than through any sense of belonging there. And Australia as the country of my birth, the home of my family, the place with which I am most familiar, well, it's home.
At this stage I find it impossible to say where I will end up - but I have a strong feeling that no matter where I keep my belongings, airport lounges will remain familiar places.
I live in Dubai and have lived there for over ten years. I have good friends, friends I want to see regularly and often, in Dubai, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, Macedonia, Poland ... These are all people I have met since I moved to Dubai - they are the friends of my midlife and I love them dearly.
That said, I have friends in Australia who I have known for way longer and who I wish I could see more often. Two or three weeks a year visiting the country of my birth doesn't allow me to spend the time with them that I would wish to spend.
Then of course there is family. Love them or hate them, we can't live without them. They made us who we are. They shaped our lives, supporting us in times of trouble and grief, cheering us in times of triumph, and they are just there during the plodding days of ordinary life. And that's the important thing. They are there. Always. No matter what family ties tie. I have found that even remote cousins can sometimes seem at least as close as good friends because of our shared background; the family ties we have in common making up for any lack of shared experience.
So when it comes to ideas of home, and where I will spend the rest of my life, I confess I am torn. Sure I live in Dubai, but that's more because it's convenient than through any sense of belonging there. And Australia as the country of my birth, the home of my family, the place with which I am most familiar, well, it's home.
At this stage I find it impossible to say where I will end up - but I have a strong feeling that no matter where I keep my belongings, airport lounges will remain familiar places.
Saturday, 23 October 2010
More experimenting in the kitchen
Today I was inspired to experiment in the kitchen again. In my ongoing quest to create high protein vegetarian dishes I made drop scones. (Some may call them pikelets, or even thick pancakes - where I come from they are drop scones.)
Basic recipe
1 cup skim milk ricotta
4 eggs
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 cup besan (chick pea flour)
1/8 cup soy flour
1/4 cup ground almonds
Whisk eggs and ricotta. Mix together with the dry ingredients.
Once I got to this stage I decided to make both savoury and sweet versions. To do this, I divided the mixture in half.
Savoury variation:
I added some grated cheese (with cumin) and some chilli powder.
Sweet variation:
Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (never, never, never vanilla essence!)
1 packet splenda (artificial sweetener)
Melt some butter in a fairly hot pan. Drop spoonfulls of the mixture into the pan. Cook on one side until golden then turn and cook the other side.
Serve. The cheese ones are perfect by themselves. I topped a sweet one with no sugar added strawberry jam. Delicious.
The rest are in the fridge for later in the week!
Basic recipe
1 cup skim milk ricotta
4 eggs
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 cup besan (chick pea flour)
1/8 cup soy flour
1/4 cup ground almonds
Whisk eggs and ricotta. Mix together with the dry ingredients.
Once I got to this stage I decided to make both savoury and sweet versions. To do this, I divided the mixture in half.
Savoury variation:
I added some grated cheese (with cumin) and some chilli powder.
Sweet variation:
Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (never, never, never vanilla essence!)
1 packet splenda (artificial sweetener)
Melt some butter in a fairly hot pan. Drop spoonfulls of the mixture into the pan. Cook on one side until golden then turn and cook the other side.
Serve. The cheese ones are perfect by themselves. I topped a sweet one with no sugar added strawberry jam. Delicious.
The rest are in the fridge for later in the week!
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Playing in the Kitchen
Today I decided to experiment to create a high protein vegetarian dish. I was inspired by the ending of an episode of Iron Chef America where one of the chefs created what she called Farro and Edamame Polpette. I searched for hours in vain for a similar recipe and finally had to resort to creating something myself, with a little guidance from Carluccio's Chef Guilio.
1/4 cup farro (spelt)
200 grams edamame (in their pods)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
olive oil
besan flour (chickpea flour)
1/2 egg, beaten (well, of course you have to beat the whole thing!)
salt and pepper to taste
sprig of rosemary, chopped (about 1/2 tbspn)
sprig of thyme, chopped (about 1/2 tbspn)
soy flour (for tossing)
Your favourite tomato pasta sauce
Grated parmesan
Heat some olive oil and cook the farro for about two minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water and simmer farro until cooked (about 30 minutes).
Boil some water and cook the edamame in their pods for about 2 minutes. Remove from the pods (and yes, you throw the pods away) and chop the edamame in a food processor.
Fry chopped onion, taking care not to brown it, then add the garlic and continue frying. Add rosemary and thyme.
Drain farro and mix in a bowl with chopped edamame and onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Add the egg and mix well, then add as much besan as you need to form a mixture that you can roll into about 8 small balls. You want the mixture to be firm but not too dry as it will fall apart. Toss the balls in soy flour.
Heat some more oil. Fry the polpette (okay, it's pretentious to use the Italian name, but I can't think what else to call them - balls, I guess), turning regularly, until brown and crisp on the outside.
Put balls in a baking dish, top with the tomato sauce and cover with grated parmesan. Bake for about 10-15 minutes in a moderate oven (180 degrees C, 350 degrees F for my American readers).
Enjoy.
1/4 cup farro (spelt)
200 grams edamame (in their pods)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
olive oil
besan flour (chickpea flour)
1/2 egg, beaten (well, of course you have to beat the whole thing!)
salt and pepper to taste
sprig of rosemary, chopped (about 1/2 tbspn)
sprig of thyme, chopped (about 1/2 tbspn)
soy flour (for tossing)
Your favourite tomato pasta sauce
Grated parmesan
Heat some olive oil and cook the farro for about two minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water and simmer farro until cooked (about 30 minutes).
Boil some water and cook the edamame in their pods for about 2 minutes. Remove from the pods (and yes, you throw the pods away) and chop the edamame in a food processor.
Fry chopped onion, taking care not to brown it, then add the garlic and continue frying. Add rosemary and thyme.
Drain farro and mix in a bowl with chopped edamame and onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Add the egg and mix well, then add as much besan as you need to form a mixture that you can roll into about 8 small balls. You want the mixture to be firm but not too dry as it will fall apart. Toss the balls in soy flour.
Heat some more oil. Fry the polpette (okay, it's pretentious to use the Italian name, but I can't think what else to call them - balls, I guess), turning regularly, until brown and crisp on the outside.
Put balls in a baking dish, top with the tomato sauce and cover with grated parmesan. Bake for about 10-15 minutes in a moderate oven (180 degrees C, 350 degrees F for my American readers).
Enjoy.
Saturday, 9 October 2010
A hint of chocolate
Well this week saw my return to work after a break and I decided to bake some treats for my colleagues. I was only going to make a vanilla layer cake, but my boss put forward a pretty persuasive argument for some chocolate cake so my colleagues got both.
Chocolate Almond Cake
180g 70% chocolate
180g unsalted butter
Extra butter for greasing tin
200g ground almonds
8 eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract
215g caster sugar
60g cocoa powder
pinch of salt
Extra cocoa powder for decorating
Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Line a 23 cm tin with greaseproof paper and grease with extra butter.
Break up chocolate and cut up butter. Place in a bowl over simmering water and melt them together. Cool.
Meanwhile beat together 2 whole eggs with 6 egg yolks and 200 g of the sugar until it thickens and is light. Fold in the cocoa powder and the ground almonds. Mix together with the melted chocolate/butter mixture and stir in vanilla extract (Don't use essence - it tastes yucky).
Beat 4 of the egg whites with pinch of salt to form stiff peaks. Fold in the remaining 15g sugar. Add a couple of spoonfuls of beaten egg white to chocolate mix and stir it in. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites gently keeping as much air in the mixture as possible.
Pour the mix into your prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Cool cake in tin, then turn out.
Dust with extra cocoa powder and maybe, if you want it a little sweeter, some icing sugar - you can make nice patterns on the top by putting strips of paper across the cake when you dust it.
Serve it plain, with cream or with some yummy vanilla icecream.
So there it is. A nice easy cake. Great for people with gluten intolerances, but not for those with nut allergies.
Sorry, I didn't think to take a photo until it had all disappeared!!
Chocolate Almond Cake
180g 70% chocolate
180g unsalted butter
Extra butter for greasing tin
200g ground almonds
8 eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract
215g caster sugar
60g cocoa powder
pinch of salt
Extra cocoa powder for decorating
Preheat oven to 150 degrees C. Line a 23 cm tin with greaseproof paper and grease with extra butter.
Break up chocolate and cut up butter. Place in a bowl over simmering water and melt them together. Cool.
Meanwhile beat together 2 whole eggs with 6 egg yolks and 200 g of the sugar until it thickens and is light. Fold in the cocoa powder and the ground almonds. Mix together with the melted chocolate/butter mixture and stir in vanilla extract (Don't use essence - it tastes yucky).
Beat 4 of the egg whites with pinch of salt to form stiff peaks. Fold in the remaining 15g sugar. Add a couple of spoonfuls of beaten egg white to chocolate mix and stir it in. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites gently keeping as much air in the mixture as possible.
Pour the mix into your prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Cool cake in tin, then turn out.
Dust with extra cocoa powder and maybe, if you want it a little sweeter, some icing sugar - you can make nice patterns on the top by putting strips of paper across the cake when you dust it.
Serve it plain, with cream or with some yummy vanilla icecream.
So there it is. A nice easy cake. Great for people with gluten intolerances, but not for those with nut allergies.
Sorry, I didn't think to take a photo until it had all disappeared!!
Monday, 13 September 2010
Saying goodbye to old friends
I know that autumn is almost here (well, not really, because in my book it is always summer in Dubai), but I am spring cleaning. Yes,the carpets are getting a beating, the curtains being cleaned - all those once a year tasks are happening. But this year I am doing something that I usually find myself unable to do ...
I am culling my book collection.
My lovely Concise Oxford English Dictionary talks about "reducing the population by selective slaughter". It sounds brutal and as I sort and select it feels like brutality.
How can I choose which books have to leave my shelves forever, and which get to stay? Why must I make this choice?
The second question is fairly easy to answer. I have six bookcases. After thinking long and hard I have decided that another bookcase is not really an option. I just don't have space for it unless I get rid of the sofa, the bed, the bath or something else which may prove useful. Also, walking across my bedroom has become a bit of a minefield as I navigate my way between piles of books, hoping that I don't accidentally knock over one of the tottering high rises.
Seriously, it's time to find homes for the new and to send some of the old to a new home.
As I look at each book in my collection, the flashflood of memories is overwhelming. I remember where and when I bought most of them. Can I really bear to part with them even if I know they are going to a good home? (Our office runs a book collection - people pay 5 dirhams to borrow a book and the money goes to charity.)
How can I decide?
1. Books that have been given to me must remain. They are dearly loved not merely for their content, but for the thoughtfulness of the giver
2. Books that I have disposed of before, and then re-bought deserve to stay. It's unreasonable to expect me to buy them a third time and if I needed them twice, I'm sure to need them again
3. Books by my favourite authors continue their residence on my shelves. Even if they're not my favourites sometimes I need to look at them again
4. Books ...
Okay, so deciding which ones should stay and which should go is proving difficult. This is no small task.
Maybe I'll beat another carpet instead.
I am culling my book collection.
My lovely Concise Oxford English Dictionary talks about "reducing the population by selective slaughter". It sounds brutal and as I sort and select it feels like brutality.
How can I choose which books have to leave my shelves forever, and which get to stay? Why must I make this choice?
The second question is fairly easy to answer. I have six bookcases. After thinking long and hard I have decided that another bookcase is not really an option. I just don't have space for it unless I get rid of the sofa, the bed, the bath or something else which may prove useful. Also, walking across my bedroom has become a bit of a minefield as I navigate my way between piles of books, hoping that I don't accidentally knock over one of the tottering high rises.
Seriously, it's time to find homes for the new and to send some of the old to a new home.
As I look at each book in my collection, the flashflood of memories is overwhelming. I remember where and when I bought most of them. Can I really bear to part with them even if I know they are going to a good home? (Our office runs a book collection - people pay 5 dirhams to borrow a book and the money goes to charity.)
How can I decide?
1. Books that have been given to me must remain. They are dearly loved not merely for their content, but for the thoughtfulness of the giver
2. Books that I have disposed of before, and then re-bought deserve to stay. It's unreasonable to expect me to buy them a third time and if I needed them twice, I'm sure to need them again
3. Books by my favourite authors continue their residence on my shelves. Even if they're not my favourites sometimes I need to look at them again
4. Books ...
Okay, so deciding which ones should stay and which should go is proving difficult. This is no small task.
Maybe I'll beat another carpet instead.
Friday, 3 September 2010
The Big Question
Okay, so I've misled you. This is not THE big question, but ít's the one that's been perplexing me for the past few minutes, and I think it's important.
Once upon a time, labels on jars and bottles needed a mere soak in water to smoothly, most often in one piece, slide from the glass, without leaving a nasty residue. When did this change?
I am sure there are some people out there who collect labels. If they live in the Middle East I am sure they create designs of the UAE flag or the president, or some other illustrious personage, with them (why not, they do it with matchboxes!). How these people must be suffering from this 'difficult-to-remove-label' trend?
Some weeks ago I made the decision to cook Indian food. Anyone who does this will know that you end up with a ridiculous number of different spices. In the UAE many of these come in plastic bags, rather than jars. But jars are better for storing them. So instead of taking glass jars to the recycling bin, I decided to remove their labels and reuse them.
Now I regret this decision.
I have one particular jar that I have soaked for hours - twice! Yet the residue remains.
If anyone reading this blog is a label collector and has an elegant solution to this problem, please post a comment.
Once upon a time, labels on jars and bottles needed a mere soak in water to smoothly, most often in one piece, slide from the glass, without leaving a nasty residue. When did this change?
I am sure there are some people out there who collect labels. If they live in the Middle East I am sure they create designs of the UAE flag or the president, or some other illustrious personage, with them (why not, they do it with matchboxes!). How these people must be suffering from this 'difficult-to-remove-label' trend?
Some weeks ago I made the decision to cook Indian food. Anyone who does this will know that you end up with a ridiculous number of different spices. In the UAE many of these come in plastic bags, rather than jars. But jars are better for storing them. So instead of taking glass jars to the recycling bin, I decided to remove their labels and reuse them.
Now I regret this decision.
I have one particular jar that I have soaked for hours - twice! Yet the residue remains.
If anyone reading this blog is a label collector and has an elegant solution to this problem, please post a comment.
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