Become Pro Vegetarian Chef

I've had a proper lazy weekend and most of all I have had a long sleep in, no dreading the alarm going off and waking up to go into work in the dark and come back home in the dark. The weekend has also allowed me to d some slow cooking and make the most of the little light there was outside for photographs, but the reality is its been a dark weekend with lingering dark clouds, drippy rain and blustery winds.  Today's hearty  lunch was Lemon-Coriander Maftoul with Roasted Harissa Rainbow Carrots.   I  picked up two bunches of rainbow carrots from a local greengrocers.  I wanted to make more of a feast of them, than just chop, grate or spiralize them for a coleslaw, so I roasted them whole in a harissa sauce and served it with  Zaytoun Palestenian Maftoul .  Maftoul is made from sun-dried bulgar wheat and hand rolled into tiny chewy balls.  The magic of maftoul is that it absorbs flavours wonderfully so I coated it in lemony coriander goodne...

I've been wanting to make a Beetroot version of  Tahdig  ever since I managed to find some rosy coloured barberries.  Tahdig  is a Iranian - Iraqi - Persian Upside Down Rice cake.   I have made traditional Tahdig once before in a pot with crusty golden almost burnt topping, but that was well before I started this blog.   It is for this reason, I was confident I could adapt a Tahdig recipe with the addition of Beetroot.   I was pleased by the way the  savoury Persian style Upside Down Beetroot  Rice cake t urned out, baked in a silicon heart-shaped mould (because of Valentines week), BUT - yes there is a but, I was disappointed in the way it tasted.  My tinkered version of this Persian style Upside Down Beetroot Cakes was just about edible, it needs work.  My version dyes the rice with beetroot instead of saffron and is filled with spiced roasted aubergines and puy l entils.  The whole recipe needs a little tweaking, No...

Happy Valentines dear readers.   I've made Persian Kuku  many times before, for those of you unfamiliar with it - Bake of the Week ;  Belleau Kitchen for  click on this link to learn more .    Kuku's are a Persian omelette and what I present to you is not exactly one - though it did start of originally as a Kuku .  I should have made it in a wide frying pan, but I wanted to get all fancy for Valentines day and made it in a silicone heart shaped mould.   This Persian Kuku puffed up like a aerated blow up bed, then settled down quite calmly.  Once it was unmoulded, the top was a blanket of beetroot red.   It looked fabulous and sliced wonderfully.   I have to say it tasted pretty marvellous too.  D loved it as it contained two of his favourite vegetables - beetroot and cauliflower.  I'd almost describe it as   a cross between Spanish Tortilla and Frittata , but its neither - so I call it a big fat Persian ...

The past few weeks or so, I have made a few Persian inspired dishes inspired mostly by Iranian   food bloggers, rather than from the spate of mainstream Middle Eastern cookbooks published recently in the UK.  It started as a means  to find inspirational ways of using my spices such as Advieh , Baharat , Sumac, Za'ata r and ingredients such as Maftoul and Freekeh, but like any curious cook I have been lured and enticed by other recipes.   When I saw an Iranian style Koresh tweeted by The Persian Fusion,   I just knew I had to make a vegetarian variation of it.  Something about it had me salivating.   Koresht/Khoresht/Ghalyeh  are stews or curries in Persian cooking.  They should not be compared to South Asian curries popular in the Western world.  Persian stews and curries are  quite mild.   I substituted the chicken breasts with Quorn 'chicken' fillets and adjusted the spices to taste and the tomato sauce acc...

I don't know if he was just very hungry or being honest, but D complimented on how delicious this Harissa Butternut Squash Stew was, not once but twice with a Thank you Lady.   I thought it was going to one of those stews that would benefit from overnight rest in the fridge, but we had it within an hour of making it and it was most enjoyable.  The harissa and the smoked paprika offset against each other wonderfully. Be careful with the cooking of the vegetables, especially the broccoli towards the end, you do not want it really soft, but still with bite, otherwise it would be more bordering on soup than stew, which is not a bad thing, but sometimes you want texture not bambino  food. I served this Harissa Butternut Squash Stew with some Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Searching for Spice as this was good a couple of days later too; and  with CookBlogShare hosted by Easy Peasy Foodie. Harissa  Butternut Squash Stew with Broccoli and Chickpeas Ser...

The snow flakes had been drifting past our window on and off yesterday, so it was no surprise to wake up to a blanket of snow outside.  I guess its another day to stay indoors and be lazy, thank goodness for weekends; and even more thankful for having my own shelter to call  'home' and stay warm. Yesterday, I had a proper lazy Saturday.  I mean really lazy, I watched an American film and a  National Geographic documentary called LA9 2 about the  1992 Los Angeles protests and riots .  Today, will probably be the same with some cooking in between and a little ironing in readiness for the coming working week tomorrow. Now onto food.  We finished of eating the last of this  Iranian Pearl Barley Soup known as Ash-e Jo or Ash-e-Jow  .  It looks deceptively plain, but it has so much depth and flavour mostly from the fresh herbs.  As well as barley and chickpeas which are visible, there are lots of greens in it such as spinach, dill a...

The April weather continues to tease us.  Yesterday, the sun was shining and I actually walked about without my raincoat.  Then we woke up today and its spitting rain.  Its late afternoon and its still raining.   So today, we play catch up with laundry and house work related stuff.  Whilst going through some of the kitchen cupboards, I came across a packet of   ras al hanout;   purc hased it for   Moroccan Tagine with Spiced Seed Confetti, , but I find that I rarely use it as I often have all the spices at home to make from scratch, but as a person who dislikes waste.  I decided to use  the  ras al hanout  to coat some cashew nuts.  This recipe is inspired by the Rosemary Cashew Nuts I made earlier in the year.   Once made and cooled down, I tipped them carefully into a recycled jar from  Douwe Egberts  Coffee (my instant coffee of choice).  Every time I go into the kitchen to make a cu...

A little while back, I was lucky to stumble upon a vegetable market with reasonable priced vegetables and 2 proper bunches of herbs for £1.50.  I mixed it up with dill, coriander, parsley and mint. After making the My Legume Love Affair #11 8  hosted by Vidhya's Vegetarian Kitchen .  The challenge was initiated by   Susan  and hosted by Iranian Pearl Barley Soup known as  My Legume Love Affair #11 8  hosted by Vidhya's Vegetarian Kitchen .  The challenge was initiated by   Susan  and hosted by Ash-e Jo  or  Ash-e-Jow  . I was looking forward to making and eating this  Ghorme Sabzi - Iranian Herb Stew with Kidney Beans.  I have been intrigued by it for a long time, but never got round to making it at home until now. I know the green bobbing on the top looks like green olives, but its actually dried limes.  I showcased it My Legume Love Affair #11 8  hosted by Vidhya's Vegetarian Kitche...

I've been cooking quite a lot of Middle Eastern recipes recently.  It started with the    Iranian Pearl Barley Soup known as  Ash-e Jo  or  Ash-e-Jow   early this year when we had freakish snow and with the unusual hot weather continuing, now I have Etsis Turlu .     According to the cookbook author this  Etsis Turlu  comes from Turkey. With the rain over the weekend, it was the perfect excuse to make a stew more suited for autumnal days and colder evenings, but i have lots of summer vegetables including courgettes, marrows and green beans coming from the garden that I wanted  to make the most of it, even if it is the height of summer. This stew will last us good three days of the working week and we intend to eat it with couscous, bulgar wheat, rice or crusty bread.   I am sharing this  Etsis Turlu Stew  with   Kahakai Kitchen .  Adapted from Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle E...