Bourguignon of Mushrooms, Red Onions and Rainbow Carrots

A few weeks ago I went on a fungi forage, except it wasn't a fungi forage - 'why would you want to eat them?' exclaimed the fungi expert when he heard one of the participants (not me) ask her friend 'are these edible?'.  

The reason I am talking about mushrooms is because my  Bourguignon here looks a bit like an autumnal forest ground - mushrooms, green grassy colours from the long needle shaped leaves from rosemary herb, leaves in the form of bay leaf and lots of autumnal colours, but here everything is edible - I wonder what Alice in Wonderland would think?!

I think this dish is best made on a day like today when it's awfully dreadful, damp and dreich outside in Cymru aka Wales.  I am so glad its the weekend and I don't have to be in work or anywhere else today and can stay in the comfort of my home.  I am glad of it actually as its been a rather busy week at work too.  

As well as a medley of mushrooms, I had also picked up some rainbow carrots from the market in Cardiff, and if that did not provide enough colour - I decided in place of shallots to throw in some small red onions. If you look closely you will even seen flecks of green from fresh rosemary from the garden.  

We will be tucking into this textual dish with some homemade overnight sourdough bread later to mop up that rich vegetable flavoured gravy; and if we have some left over, perhaps with some mashed potato.

What have you been cooking lately?

Roasted Red Onion 'Lotus Flower'

The snow from last week has all melted away - although when I look outside the window the snow head and melted body of a snowman remains still intact in one of the neighbours front garden, an indication of how cold it is still here.  

We managed to get the car started, turned around and carefully down the skiddy icy road and get into work.  I have been feeling a little seasonally under the weather, however each morning I somehow manage to drag my sorry backside out of the bed and get into work.  When I am there I wonder why I have bothered when a half the office staff have rung in sick.  I have only ever been off sick one day in the four years I have been working there.  

Work has been terribly busy, but it is slowing down finally for more reasons than one. I am not so secretly looking forward to the break come Christmas and the New Year. 

Sweet Potato Dauphinoise with Smoked Chilli Feta Cream

This Sweet Potato Dauphinoise is made without cream or milk and before you go 'ahhhhhh...'  In place of the the cream and/or milk, salty feta cheese is blitzed to a cram with smoked chilli paste, producing a deeply flavoured thick warming sauce.  

This dish pleased my husband very much on a number of accounts, but namely because it had feta cheese in it, one of his favourites.   I don't eat cheese much, but the flavour combinations in this one did excite me and it did not disappoint when it came to the eating either.   In fact I would go as far as describing this recipe as awesome too.  The sweetness from the potatoes balanced very well with the smoky chiilli and saltiness from the feta cheese.     

Ready to go into the oven to turn all golden and crispy

The smoky chilli flavour can also be achieved by adding a teaspoon of chilli powder with liquid smoke; or even at a push with smoked paprika, however I actually made it with a ready-made smoky chilli paste,  I  had completely forgotten about it, then whilst rummaging for some seeds I stumbled upon it.  The jar contained a couple of tablespoons of paste, enough for this recipe, it was last used for a Risotto recipe.   

Smoky Freekah with Roasted Aubergines and Chickpeas

I haven't had aubergines this year, its a vegetable that nowadays evokes greedy thoughts of my mothers Baingan Bharta - Smoky Aubergine; or middle eastern cuisine, so it may not be a surprise that at the weekend I made a Middle Eastern inspired meal when I brought home a couple of gorgeous two tone deep maroon aubergines, next to them were some bunches of coriander, so I picked some of that too.  

Still unsure exactly what I was going to make with the aubergines, I gazed into my kitchen cupboards when my eyes fell upon a packet of Zaytoun Smoky Freekah and this dish of Smoky Freekah with Roasted Aubergines and Chickpeas was created.

 The Smoky Freekah comes from Zaytoun.  Zaytoun is a social enterprise founded in 2004  to create and develop a UK market for artisan fairly traded Palestinian produce that carries the stories of  'the producers and their land'.  Zaytoun are celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year.  I've been fortunate in the past to try some of their products including organic extra virgin olive oil, wild grown za'atar and more recently maftoul.  I will share more later in the week, but today its all about the smoky greenwheat grain called Freekah. The Zaytoun freekah was really smoky in flavour and infused the oven roasted aubergines naturally.  

You know I don't boast about my food that often, I just make it, eat it and share it with my bloggers, but I have to hand on heart say that this is one of the most delicious meals that I have ever made and enjoyed; and the truth is down to the ingredients namely the smoky freekah from Zaytoun.  

The Smoky Freekah dish was accompanied with a Palestinian, I was originally going to make a Tahini Sauce to accompany this dish, but decided on a Palestinian Salatat Taheena - Tahini Salad.  This salad was made not only to compliment the dish, but the fact was that I also had most of the ingredients to hand.  I also think it could have done with some vegetable based falafels for additional texture, maybe next time.   

Strawberry, Caramelised Red Onion, Thyme and Brie Tart

One of my absolute favourite Toasted Panini combinations is cranberry. brie cheese and rocket.  I had often thought about doing a version with strawberries but shyed away from trying it, as strawberries do not necessarily have the same sharp tartness of cranberries.  However, with strawberries still growing in my garden, I decided to take the plunge and experiment, but not crushed in a Panini.  I decided to go all out and make a sweet savoury tart from scratch, yes including the short crust pastry.

Caramelised Red Onion Tarts in a Mustard Cheese Pastry

I have been given about a dozen small red onions by my mother and as much as I like red onion sliced in my green salads, I don't often cook with them, so the question was 'what to do with so many?'.  It was either going to be a 'red onion marmalade' or 'caramelised red onion tarts'.

I was a bit surprised at the choice I made, as its not something I would ordinary choose to eat.  I tend to snug my nose at Caramelised Red Onion tarts when I see them appearing on the menu as a veggie option at reputable restaurants (not that I eat out much), but I do think its a rather lazy veggie option to be offering adventurous veg heads.  But today, I have to admit its been a while since I have enjoyed a good deep crimson tarts topped with a white cheese. 

Visually it reminded me of a Balsamic Roasted Beetroot Tarts I've made in the past. It was when I was still learning to appreciate and acquire a taste for beetroots.  Well no beetroot here today, just red onions slowly caramelised in Balsamic vinegar.

 

The cheesy mustard seed pastry cases are lovely.  If you don't fancy filling them with caramelised red onions, fill them with a vegetable of your choice: asparagus and wild garlic are in season. 

Close up of the grainy mustard seeds in the cheddar cheese pastry

and caramelised red onions cooling down.  I am entering these Tarts into this months Family Friendly Fridays hosted by Ren over at Fabulicious Food.

Caramelised Red Onion Tarts with in a Mustard Cheese Pastry
Makes 7 - 8
Ingredients for the Mustard Cheese Pastry
75g butter
175g plain flour
40g mature cheddar cheese, grated
1 generous teaspoon grainy mustard
Cold water to bind
Ingredients for the red onion filling
1 tablespoon olive oil

860g or thereabout of red onions, finely sliced

6 – 8 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, depending on taste

Salt and pepper to taste

200g feta cheese, or goats cheese

Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180oc

Method for the Mustard Cheese Pastry

Put the flour and butter into a food processor and blitz until it begins to resemble breadcrumbs, then add in thee cheese and mustard and enough cold water to bind.  Tip onto a floured surface and bring together to make a smooth dough.  Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up.  You can also do this by hand, but now that I have my food processor out I am making the most of it now that i have easy access to it.

Method for the red onion filling

Heat the oil in a wide pan, then add the onions, balsamic vinegar and season to taste.  Allow the onions to cook slowly without a lid, stirring every often for about 30 minutes or until the onions have softened, thickened and taken on a glossy appearance.  Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Whilst the filling is being cooked, roll out the pastry to line 8 round tartlet tins.  Mine measured around 4 inches.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pasty is cooked.  Remove and allow to cool.

When ready to make your tarts, generously spoon the caramelised onion mixture evenly into the pastry cases.  Top each tart with feta cheese or goats cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Enjoy warm. 

There are a number of 'Caramelised Red Onion Tart' recipes on blogosphere and in cookbooks, I decided to adapt a recipe from Delia Smiths How To Cook: Book 2, of which I own a hard copy of too.  Original recipe can be found here.

Black Sesame Seed Coleslaw

That cabbage I picked up at the weekend is still feeding us well.  Not only have we had Thai Yellow Cabbage Curry and Creamy Cabbage Pies, this time it had to be a Coleslaw of sorts.

I do like the traditional coleslaw, but as you may know I am all for expanding my culinary repertoire. Having tried coleslaw with raisins, Sri Racha, and wasabi, I was quite keen to try a sesame flavoured one. Not only is this coleslaw scented with toasted sesame oil, it also has a scattering of black sesame seeds.

The last time I used black sesame seeds was for the Oyster Mushroom 'Calamari'. The flavour of black sesame seeds is similar to the white variety - nutty, except it has a slight bitterness. I've read that they are mainly used for visual effect, than taste. I served this coleslaw at lunch simply with some jacket potatoes. I felt positively healthy eating it.  I don't know about you, but these days I need a tooth pick as I sometimes find seeds stuck between my teeth.  Funny how that happens as you get older.  
Black Sesame Seed Coleslaw
Serves 4
Ingredients
½ green cabbage, shredded
1 medium red onion, finely sliced
1 large carrot, shredded
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
75ml – 100ml rice vinegar
2 – 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
2 – 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, preferably black; or combination of both
Method
Put the cabbage into a bowl with the red onion, and mix with your hands to separate the pieces. Add the carrot and mix well.
In a small bowl, combine the sesame oil, vinegar, mustard and salt. Add the dressing to the cabbage mix and stir well. Refrigerate the slaw for at least 1 hour so the cabbage can soften.
Toast the sesame seeds to bring out the flavour. Allow them to cool. Just before serving, scatter the seeds over the slaw, toss well. Adapted from Vegetarian Planet.

Purple Kale

I have to admit when I picked up this beautiful bunch of purple kale at the weekend, I had grand ideas of making a big bowl of purple kale chips to enjoy in front of a movie. I had discovered kale chips 3 years ago and absolutely adored them. It is perhaps my preferred way of eating kale.

Oh actually there is another way that may interest you. In one of the cookbooks I have, the kale chips recipe is taken a step further. Once the kale chips are made, cool them on a rack. Then whizz them in a food processor briefly either to rough flakes or ground fine, like pepper. You can then use the ‘kale flakes’ or ‘kale pepper’ to sprinkle over roasted vegetables, soup or even popcorn, it’s a bit like the toasted seaweed nori really, just more flavoursome. Well neither of the above recipes were enjoyed at the weekend as the working week was upon us rather quickly. Instead I made a 'Purple Kale tart'. It was inspired by a recipe I had seen at the dentist. Let me explain, a couple of weekse ago whist waiting for my check-up, I had picked up one of those lifestyle magazines. Like a football fan interested only in the recent sports coverage, transfers and so on found in the back pages of tabloids; and in my case to avoid benile WAG and celebrity gossip, I too go straight to the last few pages, where you tend to find recipes.

I remembered one particular photograph leaping out at me. It was a pizza topped with glossiest sauteed kale and sharp white feta cheese. It looked really good to me. Now had I a pen, I would have jotted the recipe down; or dare I admit slowly ripped the recipe page out, but as there were a number of people also waiting for their dental appointment, periodically glancing up and down, I dare not. Instead I decided to look over the recipe and convince myself that it was actually a rather simple recipe and one I could easily remember. So I logged some of the ingredients in my head, the quantities of course I would have to work out according to taste. So this is my take on that sauteed kale pizza, except mine is not a pizza - more of a tart.
As I had cooked this dish today straight after work, I was too lazy to ‘knock up’ a pizza base from scratch. In its place I used an ingredient that can always be found in my fridge: a packet of ready-made puff pastry. I rolled it out to fit and 8 inch round cake tin. Roughly chopped the purple curly kale and sliced a medium red onion. Then I added this to a frying pan with some good olive oil and sauteed. When the kale began to wilt, I seasoned it with a little pepper before spreading it evenly over the puff pastry base. To end I crumbled some feta cheese, (can be omitted for vegans). Then baked it in the oven at gas mark 6 for 25 – 30 minutes.

The purple kale still retained its vivid colour. The kale itself was both soft and crisp. I think some sliced black olives would have enhanced the flavour a touch more, but that's up to you. When I was a child, I really disliked black olives. Oh how our tastes change.

If you like the look of this savoury purple kale tart, and are liking the theme of 'purple' please take a peek at my sweet lavender hearts, lavender lemonade, purple cabbage potato cakes and finally some purple blueberries. They may just inspire you. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Capers and Carob

Just in case you thought I haven't cooked or eaten any seasonal produce since I have been back from my holidays, here I am to show you that I have. This 'caper, black olive and potato salad' is made with Jersey Royals. We had this yesterday with some asparagus.
I have to mix in some holiday pictures. D and me had taken a walk along the Paphos harbour, where we came across some exotic delicate flowers. It was only later I learned that these were caper flowers.

Ds father told me that he often saw Cypriot women picking stems from the sides of roads, but was not sure what they were picking. I think I solved the mystery.

As later I realised that these were stems and capers buds. Sadly the fragile flowers had withered under the heat of the sunshine.

The first time I went to Cyprus I really enjoyed eating the pickled steams of capers. You will often see women in traditional wear at markets selling jars of home-made pickles made from young fresh caper buds. This time I noted many of those available had thorns. As someone who doesn't mind eating stinging nettles, of course I had a go, but was put off - not from the thorns, but the stems were tough and chewy. So you can understand why these need to be picked whilst still young and tender.

Still tasting the twang of the pickled stem capers in my mouth, ironically I actually fancied some. But as I don't have any pickled caper stems here, I had make do with the pickled caper buds instead.

Caper, black olives and new potato salad

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients

1 large red potato sliced, thinly

potatoes, chopped and cooked until tender. Drain and set aside.

Juice of 1 lemon

125ml extra oil

50g black olives, sliced

2 - 3 tablespoons capers, minced

Optional: minced lettuce leaves or 2 tablespoons parsley

Method

Combine the oil and lemon, then add in the olives and capers. Gently stir in the sliced onions and potato. Set aside for an hour for the flavours to infuse. When ready to serve, add in optional minced lettuce leaves or parsley.

Oh wheres the carob recipe? You'll have to wait a little while. I just fancied using it in the title (sorry). You can read a little about it here if you've missed it.

feta souffle with red onion and artichoke coins

The richness of the feta souffle goes very well with the savoury artichokes and sauteed onions.

IF YOU DO DECIDE TO COOK THIS DISH make sure the Jerusalem artichokes and red onion are cooked a few minutes before the souffle is ready to come out of the oven.

The feta cheese souffle is an adapted recipe from Nadine Abensurs Cranks Fast Food. And the Red onion and artichoke coins is an recipe adapted by Catherine Mason Veg. Both books I strongly recommend.

Feta souffles
Serves 4
Ingredients
30g butter
30g plain flour
150ml milk
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
125g feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon of grated vegetarian Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Butter 4 ramekins.

Melt the butter in a small pan. Stir in the flour and cook over medium heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk. Return to low heat, whisking constantly until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks and cheese.

Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then gently fold them into the warm sauce. Spoon into the ramekins, sprinkle over the grated Parmesan cheese and bake in a bain marie in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen.

Sauteed Red onion and Jerusalem artichoke coins
Serves 4 as a side dish
Ingredients
4 small red onions
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of fennel seeds
400g Jerusalem artichoke, peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch coins
4 tablespoons of water
salt and pepper to taste

Peel the onions and cut them into quarters lengthways, leaving enough of the base to keep them connected. In a wide pan, warm the oil over medium heat and saute the onion quarters with the fennel seeds. After about 8 minutes, add the artichoke coins and continue cooking over high heat
until starting to brown.

Add 4 tablespoons of water and season. Bring it to a boil, put the lid on and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 25 minutes until the vegetables are tender, but not disintegrating. Do check after 15 minutes as you do not want the water from drying out. If this does happen add another tablespoon of water.

When the artichokes are tender remove the lid and add further seasoning if necessary. Serve.

Dip the artichoke pieces in the souffle.

Waterboy

Waterboy is a water feature in our garden. It is a bird bath to be more precise. D inherited waterboy from his parents when they moved to a smaller place with no garden upkeep.
We often find ourselves peering out of the upstairs window of our flat down at the garden, and can find either the magpies fighting for a wash or the smaller birds tentatively dipping in their beaks, and sometimes even cleaning their feathers.

More Romano Peppers - this time for a light lunch
Red onion and Romano pepper Soufflé gratin

Out of the oven - crispy top, light underneath.

Another adaptation from Vegetable Heaven. It is extremely light. Serve with small roasted potato chunks and a crisp light salad.

Red onion and Romano pepper Soufflé gratin

Serves 2 - 3

2 Romano peppers, de-veined and de-seeded cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium red onion, peel and sliced
2 cloves garlic pressed through garlic crusher or finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
4 medium eggs, separated
100g feta cheese
4 tbsp double cream
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp of spring onion, green part only
20g finely grated Parmesan cheese

I made this dish in a non-stick Teflan baking tin measuring 9 inches by 12 inches.

Preheat over to Gas mark 5.

In a frying pan, fry the pepper and onions in the olive oil until they begin to meltingly soften. This will take about 20 minutes. Add garlic to the frying pan and cook for a further five minutes without browning.

While the vegetables are cooking, in a food processor blend the egg yolks, feta cheese, cream, salt and pepper to a smooth paste. Stir in the spring onion. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold into the yolk mixture.

Put all the cooked vegetables into the baking tin, then pour the egg mixture around the vegetables. Grate some vegetarian parmesan cheese over the top and cook in oven, middle shelf for 15 minutes, then move to the top for another five minutes till lightly bronzed.