Winter Salads with a Touch of Spring

The weather is all over the place.  One minute it is sunny, the next it is freezing and it is difficult to know what to eat.  The odd glimpse of sunshine puts me the mood for something more Spring-like, like a lovely fresh salad after a winter of stodge. Not Summer salads quite yet but a more substantial Wintery Salad with a hint of Spring. Lots of really healthy but more filling ingredients such as Buckwheat Noodles, pulses or rice fill you up and the first of the seasons Spring vegetables add colour and flavour. 

I have not one but three Winter salads. I think all three are really interesting. he first can be eaten either hot or cold. Two of them use home-made crispy onions. These are really easy to make, really delicious and produce a lovely, delicately flavoured onion oil which can be used in salad dressings.  The last salad is the most amazing as it can be not only be eaten as a salad but just add hot water and you have a soup.

So, first of all, I am using Wheatberrys which are whole wheat kernals similar to Farro, another favourite of mine and are also super good for you, high in fibre and protein but low in fat. They have a delicious nutty flavour and a nice chewy texture. I have been perfecting this salad for some time and I think the combination of New Season's Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Chilli and Crispy Onions is a winner and is delicious hot or cold.

The next is Baby Spinach, Black Rice, Butter Bean, Broad Bean and Pomegranate Salad. This is a salad was probably the invention of Gail Stephens and I used to make everyday at Baker and Spice and I love it. I don't know why but it just works. Black Rice is super good for you too.

My final salad is one I invented for a Riverford Dinner and I was trying to think up new ways with Sweet Mama Squash. I went for a Japanese theme comprising Soba Buckwheat Noodles with a Miso Dressing and finished the whole dish off with lots of crunchy seeds to add texture. I was really happy with my creation but it was too rich and I felt it needed lots more vegetables to balance the dressing so I added some roast cauliflower but some asparagus, beans sprouts or French beans would have been delicious too.  What is so bizarre about this salad is that if you add hot water you have a really lovely soup.

I know this selection of rather peculiar salads may sound like a lot or rather random ingredients thrown together but I honestly do recommend you try all three.



Crispy Fried Onions
You can make up a big batch of these and use them in all sorts of delicious ways.  The onions will keep for a week or two in air tight Tupperware.
Thinly slice a few large onions. Place in a saucepan and add vegetable oil to about half way to the top of the onions. You don't want to use too much oil as the more intense the flavour the better. The onions will cook down a huge amount. Place on a medium heat and cook carefully until they have sunk below the surface of the oil. Turn up the heat and deep fry until golden brown. Be careful not to burn, stirring regularly, especially in the corners where the onions will cook most quickly. Drain immediately and break up any clumps. Scatter onto some kitchen paper and leave to crisp up. Season lightly with salt. When cool pour the oil into a bottle for further use.

Check out my Saffron Basmati Rice with Saffron, Roasted Cauliflower and Crispy Fried Onions recipe too.

Baby Spinach, Black Rice, Butter Bean, Broad Bean and Pomegranate Salad
Black Rice (Try Tilda)
Baby Spinach 
Broad Beans (I hate to say it but frozen are great and save you some time.)
Butter Beans, drained (tinned or cook your own)
Crispy Onions and Onion Oil (See above)
1 Pomegranate

Cook the rice according to the instructions.  Unlike white rice, it is quite hard to overcook. In fact, be more careful of under-cooking. It should be chewy, not tough. Remember, like with all rice, to salt the water. Drain well and allow to completely cool. Cook your broad beans and shell unless really sweet and small.  Cut the pomegranate in half and bang each half quite hard with a wooden spoon to release all the seeds. Remove any white pith.

Put your black rice in a large bowl with the broad beans, butter beans and pomegranate. Add some onion oil and season with sea salt and a little black pepper. The salt will bring the whole salad alive. Add some crispy fried onions and the baby spinach leaves.  Mix well and serve.

Wheatberries, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Crispy Fried Onions, Chilli and Garlic

Serves 2
100g Wheatberries (Try Merchant Gourmet) or you can use Freekeh, Farro, Bulgar or Barley
100g Purple Sprouting Broccoli
1 Fresh Red Chilli, very finely sliced
2 cloves Garlic, very finely sliced
Crispy Fried Onions and Onion Oil (see above)

Trim and cook your broccoli in plenty of salted boiling water. Remove and scatter the broccoli onto a tea towel to cool and drain. Add the Wheatberries to the same water and cook for 25 minutes or so until chewy and delicious.  Drain in a colander. Wipe out the saucepan and heat a little onion oil in it.  Add the chilli and garlic and cook until the garlic has turned a beautiful golden brown. Immediately add the drained Wheatberries to stop the garlic cooking further.  Add the broccoli and a handful of crispy fried onions.  Stir well, check seasoning and serve either hot or cold. 

Soba Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Roast Squash and Cauliflower, Mixed Seeds
Soba Buckwheat Noodles (Try Clearspring)
1/2 a Squash or a piece of Pumpkin (Sweet Mama, Butternut, Acorn etc)
1 Cauliflower
Sunflower Oil
Other vegetables you might like to use Asparagus, Beans Sprouts or French Beans
Seeds (Pumpkin, Sunflower, Sesame, Black Sesame etc)
Dressing
Sweet White Miso or slightly healthier Barley or Brown Rice Miso (Try Clearspring)
Sesame Oil
Soy Sauce
Large knob of Ginger, grated preferably on a Microplaner
Fresh Red Chilli, Very finely chopped
Fresh Lime Juice or Pon Zu

Peel and cut your Pumpkin or Squash into bite-size chunks. Toss with a little Sunflower oil and a little sea salt and roast in a medium hot oven until soft and beginning to caramelise.  Cut the Cauliflower into bite-size florets and do exactly the same as for the Pumpkin. Roast until nicely cooked and beginning to go golden brown. Cook the noodles according to instructions, in plenty of salted boiling water (about 7 minutes) until they no longer taste floury. Drain and refresh immediately in plenty of cold water. Drain well in a colander. Dress with a little sesame oil.  Cook any other vegetables that may need cooking.

Make a dressing with the grated ginger, the Chilli, some Miso, some Soy and the lime juice.  You will not need much as it is very rich. Get a nice balance of sweet (Miso), salty (Soy), spicy (the Chilli) and sour (lime). Mix the dressing through your noodles and vegetables.  Do not over dress or it can be sickly. Finish with plenty of seeds.

If you want to make soup then just add a little boiling water and check seasoning.

What's in a name?

I am sure you wouldn't remember but one of my favourite advertising campaigns ever, was when "Mr Dog" changed it's name to "Caesar".  Mr Dog was a dog food for "small dogs" and not a brand that I was familiar with, since I have never had a small dog. I don't even think many small dog owners were particularly familiar with the brand either, since they probably fed their dogs on dog food which was suitable for all dogs, regardless of size.  So to have an advertising campaign for a dog food, you had never heard of, changing it's name, just seemed bizarre.  Why bother?  Was this the brain child of some top advertising company?   Did they think that re-naming a dog food "Caesar" was somehow going to catapult this product from obscurity into the best-selling dog food list? And after the initial "Why?" which sprang to mind every time they ran this advert, came an even more strong sentiment of "So what? Who cares? So what if Mr Dog is now called Caesar?". 

So when I tell you that, as you may or probably more likely may not have noticed, that my blog has changed name, as a result of a complete crisis at sometime around 3.00am in the middle of the night a few day ago, when I decided somewhat over-dramatically, as one does at that time of night, that Urban Ethnic cooking could not go on any more,  I do expect you to exclaim - who cares?  Well I do!  Urban ethnic cooking was just a bit pretentious and long winded for me and I am much happier now to be witting under a somewhat less profound and ostentatious identity.  And, so why Checky's Kitchen? - well, my nickname is Checky and I spend most of my life in the kitchen!   

So, without no more to-do, this weeks blog.... I  have been making a lot of Samosas recently.  They are just perfect as a snack and I thought they might even be nice to serve up for friends on bomb fire night.  I have made them with sweet potato, pumpkin and butternut squash but I do think that the recipe below works best.  I have to admit that I have been using ready made pastry which you can buy from all good Asian shops.  You will find it in the freezer and it may well be called Spring Roll Pastry, which is the same thing.  It comes in all sorts of sizes.  I usually buy the largest unless I am making canapés.  They are a good time saver to making your own pastry but not as good as the real thing so I will be giving the pastry a go next week and I will let you know how I get on.    

Finally another favourite snack at the moment, Crispy Roast Chickpeas.  You can have lot of fun with flavours and I much prefer them to the savoury flavoured pop-corn trend. Chickpeas are used in so many world cuisines I am actually finding it hard to find a country that doesn't eat them, although not everybody calls them the same thing.  Half the world knows them as Garbanzo Beans.  I can just hear it - "Chickpeas have changed their name to Garbanzo Beans". No, I won't start that again.

Vegetable Samosas

I have been giving a lot of thought to good fats recently and I am always questioning what is the best fat to use when cooking? It is a bit of a minefield out there of information at the moment. When I was growing up they told us butter was bad and margarine was best. Now there has been a complete reversal of opinion apart from, rather worryingly, the NHS.

This time it was a tossup between butter and coconut oil. Olive oil, my usual oil of choice, was not appropriate for samosas and I am very anti-vegetable oil. Health wise, butter and coconut oil are both in a similar boat. Once considered bad boys for their high content of saturated fat, (coconut oil has a much higher ration of saturated fat to butter) opinion seems to have changed. It is now considered that it is more important that they are low in omega 6, compared to vegetable oils which are very high. Our bodies need Omega 6 and Omega 3 but in equal ratios. Unfortunately, we are consuming far too much Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3 and vegetable oil is the main culprit. I now try and use primarily olive oil (high in omega 3), then butter (grass fed cows are also a good source of Omega 3) and finally coconut oil which contains no Omega 3, but neither does it contain Omega 6 and it can withstand high heats and adds a great flavour. Just use them in small amounts!

Taking all this into consideration, I decided to use Coconut oil for flavour BUT to bake my samosas instead of frying, to dramatically reduce the amount of oil I was using.

Finally, a note on frozen peas. I know I shouldn’t be telling all you seasonal veg enthusiasts, striving to eat fresh and local produce but to me, a samosa needs peas, even in the winter. But you can add any vegetables you like.

Vegetable Samosas

If cooking for the kids, omit the chilli. To avoid any bad fats, you might want to make your own pastry.
Coconut oil
400 g Maris Piper (or similar floury) potatoes
250 g cauliflower
125 g frozen peas
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
Large knob of fresh ginger
1 fresh green chilli
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
½ a lemon, juice from
Bunch of fresh coriander
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel and chop the potatoes into rough 1cm chunks. Break the cauliflower into similar sized florets as the potato. Add the potatoes to a large pan of salted water and bring to the boil. When nearly cooked, about 8 minutes, add the, adding the cauliflower and after a further 3 minutes add the peas. Bring back to the boil and cook for a final minute, then drain.

Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic and grate finely. Scrape the skin off the the ginger and finely grate. Deseed and finely chop the chilli. Heat some coconut oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, and add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes or so until translucent and pale. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and the spices and a teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Cook for a minute or two more and add the drained vegetables. Squeeze in the lemon juice and season to taste. Stir in the chopped coriander. Taste again. Add more spices or chilli to taste.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Lightly grease a large baking tray with oil.

Lay out the filo pastry and cut it in half lengthways. Take your first sheet and brush with some melted coconut oil. Spoon in the filling right down one end and fold over in triangular turns until you reach the other end. (Please see youtube link.) Finally brush with a little more coconut oil and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake in the oven for around 25-30 minutes, or until golden and piping hot through. Serve straightaway if possible.



Crispy Roasted Chickpeas

I'm really love these with all sorts of seasoning but anything with chilli lends itself particually well.  Check out Seasoned Pioneers for some of their spice mixes such as Cajun or Creole Spice Blend , Thai Seasoning Blend, Fahita Seasoning or Baharat or Ras-el-Hanout.  

One 15-ounce can chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Spice blend of your choice

Preheat oven to 180C.
Drain the can of chickpeas in a strainer and rinse with water for a few seconds to clean. Shake the strainer to rid of excess water. Lay paper towl on a baking sheet, and spread the chickpeas over. Use another paper towel to gently press and absorb the excess water. Roll around with the paper towel to also remove the thin skin where possible.
Drizzle the olive oil over the beans and coat. Roast for 30-40 minutes until the chickpeas are a deep golden brown and crunchy. Make sure that they do not burn.
Season with salt and spice blend whilst still warm.

An Indian Affair

I know I have been a bit Indian obsessed at the moment.  Maybe it was due to our unexpected little Indian Summer which was such a welcome surprise after a lousy, cold rainy summer.  I really did loose it though and suggested cooking an Indian themed feast for 70 in a local church hall.  It was for Riverford Organic and when they listed the produce that was most seasonal and was best right now to show - butternut squash, sweet potatoes, red peppers, aubergines, cauliflowers, cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers - it just seemed fitting that this hint of coming autumn, would like a bit of warming spice. 

Anyway, due to a woefully ill-equipped church hall kitchen, not everything on the menu went entirely according to plan.  There were highs, possibly the Aloo Gobi and definitely the cardamom spiced rice pudding with ginger pears; and there were lows.  The onion bhaji and mixed vegetable pakoras which had been such a success in my trial runs were a positive disaster.  The huge vat of oil that I had erected on the stove, refused point plank to ever rise in temperature above a dismally 130 degrees.  For a crispy and light result I was aiming for around 200 degrees but it was not to be.  However, lets put that in the past and concentrate on the highs. 

The rice pudding is a combination of a classic recipe by the wonderful Simon Hopkinson and a recipe for Kheer, which is an Indian version of the same dish but spiced with cardamom and saffron and served with chopped almonds or pistachios.  It conjured up such a homely, warm and comforting image.  I made a batch and I couldn't wait to serve it to my kids.  I imaged physically and mentally nourishing them; so wrapped in love and soothed that nothing in the outside world could possible ever hurt them again.  They hated it!  My daughter literally spat it out.  My son tried to pretend he liked it just because he could see the total disappointment on my face.  But I could see he was lying.  Never mind.  I thought it was delicious. The image of soggy onion bhajis dissolved into a distant past, so I ate the whole damn lot.  Had I not have, it would have been equally delicious cold, the next day.

Aloo Gobi

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1-2 small green chilli, chopped
Fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Fresh garlic, very finely chopped
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
2 teaspoon salt or to taste
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into even small bite size pieces
1 large cauliflower, broken or cut into large bite size florets
1 bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and cook until they become creamy, golden, and translucent. Add the mustard seeds, cumin,  turmeric and salt. Continue to fry for a minute or two more but do not burn. Add chopped chillis (according to taste). Add ginger and garlic; mix thoroughly. Cook a few minutes more. Add potatoes plus a few tablespoons of water and stir well to ensure that they are coated with the curry sauce. Cover and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.  Keep checking and stirring every now and then so that it does not catch and burn.  Add a little more water each time if necessary. When the potatoes are about half cooked, add the cauliflower, stir well and cover again.  Leave for a further 10 minutes of so until the potatoes and cauliflower are cooked.  Stir in the cardamom and coriander and adjust seasoning.  Try not to stir to much at this stage so as to keep the texture.  Allow to sit for a while to allow flavours to infuse.

Saffron and Cardamom Rice pudding

I have to admit that I really don’t like the skin that is formed when baking, which is probably Simon Hopkinson’s favourite bit, but it is not mine, so I have adapted this recipe to cook on the stove instead. This is delicious served cold.40g/1½oz butter

100g/3½fl oz pudding rice (or Spanish paella rice)
75g/2½oz caster sugar
1 litre/1¾ pints full-fat milk
150ml/5fl oz double cream
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract or ½ vanilla pod, split lengthways
Pinch of Saffron
2 teaspoons of ground green cardamom
Large handful of chopped Pistachios

Melt the butter in a heavy-based casserole dish over a medium heat. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Continue stirring until the rice swells and becomes sticky with sugar. Pour in the milk and keep stirring until no lumps remain. Add the cream and vanilla, salt, cardamom and saffron. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Once this is reached turn the heat right down and simmer gently until the mixture is reduced to about half. Turn off the heat. As the mixture cools it will become thicker in texture. Serve with pistachios sprinkled on top. Serve warm or chilled.

Some Indian influenced Jewels

I have two quite special recipes this week, as they are ones I have been perfecting over a few months and I think they are both fairly unique.  The first is Roast Chicken which is first smothered with lime pickle.  The chicken and lime works really well together and with the Indian spices it is amazingly delicious.  You can make the lime pickle yourself or else buy some but make sure it is a good quality one.  The Indian spices are also fantastic with the accompanying roast vegetables.  I think it is just such a great use of a store cupboard staple.

You can also try substituting the lime pickle for Harissa to make "Harissa Chicken".  Again, you can make your own Harissa (recipe below) or Belazu make a particularly good one with real Rose Petals.  With both these recipes, I don't marinade the chicken for long.  This way, it is not too spicy for the kids, but I make a really kicking gravy for the adults, so every one is happy.  If, however, you do not have kids to feed, you could try marinating the chicken overnight, before roasting. 

Next a recipe for Saffron Rice with Roast Cauliflower and Crispy Fried Onions.  This is a sort of mix-up of lots of different things.  The Saffron Rice is originally a Persian or Iranian dish and served hot but I wanted to make more of a salad. I have added some green lentils and toasted cauliflower and it is delicious served at room temperature and a great accompaniment to the chicken.  The crispy onions on top are so easy and can be used in many different recipes.  Whilst making them, you get a delicious onion flavoured oil, which is great for seasoning not only this recipe but lots of different salads.  If your onions go soggy you can just crisp them up again in the oven but make sure you do not burn them!

Roast Chicken with Lime Pickle

Take you chicken out of the fridge a while before you roast it to allow it to come up to room temperature.  Only buy Free Range Chicken, if you can afford it.  It really is worth the extra money!  Remove any trussing.  Smother the chicken in Lime Pickle and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Turn up side down (breast side down) and place on a roasting tray in a hot oven at 180°C.  Roast for 20 minutes before turning the right way up and returning to the oven for a further 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown.  Check to see if the chicken is cooked regularly after 45 minutes total cooking time.  Insert a skewer into the thickest bit of the leg, closest to the breast, and the juices should run clear.  When cooked, remove the chicken to a plate large enough to catch the juices and cover with tin foil.  Place the roasting tray on the hob over a medium flame.  Add a good glug of white wine and scrape up all the gunky bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Add a good few tablespoons of Lime Pickle and taste for seasoning.  The gravy should have a punchy kick.  Add any further juices escaped from the chicken and serve. (The cooking times are for a fairly large, family sized chicken.  Adjust the cooking times accordingly.)

Harissa can be used to substitute the lime pickle on the chicken in exactly the same way and then also stirred into the gravy.  I will give you a fantastic recipe for "Roast Winter Vegetable Cous Cous" very soon, which is delicious with this version of the Chicken.   

Harissa Sauce

Put some roughly chopped red onion and some peeled cloves of garlic in an oven proof dish. Sprinkle generously with cumin and olive oil, salt and pepper. Cover and roast in a medium oven until soft. Char-grill some red peppers and whole red chillis until blackened all over. Place in a bowl covered with cling film and leave to cool. Remove the skin and seeds. Whiz up all ingredients in a food processor with some olive oil, a preserved lemon or two and a bunch of coriander, until smooth.

Saffron Basmati Rice with Saffron, Roasted Cauliflower and Crispy Fried Onions

Crispy Fried Onions

Thinly slice a few large onions. Place in a saucepan and add vegetable oil to about half way to the top of the onions.  You don't want to use too much oil as the more intense the flavour the better.  The onions will cook down a huge amount.  Place on a medium heat and cook carefully until they have sunk below the surface of the oil.  Turn up the heat and deep fry until golden brown. Be careful not to burn, stirring regularly, especially in the corners where the onions will cook most quickly. Drain immediately and break up any clumps.  Scatter onto some kitchen paper and leave to crisp up. Season lightly with salt. When cool pour the oil into a bottle for further use.

Meanwhile cook some basmati rice with salt and a generous pinch of saffron. Again, don't use too much water as you don't want to dilute the saffron too much. The rice should be a beautiful, deep orange colour.  When cooked, drain and refresh in cold water.  This is a salad and it is important that the rice is fluffy and separated.  Allow to drain again for at least an hour, if not more. Cook some Green Lentils very gently in plenty of water for about 15-20 minutes until tender.  You want them to still have a little bite and texture.  Drain for at least half and hour.  Next roast your cauliflower. Cut it into even size florets and make sure it is completely dry by patting it in between paper towels. Toss the florets with a good glug of olive oil, some salt, some freshly ground black pepper, a few teaspoons of cumin and some hot chilli powder or cayenne. Mix well and lay out in a single layer in a roasting pan. Roast in the middle of the oven at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes, then give them a good toss to ensure even cooking.  Roast for 10 minutes more or until the edges are brown and crunchy.  In a bowl mix the rice with some of the onion oil, plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Immediately you will taste the great combination of saffron and subtle onion flavours. You can add some finely chopped coriander if you like.  Add the lentils and cauliflower and check for seasoning. Pile onto a serving plate and heap crispy onions on top.

Really Lovely Roast Vegetables to serve with your Chicken

Choose from Carrots, Parsnip, Fennel, Celeriac, Swede, Butternut Squash and Pumpkin.

Cut up your vegetables into large chunky, bite size pieces.  Carrots, Fennel and Parsnips should be cut into even sized wedges, lengthways through the root. Toss with good olive oil, salt and pepper and lay out on roasting trays.  Each vegetable should be on a separate tray with plenty of room between each piece, to allow even cooking.  Roast until golden in a hot oven at 180 -200°C.  Only mix together when cooked.  Add chopped herbs if you like.