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Entries in feta (8)

Tuesday
Mar302010

slow-roasted lamb with sassoun and roasted pumpkin salad

 

i can’t quite believe april is almost here. however, it does make (very clichéd) sense of the very strong cravings that i’ve been having for lamb.

i have a leg of lamb in the freezer which will make an appearance over easter but in the meantime i’ve returned to an old favourite – slow cooked neck of lamb. neck is a good value cut and if it is cooked long and slow it becomes meltingly tender.

i put the lamb, sliced onions and garlic into a foil parcel with rosemary, preserved lemon and a glug of white wine and then cooked it as noted here. this was served with roasted pumpkin and feta (pumpkin is tossed with olive oil, chilli flakes, salt & pepper before cooking, crumbled feta added for the final 10 mins of cooking) and sassoun.

i read about sassoun in a recent copy of cuisine and was instantly reminded of agresto, a zingy walnut-based paste  which i love. sassoun uses almonds in place of walnuts, and mixes them with anchovies, herbs, fennel and olive oil. it works wonderfully with lamb and i will definitely make this again but with one change from the original recipe – i’ll add some lemon zest, and possibly a bit of lemon juice, to lift the flavours so they are even more spring-like.

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Wednesday
Feb032010

cheesy pumpkin and thyme quesadillas

i made vast quantities of empanadas for our latino party. i used the smitten kitchen recipe for empanada pastry which was, as deb says, very easy to work with. it’s an interesting pastry as it contains vinegar, which i’ve not come across before, and which is slightly confusing as you smell hints of it when working with the pastry. it’s also a deliciously light and flaky pastry which would, i think, be good for lots of pasty recipes.

i made two fillings. one was deb’s chicken olive and chorizo mix, the other a cheese and pumpkin combination. both worked really well but, as my pumpkin was huge (a wonderfully textured and flavoured crown prince – if you find orange pumpkins bland and watery give this grey-green variety a try) i had lots leftover which we used to make quesadillas with.

this was my first foray into the world of quesadillas and i was surprised how easy it was and how filling they were – two each and both david and i were full. we also found the leftover chilli sweetcorn and courgette bake to be a good quesadilla filling. 

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Saturday
Jan302010

chilli sweetcorn and courgette bake

 

the mexican cooking technique of frying chillies in a dry pan so they soften and char, which i used to make a very wonderful smokey salsa, is also used in this dish which is based on a thomasina miers recipe for  roasted chilli sweetcorn.

i made this as part of the latin buffet we had last weekend and we ate leftovers as a filling for quesadillas which worked very well. you do need to be a fan of sweetcorn though as it flavour of the vegetables really shines through.

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Monday
Sep212009

courgette, chickpea and feta salad

as usual, september in london is proving to be so much warmer and sunnier than august. this weekend i’ve spent some very peaceful time out in the garden, removing most of the leaves from my tomato plants in the hope that this will speed up the ripening of the many green tomatoes that remain, as well as having a leisurely outdoor lunch of crab and cherry tomato linguine with one of my favourite friends. david and i also spent a lovely sunday wandering through regent’s park, along the canal and up to marine ices for ice creams.

this courgette and chickpea salad is definitely something for these final sunny days, with its courgette ribbons and basil crème fraiche dressing. it’s from my newest cookery book, salads by peter gordon of providores. there’s a good range of cold weather salads that i’m looking forward to trying but in the meantime, this is perfect for these later summer days.

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Friday
Sep182009

feta and herb muffins

i love the idea of having fresh muffins with my weekend early-morning cup of tea.

for once i organised myself sufficiently to do it. i used an old favourite as the base for the recipe but flavoured them with shallots, feta and herbs (sage, rosemary and oregano from the garden). i ate them straight from the oven, tearing them open to let them cool down a little before eating, with a cup of tea. perfect.