halloumi, fennel, asparagus and potato salad

as i mentioned recently, i’ve fallen in love with anna hansen’s lemon, fennel and halloumi bruschetta. the things which really makes this dish stand out for me are the layers aniseed flavours (fresh fennel and fennel seeds), the layers of caramelised flavours (the fennel and the strips of lemon zest both caramelise as they cook), the endlessly wonderful squeaky creaminess of the halloumi and the hit of citrus from the lemon.

so, when i saw hugh fearnley whittingstall’s recipe for potatoes, asparagus and halloumi which also uses lemon, i decided to combine the two, thinking that the potatoes could be used in place of the bruschetta bread. the result was fabulous, both eaten warm and as leftovers the following day.

to make this i cut my potatoes into bite size pieces, tossed them olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and then roasted them 180c for 10 minutes. while they were cooking i mixed together pieces of fennel (cut each bulb into 10 wedges), lemon zest (peel this off and then cut into matchsticks), lemon juice, fennel seeds and a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper. this was added to the potatoes after they’d been in the oven for ten minutes, mixed together and covered with foil. after 20 minutes roasting i added my asparagus and cubes of halloumi. another stir to mix the flavours and a final ten minutes in the oven uncovered.

i finished the dish with crispy capers (drain, dry and shallow fry in olive oil) and a squeeze of fresh lemon. i meant to add some parsley, as suggested in hfw’s recipe, but forgot and i don’t think it was missed at all.

braised ox cheeks with chermoula

back to slow-cooked comfort food. this braised ox cheek dish was inspired by a recipe in a beautiful cookery book which i was sent to review but which was pretty dreadful to use: chefs of the margaret river region suffers an index structure that is next to useless so you have to sift through everything page by page, as well as recipes that seem to be incomplete in a few cases, missing steps or ingredients.

however, it is a beautiful book and goes a great job of promoting the margaret river region of south western australia, showing off its natural beauty and beautiful coastal landscapes and detailing the boutique hotels, wineries, restaurants and other food producers that are located there.

if anyone fancies researching a holiday in the area, let me know and i’ll post you the book! otherwise, perhaps you’ll fancy taking inspiration from my rescued dish!

the ox cheek recipe in the book uses a fairly standard combination of slow cooking the cheeks in red wine with carrots, onions, celery, garlic plus thyme, rosemary, bay and peppercorns. after three hours the meat was tender and delicious but the sauce lacked flavour. i discarded the vegetables and decided that instead of the suggested accompaniment of wild mushrooms, cavolo nero and gnocchi that i would add a punch of flavour with fresh green olives and chermoula – a mix of parsley, coriander, garlic, chilli and a pinch of paprika - plus soem lemon zest. the gnocchi was replaced by the easier option of sauteed potatoes (par boiled and the  fried in olive oil to crisp up the edges). 

the end result was well worth eating but i’m still looking for a recipe for ox cheeks that will wow me. last time i revisited my childhood and made them into a cheek and kidney pie. any other ideas out there, for the remaining pack in my freezer?

cavolo nero and potato pizza

 

on friday i had lunch at medlar (just wonderful, they really deserve their new michelin star and the menu is such good value – go if you haven’t been!) and chose a vegetarian main course – gnocchi with cavolo nero, wet walnuts and reblochon.

it was absolutely delicious and the inspiration for yesterday’s pizza – cavolo nero pesto smeared on the dough, topped with cooked sliced pink fur apple potatoes, a sprinkling of chopped smoked garlic and finished with a generous portion of mozzarella.

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pink fir apple potato and mackerel salad

i’m not a big fan of potatoes but have recently discovered pink fir apple potatoes and fallen in love. the very wonderful curlew restaurant uses them and each time i’ve visited i’ve been excited to have them. at my recent visit to edinburgh’s gardener’s cottage they were served alongside venison and my favourite pumpkin – crown prince. and now, i have found that natoora are currently stock them (and so do ocado due to their tie up with natoora) so i’ve been experimenting at home and am looking forward to continuing to do so.

this was the first dish i made – the boiled potatoes were dressed, while still warm, with an olive oil, lemon and mustard vinaigrette before being mixed with peppered smoked mackerel and rocket. a dressing of crème fraiche, lemon zest and grainy mustard was the final touch.

pizzocheri

at some point last year i bought a pack of pizzocheri – a type of pasta made from buckwheat, shaped like tagliatelli. i think i’d seen reference to it a in recipe somewhere but of course i’ve never found that recipe and the packet has sat unopened in my cupboard for many months until this week, when i hit google looking for inspiration.

 actually, inspiration was quite limited – every recipe i found was a variation on the same theme, pizzocheri della valtellina – pizzoccheri, potatoes, cabbage, lots of cheese and lots of butter. the cheeses used varied, some of the dishes added to sage and. or garlic to the butter before allowing it to brown and there was  amix of dishes cooked solely in one pan, assembled in layers for serving, and others where the layered dish was baked.

i decided to bake mine, cooked the ingredients separately so nothing would be overcooked, used a mix of gruyere and taleggio, chose spinach instead of cabbage and used both garlic and butter, plus a bit of nutmeg.

the resulting dish is rich, creamy but with surprisingly delicate layers of flavour – the pizzocheri has a very distinctive buckwheat flavour which works well with the strong cheeses (the ones i chose both melt beautifully which i loved) and gentle potato flavours. i really liked the spinach in this – i don’t think cabbage would do such a good job at balancing out the richness. and the garlic, nutmeg and sage were just occasional notes in the background.

if you do fancy trying this, have a look at the recipes online – as i said there is a lot of consistency but also a  lot of variation, so you’re bound to find something you’ll like. if anyone has any suggestions for using the rest of the packet of pizzoccheri, in a different way, let me know!

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