Garlic | Canalside Community Food - Part 2

This is really nice served with a green salad and some salted yoghurt on the side. Roasting the potatoes first before adding the spicy coating means you can get the potatoes nicely crisp without the spices burning.

Sami Tamimi’s Spicy Roasted Potatoes
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1.5kg potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 3cm cubes
3 tablespoons olive oil plus 60ml more olive oil, separated
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 green chile peppers, halved, deseeded and thinly sliced crosswise
8 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons cumin seeds, crushed lightly in a mortar and pestle
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 lemon, zested and then cut into wedges
big handful (about 4 tablespoons) of fresh coriander, finely chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 250C.

In a large bowl toss potatoes with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the salt. Spread on baking sheets in a single layer. Put in oven and roast for about 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into a test potato meets just a little resistance.

Meanwhile, using the same bowl, mix together the remaining 60ml of olive oil, chile, garlic and spices.

When the potatoes are almost tender, as described, use a fish slice to transfer them to the bowl. Don’t turn off the oven! Gently toss the potatoes with the other ingredients, until well combined. Tip them back onto the baking sheets and spread them again into a single layer.

Return them to the oven and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the skewer meets no resistance. Cool for about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the lemon zest and coriander over the potatoes and serve with lemon wedges.

Recipe adapted from Milk Street (2021).

In Memoriam: Jonathan Nicholls

This week’s recipe is in memory of Jonathan Nichols, a friend and Leamington resident who sadly and suddenly died this past week. He served for a number of years as Registrar at first Warwick University, and then at Cambridge. This recipe, for Registrar’s Spanish Chicken and Chorizo Shepherd’s Pie, comes from a different Warwick Registrar (Ken Sloan), but through its name it can perhaps also celebrate Jonathan, and his enthusiasm for good food and a nice glass of wine.

Registrar’s Spanish Chicken and Chorizo Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Sunflower oil
2 Onions, diced
100 grams Leeks, thinly sliced
3 cloves Garlic, crushed
50 grams Chorizo, chopped
1 teaspoon Paprika
5 sprigs of Thyme
500 grams Tomato Passata
1 tablespoon Tomato Purée
250 millilitres Chicken Stock
100 millilitres Spanish Red Wine (optional)
500 grams chopped Chicken Breast
800 grams Sweet Potatoes, diced
1 ounce Butter
Salt and Pepper
30 grams Jalapenos
2 Red Peppers, diced
75 grams Ewe’s Cheese, grated

Mixed Salad

Method

Heat oven to 180C.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the onions and the leeks for 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic and chorizo and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the paprika, thyme, tomato passata, tomato purée, chicken stock and the optional red wine, and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken, cover, and cook over a low heat for at least an hour until the sauce has reduced.

Meanwhile, boil a pan of hot water. Add salt and sweet potato chunks, and return to the boil. When the sweet potato has softened drain it, add butter, salt and pepper, and then mash. Leave to one side.

Once the sauce in the chicken mixture has reduced, remove the thyme stem, and then put the mixture into an oven-proof dish. Stir in jalapenos and peppers. Spread the mashed sweet potato over the top. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the sweet potato.

Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, then remove foil and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with mixed salad.

Ken Sloan’s recipe appears in Simple Scoff The Anniversary Edition, ed. Rebecca Earle (2015).

Some of you may have seen that Russian chef Alissa Timoshkina has teamed up with Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules to raise money for Ukraine. I thought this week I would repeat this recipe for their excellent borscht.

Borscht

Serves 4

Ingredients

unrefined sunflower oil, for frying and roasting
1 large onion, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
6 raw beetroots
2 red peppers
2 tablespoons tomato purée
2 litres cold water
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
4 garlic cloves, peeled
bunch of dill
small bunch of flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves, grated
500g red cabbage sauerkraut
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 red onion
1 tablespoon brown sugar
400g can red kidney beans
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
4 tablespoons soured cream
salt

Preparation

Heat up a tablespoon of sunflower oil in a large pan and fry the onion and carrot for about 8 minutes until golden. Meanwhile, peel and grate 2 of the beetroots and core, deseed and thinly slice 1 red pepper. Add the vegetables to the pan together with the tomato purée and a splash of water. Season with salt to taste and fry for a further 5–8 minutes.

Top with the measured cold water, add the bay leaves along with the peppercorns and all the seeds, whole garlic cloves and half the bunches of dill and parsley. Season with a tablespoon of salt and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, add the grated garlic and half the sauerkraut with its brine and simmer, covered, over a low heat for 40 minutes–1 hour.

Turn off the heat and let the borsch rest for another hour, while you prepare the rest of the elements.

So far, so good, but here is where the recipe starts to deviate from the norm quite a lot: to prepare the vegetables that will grace the plate and also add extra flavour and texture to the soup, you will need to do a bit of roasting.

Start by preheating the oven to 160°C fan/Gas Mark 4. Peel the remaining 4 beetroots, cut into wedges and dress with oil, salt and the pomegranate molasses. Peel the red onion, cut into wedges and season with salt and the brown sugar to bring out their sweetness and promote caramelization. Place on a roasting tray with the beetroot and roast together for 30 minutes. Drain the kidney beans, then dress them with salt, oil and the smoked paprika. Core and deseed the remaining red pepper, then cut into thin strips and dress with salt and oil. Roast the beans and pepper together, as they will need only 10–15 minutes.

When ready to serve, strain the broth through a sieve or a muslin cloth, discarding the solids. All we need is that rich broth! Reheat again if necessary. Next, create layers of texture and flavour in each bowl by adding a heaped tablespoon of the remaining sauerkraut to each, as well as a handful of roasted beetroot, onion, kidney beans and red pepper. Top each bowl with the hot broth and add a dollop of soured cream and a generous sprinkle of the remaining dill and parsley, chopped. The intensity of the flavours and textures of this dish is beyond words, while the look of the bowl will seduce the eye without a doubt.

Recipe from Alissa Timoshkina, Salt & Time: Recipes from a Russian Kitchen (2019).

This is based very loosely on a classic Turkish dish called çilbir, which consists of soft poached eggs topped with garlicky yoghurt and a butter sauce spiced with Aleppo pepper. I’ve also had the same pair of toppings on pasta. Here the garlic yoghurt and spicy butter are combined with fresh greens and served on a base of lemony rice with chickpeas. Having two sauces gives this quick and easy dish a luxurious feel.

Vaguely Turkish Greens, Serves 2

Ingredients

about 200ml full-fat yoghurt
1 clove of garlic, mashed to a paste with ½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (I used the ‘sweet’ variety). If you have some Aleppo pepper (pul biber), use that instead.
450g spinach, chard, or other greens
about 1 cup of cooked brown rice
¾ of a tin of chickpeas (the tins that combine black and ordinary chickpeas look particularly nice)
1 tablespoon olive oil
zest and juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper

Method

In a small bowl, combine the yoghurt and crushed garlic. Taste it: it should be salty and garlicky. Add a bit more salt if you like and set aside.

Put the butter and the smoked paprika in a small pan or microwave-safe jug and warm gently until the butter is melted. Set aside.

Wash the greens and put them in a large pan. Steam or boil until they are tender—about 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the cooked rice, chickpeas and olive oil and warm the whole thing in a microwave or on the stove. Once it’s warm add the lemon zest and juice, and season to taste.

Drain the greens, and use a wooden spoon to press out as much water as you can. I also use a pair of kitchen scissors to snip the cooked greens into smaller units as they sit in the colander, but you don’t need to do this.

Now assemble the dish: divide the chickpea rice into two bowls. Top each with half the cooked, drained greens. Dollop half the garlic yoghurt on top of each. It looks nice if you make several discrete dollops, rather than just pouring it over the top—that way you can see the greens underneath. Now drizzle the melted paprika butter over the yoghurt, making a red criss-cross across the white yoghurt and green greens. Top with a final grind of black pepper and enjoy. A glass of white wine is a pleasant accompaniment.

The honey helps make the carrots glazed and sticky, as well as sweet. The sharp tahini-yoghurt sauce contrasts well with this.

Honey Roasted Carrots with Tahini Yoghurt
Serves 2-4 alongside other dishes

Ingredients
for the roast carrots
1.3kg carrots
60g runny honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted in a dry pan and lightly crushed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan and lightly crushed
7g whole thyme sprigs
1 teaspoon salt
several grinds of black pepper
1½ tablespoons coriander leaves, roughly chopped (to garnish)
for the tahini-yoghurt sauce
1 garlic clove
pinch of salt
40g tahini
130g thick yoghurt (Greek or kerned is ideal but whole-milk plain yoghurt will work too)
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preparation
Prepare the carrots: Heat your oven to 200C. Peel the carrots. If they’re thick cut them into smaller batons of about 2cm by 6cm. Put them in a large bowl with all the other carrot ingredients aside from the coriander leaves. Mix them well and then spread them in a single layer on one or more baking trays. Put them in the oven and roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring a few times, until they are soft and glazed. Remove them from the oven.

Prepare the tahini-yoghurt sauce: While the carrots are cooking prepare the tahini-yoghurt sauce: crush the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle. Transfer the salt-garlic mix to a small bowl and whisk in the other ingredients. Taste and see if you would like more salt or lemon juice.

To serve: spread the carrots on an attractive platter, and top with a few spoonfuls of the sauce and the coriander leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature with the remaining sauce on the side.

Recipe adapted from Guardian, 12 April 2013.

Here is another winter soup recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Ginger and cayenne give a bit of a kick, while the parsnip provides a mellow, sustaining backdrop. Serve with some good bread.

Parsnip and Ginger Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
15g butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4–5cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
500g parsnips, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
800ml vegetable stock
200ml whole milk
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (to garnish)
2–3 tablespoons flaked almonds or pumpkin seeds (to garnish)
1–2 tablespoons double cream or thick, plain (full-fat) yoghurt (to garnish)

Preparation
Heat the olive oil and butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, until soft and translucent.

Add the garlic, ginger, cardamom, cumin and cayenne and stir for a couple of minutes. Tip in the parsnips and stir until well coated in the spices. Pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper and simmer until the parsnips are very soft – about 15 minutes.

Allow the soup to cool slightly, then purée in a food processor or blender, or using a stick blender, until smooth. Return the soup to the pan, add the milk and adjust the seasoning. Warm through gently – if the soup is a bit thick, thin it with some hot water from the kettle.

While the soup is warming, toast the almonds or pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan until just beginning to turn golden.

Serve the soup in warmed bowls with a trickle of cream or yoghurt and the toasted almonds scattered over the top. Finish with a grinding of black pepper.

Recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage Veg Every Day! (2011).

This is a version of a Lebanese sauce called toum. Toum is essentially a eggless mayonnaise, in which the garlic magically emulsifies the oil to produce a thick, creamy sauce that is good on everything from roasted squash to chicken shawarma. You can also use it as a dip—or make a post-Christmas sandwich by spreading toum on some toast, and toping with avocado and leftover sliced turkey.
Traditional toum uses raw garlic; for this one you simmer the garlic in milk, which gives a mellower, more complex flavour.

Toum
serves 4
Just reminding you: 1 cup is 8 fluid ounces measured in a measuring jug, so half a cup is 4 fluid ounces…

Ingredients
½ cup peeled garlic cloves
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ cup olive oil
pepper, to taste.

Preparation
Put the garlic cloves and milk in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, over low heat. Simmer over very low heat (you could use a heat diffuser if you have one) for between 40 and 90 minutes, or until the garlic is very tender and has absorbed much of the milk. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a bit.

Put the cooled garlic and milk in a blender along with the lemon juice and salt, and whizz it up.

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, in a steady stream, until the sauce is thickened and looks for all the world like mayonnaise. Season to taste with additional salt, and perhaps some pepper if you wish. Drizzle over anything.

Recipe adapted from Ana Sortun and Maura Kilpatrick, Soframiz: Vibrant Middle Eastern Recipes from Sofra Bakery & Café (2016).

This is a flavoursome dish that plays to the potato’s strength as a vehicle for strong flavours. Here your Canalside spuds combine with the richness of coconut milk and the sharp, sour tang of tamarind to deliver a punchy, satisfying dose of carbohydrates. Cashews and crispy onions contribute additional crunch. A sprinkling of green coriander over the top looks lovely and adds an additional freshness.
It is particularly good combined with the south Indian beetroot and coconut dip whose recipe I will provide in my next instalment.

Potatoes with Tamarind, Coconut and Cashews
Serves 4-6 as part of a larger spread.

Ingredients
1kg potatoes
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
10 fresh or frozen curry leaves
300g shallots, peeled and sliced fine—or you can use onion, really
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 green chiles, finely chopped (take out the seeds if you prefer, and also adjust the quantity to taste)
100g cashew nuts
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons tamarind paste
200ml coconut milk
a handful of coriander leaves, chopped, to garnish (optional)

Preparation
Put the potatoes in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over low heat and cook gently until they are tender. How long this takes will depend on the size of the potatoes, so this process can last between 20 and 45 minutes. When the potatoes are tender drain them and set them aside. Once they are cook enough to handle cut them into bite-sized pieces. You can do this well in advance if you wish.

Combine the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves in a little dish. Combine the garlic, ginger, chiles and cashews in another dish. You’re now all set to add each tranche of ingredients without having to fuss around with lots of separate items.

Put the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When it is hot add the mustard, cumin and curry leaves. Once the seeds start to sizzle add the shallots and cook, stirring, for about eight minutes, or until the shallots starts to brown.

Add the garlic, ginger, chiles and cashews to the pan. Cook, stirring regularly, for another two minutes. Now add the drained potatoes in a single layer and sprinkle with salt. Turn the heat to high and fry for about five minutes, stirring once, until the potatoes are turning an appetising brown. Don’t stir them constantly, or they won’t brown.

Finally, add the tamarind paste and the coconut milk. Leave to cook, stirring regularly, until the coconut milk has mostly evaporated and turned into a sticky glaze. Serve hot, cold or at room temperature. It looks nice garnished with some chopped fresh coriander.

Recipe adapted from Meera Sodha, The Guardian, 12 June 2021.

This Ottolenghi-esque hummus is rich, smoky from star anise, and much lighter than your usual chickpea-only hummus. It is a good use of one of those rather large pumpkins, which can be a bit watery. The cinnamon combines well with the tahini, and enhances pumpkin’s (or squash’s) natural sweetness. If you like things even sweeter, you could drizzle this with a little maple syrup before serving. Eat on toast for a tasty and nourishing snack, or as part of a larger spread.

As regards the star anise, I actually used a fabulous home-made chile oil seasoned with star anise (made by my son!) which added both a kick and the crucial star anise flavour. I think roasting the pumpkin or squash with some ground star anise should be equally effective. Let me know how it works.

Pumpkin (or Squash) Hummus
serves 4 as part of a larger spread

Ingredients
500g pumpkin or squash, peeled (if you wish) and sliced (approximately 2cm thick)
1½ tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 star anise, pulverised (as much as possible) in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder
salt and pepper
1 400g tin of chickpeas, drained BUT reserve the liquid.
2 tablespoons full-fat yoghurt (Greek or ordinary)
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of one lemon (about 2½ tablespoons)
½-1 teaspoon Sriracha or chile oil (start with the smaller quantity and add more to taste)
2 garlic cloves, peeled

Preparation
Preheat your oven to 200C.

Place the pumpkin or squash in a roasting tray and toss with the olive oil, cinnamon, star anise, and some salt and pepper. Spread it out on the roasting tray in one layer and roast for about 25 minutes, or until it is tender when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool a few minutes.

Reserve one slice of pumpkin or squash and a handful of chickpeas for a garnish. Cut the reserved pumpkin or squash into bite-sized cubes and set aside.

Place the rest of the pumpkin or squash, chickpeas, yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice, Sriracha or chile oil, and garlic in a food processor and blend for several minutes, until smooth. If it seems too thick for your taste, add a bit of the reserved chickpea liquid.

Taste to see if you’d like more salt, pepper, lemon juice or heat, and adjust accordingly.

Transfer to an attractive blue serving bowl and garnish with the reserved chickpeas and pumpkin or squash and serve with toasted pitta or bread.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten, Cooking for Jeffrey (2016).

My lovely sister in law Sue served this when we visited her this weekend, along with couscous and labneh (thickened yoghurt). It’s fresh, light and vibrant with the green chermoula, a flavoursome blend of fresh coriander, cumin, smoked paprika and lemon.

The recipe makes more chermoula than you’ll need for the recipe, but it’s very tasty and can be used on other vegetables; try it on boiled potatoes, or roasted carrots. It would probably also be delicious on a little escalope of grilled pork.

Courgettes, Sweetcorn and Green Chermoula
Serves 2-3 as a main

Ingredients
4 courgettes, topped and tailed
salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 ears of sweetcorn, outer leaves and ‘silk’ removed
squeeze of lemon juice
for the chermoula
10g garlic
15g red fresh chiles
1 preserved lemon
200g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
150ml rapeseed oil
10g ground cumin
4g smoked paprika
about 15ml lemon juice
salt to taste

Preparation
Slice the courgettes lengthwise and sprinkle with salt. Leave them 30 minutes in a colander to draw out the moisture. This will make the final dish more crunchy and fresh tasting.

While the courgettes are salting, make the chermoula: combine together the garlic, chile and preserved lemon in a blender or other blending device. Once it’s reduced to a paste add the coriander, oil and spices, and blend until smooth. Season to taste with the lemon juice and salt, and set aside.

When the courgettes have had their thirty minutes, brush off the salt and drizzle 1 tablespoon of the oil over the courgettes and sweetcorn.

Heat a griddle plan on high heat. When it’s hot grill the whole ears of corn, turning them regularly, until they are slightly charred on all sides. Remove and set aside.

Place as many courgettes as will fit without crowding in the pan, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until slightly charred on the bottom. Flip over, and cook for 2 minutes on the other side, or until cooked through but retaining some bite. Remove and set aside, and cook the other courgettes, if necessary.

Shave off the kernels off the now-slightly-cooled sweetcorn: hold each cob upright and use a sharp knife to slice down its length to remove the individual kernels. Place the kernels in a mixing bowl. Chop the courgettes into 2cm chunks and add them to the bowl. Toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive and a squeeze of lemon juice.

To serve, place some of the sauce on the bottom of a serving plate and top with the courgettes and grilled corn.

Recipe adapted from the Observer Food Monthly, 25 July 2021.