Saffron gives a beautiful colour and a rich, aromatic flavour to this simple winter salad.
Carrot, Cabbage and Saffron Salad
Ingredients
0.5g saffron (on whole little packet)
50 ml rapeseed oil
1 medium cabbage, coarsely shredded
500g carrots, peeled and coarsely shredded
1 red onion, coarsely shredded
50 ml cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1½ teaspoons salt
black pepper to taste
Preparation
Combine the saffron and oil in a mortar and pestle, and leave to soak for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the cabbage, carrots and red onion in a bowl.
When the saffron has soaked for 15 minutes use the pestle to crush the saffron into the oil, to release its flavour. Tip the saffron-y oil into a small bowl and whisk in the vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.
Pour the dressing over the vegetables and, using your hands, vigorously scrunch and squeeze everything together to mix.
Place a plate over the top of the salad and weigh it down a bit by putting a couple of tins, or some kitchen weights, on top. The goal is to press the salad together to encourage the flavours to blend.
Leave it for at least an hour, and then serve.
(Recipe courtesy of Ulrika Andersson.)
‘Ribbons of silky pasta merge marvellously with soft, salty leeks’, writes the Guardian—and so they do.
Pappardelle with Leeks
Serves 2.
Ingredients
3 large leeks
100g butter
10 sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper
250g pappardelle, or other ribbon-shaped pasta
100g gruyère, sliced thin
Preparation
Cut the leeks in half lengthways and then in half the other way. Wash them thoroughly under cold running water.
Melt the butter in a pan and then add the leeks. Let them stew slowly until they are soft and tender.
While they are stewing, remove the leaves from the thyme and add the leaves to the leeks. Season lightly.
Cook the pappardelle in generously salted, boiling water until al dente. Drain, leaving a bit of water to cling to the pasta, and add to the leek pan. Toss the pasta with the buttery leeks.
Scatter the gruyère slices on top, letting them melt in the warmth of the butter and leeks, and serve.
Recipe adapted from Nigel Slater.
Did you know that carrot cake originated in Sweden? At least that’s what Swedes say. The ground cardamom certainly gives a Nordic flavour. This is nice for breakfast.
This recipe is based, very loosely, on cake that is apparently served at Stockholm’s Rosendals Trädgård (http://www.rosendalstradgard.se/in-english/), a botanical garden promoting biodynamic gardening and sustainability.
Ingredients
I apologise for the peculiar mixture of mililiters, grams and the like. I’m currently without access to a kitchen scale.
For the Cake
300 ml plain flour—I used spelt
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
250 ml rapeseed oil, or other neutral vegetable oil
250 ml sugar—I used an equal mix of dark muscovado and white
3 eggs
zest of one orange
3 large carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
300 ml chopped walnuts and raisins—any proportion. A mixture of different types of raisin (ordinary, sultana, golden) is nice.
For the Icing
150g cream cheese
50 ml sugar—use vanilla sugar if you have any
½ teaspoon vanilla essence if you’re not using vanilla sugar
zest of half a lemon
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200C or 180C fan-assisted. Grease a 20cm round cake tin.
Combine the dry ingredients (flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder and salt) in a bowl and mix well.
Whisk the oil sugar together in a large mixing bowl, for about 5 minutes. Obviously, use an electric mixer if you have one.
One at a time, add the eggs, whisking well after each addition. Add the orange rind and whisk for another 5 minutes.
Gently fold in the grated carrot, and then fold in the dry ingredients, also gently.
Stir in the nuts and raisins.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 35-45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in its tin for 10 minutes then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, make the icing by beating together the ingredients until smooth. Once the cake is completely cool, you may ice it on the top.
Celeriac rémoulade, shredded celery-root salad, is a familiar sight in French delis, alongside shredded carrot salad. It’s very easy to make and surprisingly elegant. The fresh, wood-sy taste of the celeriac provides a good contrast to richer flavours, so this goes particularly well with pork, and also lentils.
The only trick is to make sure you use a good mayonnaise. If you have a stick (immersion) blender, then it couldn’t be easier to make some yourself.
Celeriac remoulade
Serves 2-3 as a side dish.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons good mayonnaise
1 tablespoon good mustard. I like to use a grainy variety
3 tablespoons double cream, crème fraîche, or wholemilk yoghurt
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 medium celeriac (about 450g)
juice of half a lemon—and perhaps the other half as well
1-2 tablespoons capers, optional
1-2 tablespoons gherkins, chopped, optional
salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, cream or yoghurt, and parsley.
Peel the celeriac, either with a knife or a robust vegetable peeler. Shred it into shreds. The size is up to you—aim for anything between a matchstick and the coarse side of a standard box grater. Toss them with the lemon juice so that they don’t discolour.
Toss with the mayonnaise dressing. Add the capers and/or gherkins, if you wish, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Check to see if you think it would benefit from a bit more lemon juice, or a bit more mustard.
It’s better if you leave it for about 30 minutes, but it’s pretty good just as it is.
Recipe adapted from Nigel Slater.
Warm herb-coated salmon in a winter salad of potatoes, beetroots and sharp greens, with hard-cooked eggs. The fish is cooked in a way that makes it extra-moist.
The recipe has a lot of separate steps but it’s very easy and you can prepare almost everything in advance. The result is delicious and beautiful, so it’s a fine choice if you’re entertaining. The only thing you need to do after your guests arrive is put the fish in the oven 30 minutes before you’d like to eat.
Serve with lots of good bread and a bottle of white wine for a luxurious weekend lunch. When I made it last week we had poached pears for pudding, which rounded things off nicely.
Wild Salmon Salad with Beetroot, Potato, Egg and Mustard Vinaigrette
Serves 4.
A US cup measure is 8 fluid ounces.
Ingredients
For the Salad
500g beetroots, more or less
6 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, zest grated first
500g potatoes, more or less
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
3 extra-large eggs
½ cup shallots, minced
2 tablespoons dill, minced
1 tablespoon tarragon, minced
¼ cup parsley, minced
1kg salmon fillet in one piece. The recipe calls for wild salmon and if you can find that it is indeed tasty.
200g salad leaves, or more if you like a very leafy salad. Rocket and other sharp-tasting greens are best. In the summer you can use dandelion.
For the Dijon Vinaigrette
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¾ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200C.
For the vinaigrette
Whisk the egg yolk in a small bowl with the mustard, vinegar and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste. You might not use it all; the extra can be kept in the fridge for at least a week.
For the beetroot
Toss the beetroot with 2 tablespoons of oil and some salt and pepper. Place in a roasting tin with a splash of water, cover with foil, and roast until tender then poked with a fork. How long this takes will depend on the size of your beetroot. Small ones will cook in about 30 minutes; very large ones could take over an hour. When they’re done, let them cool, and then peel them, and cut into bite-sized chunks. Season with 1 tablespoon of oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some salt and pepper.
For the potatoes
While the beets are roasting, prepare the potatoes: cut the potatoes into 3cm chunks (approximately), or leave whole if they are tiny. Toss in a roasting tin with one tablespoon oil, the thyme, and some more salt and pepper. Cover with foil and roast for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Leave to cool and then mix them with some salt and 2 tablespoons of the Dijon mustard vinaigrette.
For the eggs
Bring a small pan of water to the boil and carefully lower the eggs into it. Turn the heat to low and simmer for exactly 9 minutes. Remove the eggs and plunge them into cold water to prevent their cooking any further. When they are cool, cut them in half. Season them with a little salt and pepper.
For the salmon
Mix the lemon zest with the shallots, herbs and 2 tablespoons of oil in a small bowl.
Put the fish skin-side down on an oven-proof rack set over a baking tray or roasting tin. Pat a little of the herb mixture onto the non-skin side of the fish, turn over, and pat the remainder onto the skin side. Season with salt and pepper. You can now leave the fish in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it. Just take it out an hour before you’d like to eat, so that it comes to room temperature.
When you are ready to cook the fish: Preheat the oven to 120C and boil a kettle of water. Pour the water into a shallow pan in the bottom of the oven, to create a humid environment in your oven. This will make the fish moist and custard-like. Put the fish, on its rack and tray, into the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. It’s done when it starts to separate into flakes. The centre should be slightly translucent. Try not to overcook it.
To assemble the salad
Scatter the salad leaves over a large serving platter and drizzle with ¼ cup of vinaigrette. Nestle the beetroot and potatoes amongst the greens. Arrange the eggs on top. You can do all this in advance, so that all remains to be done is add the warm salmon.
Once the salmon is cooked, use your hands to pull the warm salmon into chunks over the salad. Drizzle with another ¼ cup of vinaigrette, season with a squeeze of lemon juice, and serve. The additional vinaigrette can be served at the table in case anyone wants more.
Recipe adapted from Susanne Goin, Sunday Suppers at Luques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table (2005).
An Ottolenghi take on the Brussels sprout: the sprouts are roasted and then mixed with citrus and a sticky, anise-flavoured syrup. The result is totally unexpected and very delicious.
Pomelo is a large citrus fruit that looks like an outsized grapefruit. It sometimes comes shrink-wrapped into its own little mesh bag; you can usually get them at Richard Clarke’s greengrocer on Warwick Street, in Leamington, and at most supermarkets. If you can’t find one, though, you can use two grapefruits. Just reduce the lemon juice a little, as grapefruits are sourer than pomelos.
Yotam points out that you can add the leftover syrup to a fruit salad.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomelo and Star Anise
Serves 4.
Ingredients
100g caster sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
5 star anise
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pomelo
600g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
250g shallots, peeled
5 tablespoons olive oil
10g coriander leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
Place the sugar, cinnamon and star anise in a small saucepan with 100ml of water. Bring to a light simmer and cook for one minute, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add ONE TABLESPOON of lemon juice. Set aside to cool.
Peel the pomelo and divide it into segments. Release the flesh from the surrounding membrane around each segment and then break into bite-sized pieces. Make sure you remove all the bitter white pith. Place the pieces in a bowl and when the syrup has cooled a little, pour it over the pieces of pomelo. Let it marinate for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 220C.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the sprouts and shallots and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and run some cold water over them to stop them cooking any further. Pat them dry.
Cut each sprout in half, lengthwise, and halve or quarter the shallots so that they are the same size as the sprouts.
Place the sprouts and shallots on a baking tray with 3 TABLESPOONS of olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and some black pepper. Toss them to mix, spread them out into a single layer and then roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the sprouts are golden brown but still retain some bite. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, pick the coriander leaves off their stems, but don’t chop them up.
Remove the star anise and cinnamon sticks from the syrup, and then strain out the pomelo. DON’T DISCARD THE SYRUP.
When you’re ready to serve, put the shallots, sprouts, pomelo and coriander leaves into a serving bowl. Mix in the remaining olive oil, the remaining lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the syrup. Mix and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add more syrup if you like. Then serve.
(Recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi, Plenty More (2014).)
Another recipe from Meera Sodha’s prize-winning Fresh India. The coconut milk gives a deep, creamy richness to the dish. This makes a good dinner with rice.
Pumpkin, Black-Eyed Bean and Coconut Curry (‘Olan’)
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the curry
1.2kg pumpkin or squash
coconut or rapeseed oil, to drizzle and fry
1 tablespoon garam masala
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 green finger chillies, slit lengthways
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 400g tin of black-eyed beans, drained, or about 2 cups of beans you’ve cooked yourself
150g fresh tomatoes, cut into wedges, or 1 400g tin of tomatoes
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 400ml tin of coconut milk
For the curry leaf tarka
10 curry leaves
Preparation
Heat the oven to 200C.
Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out and discard the seeds, then cut it into crescents around 2cm at the widest part. Transfer to a big bowl, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with the garam masala, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Toss to coat evenly, then arrange in a single layer. Roast for 30 minutes, or until soft and tender.
Meanwhile, put 2 tablespoons of oil into a large lidded frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the chillies and onion. Cook for 12 minutes, until the onion is soft and golden, then add the garlic. Cook for another couple of minutes, then add the beans and stir to mix together. Add the tomatoes. If you are using tinned tomatoes (not Meera Sodha’s recommendation but that was all I had to hand and it was still delicious)—if you’re using tinned tomatoes add about ¾ of the tin first; you might not need the entire tin. Cook for 5 minutes until soft and jammy around the edges. Add a bit more tinned tomato if you think the sauce can absorb a bit more and cook for a few more minutes.
Next, add the turmeric, ⅓ teaspoon of black pepper, ½ teaspoon of salt and the coconut milk. Tip the roasted pumpkin into the pan and stir to mix. Cover with the lid and leave to heat through for 5 minutes. Check for salt and chilli, adjusting if you wish, then transfer to a serving dish.
If you like, finish off the dish with a curry-leaf tarka: put 2 tablespoons of oil into a small frying pan over a medium to high heat. When hot, throw in the curry leaves and let them crackle and turn translucent in the oil. Pour over the pumpkin, then serve.
(Recipe adapted from Meera Sodha, Fresh India.)
Here is a fine recipe from a classic US cookery book first published in 1931. As The Joy of Cooking explains, one of the authors ‘was always disappointed by Brussels sprouts—until he tried these’.
Brussels Sprouts Cockaigne
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
12 Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons butter, of a mixture of butter and olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
Parmesan cheese (optional)
Preparation
Trim and rinse the sprouts, pat them dry and slice each one in half.
Warm the butter (or butter and oil) in a medium skillet that has a lid, over medium-low heat.
Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown a little. Remove the garlic and discard.
Place the sprouts cut side down in the garlic butter. Cover the pan and cook over low heat until tender, for about 15-20 minutes. Serve drizzled with any remaining butter and, if you like, garnished with grated Parmesan cheese.
(Recipe adapted from Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker, The Joy of Cooking (1997).)
I’d heard of ‘Jansson’s Temptation’—the traditional Swedish Christmas dish of potatoes, onions and fish baked in cream—but I’d not tasted it until today. It’s so good! So here is a recipe. The trick is getting the right sort of fish. What you really want is something like Grebbestad’s Anchovy-Style Sprats Fillets, which you can apparently acquire at Ocado. I think you could also use matjes herring, but don’t use anchovies, which are a different kettle of fish altogether.
This dish doesn’t sound like much, but it’s famous in Sweden for a reason. I recommend it enormously.
Janssons Frestelse (Jansson’s Temptation)
Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
400g onions
2-3 tablespoons butter
1.2kg potatoes
375g of ‘Swedish anchovies’ (aka sprat filets), drained
salt and pepper
600ml whipping cream
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Preparation
Heat the oven to 250C.
Peel the onions and slice into thin slices. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and add the onions. Sauté them gently until they are soft but not brown, which will take 15-20 minutes. Season them with some salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into thick matchsticks.
Butter an ovenproof baking dish. Spread a third of the potatoes evenly over the bottom. Spread half the onions over them, and then lay half the sprat filets on top of the onions. Repeat with another layer of potatoes, onions and sprats, and then finish with a final layer of potatoes.
Season with more salt and pepper. Pour the cream over the assemblage. It should nearly cover the potatoes. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs over the top and bake for about an hour.
Serve with salad, if you’d like to balance out the richness of the cream, or with smoked salmon and aquavit if you’re feeling festive.
This week’s recipe comes from share member, Judit Juhasz, with lovely warming spices as a delicious addition to a winter staple – ideal for anyone who has an abundance of winter roots! Thanks for sharing it Judit!
Roasted beetroot and apple in balsamic vinegar
This recipe is inspired by Jamie Oliver, but I’ve changed it around a bit to my liking. It is also very versatile because instead of apples you could use other root veg like celeriac or parsnips and carrots. You can also change the amount of the beetroot and apples if you want to make less or more.
Ingredients
400 g beetroot
400 g apples (on the sour side, it complements the sweetness of the beetroot)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
25 g butter
300 ml balsamic vinegar
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4. I make this in my cast iron pan as it makes it easier to transfer to the oven straight away, but you can sauté the veg in a pan and than transfer it into an oven dish to roast it in the oven.
Peel the beetroot and cut it into wedge sized chunks, roughly the same size as your apple wedges. I use the whole apple, as I like it rustic and the peel also protects it from the heat, but you can peel and core the apples if you’d like. Cut the apples into wedges.
Melt the butter in the pan and sauté the beetroot and the apples for 5 minutes. Add the spices and the salt, mixed it well and sauté for another 5 minutes until apples start to become soft.
Pour over the balsamic vinegar, toss the veg in it and transfer it to the oven or to an oven dish to roast. Roast it in the oven until the vinegar becomes a thick sauce, the apples are mushy and the beetroot is soft. You can test the beetroot with a fork or knife for softness.
It’s a perfect side dish to accompany your roast next to some spuds and with the spices it is also quite Christmassy. Enjoy!