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mushroom and barley ‘risotto’

May 20, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian

I love to use dried porcini mushrooms with fresh mushrooms when making this barley ‘risotto’. Or any mushroom risotto in fact. The flavour adds such depth, and the water that re-hydrates the mushrooms makes a lovely intense stock.

This is one of the recipes I developed for Nomu for their May recipe mailer, and its perfect Winter comfort food.

I have used a selection of mixed exotic mushrooms to make up the fresh component of the dish. I love the meaty texture of shiitake, and adore the look of enoki. Use any mushrooms that you like, although I find white button mushrooms the least suitable for risotto. They are the dullest of all the mushroom varieties. They work brilliantly when pickled, but opt for brown, oyster or if you are lucky enough to have access to a few wild varieties, all the better.

I have used barley here because I love the nutty taste, but you can make a traditional risotto rice, just reduce the cooking time.

Dont be afraid to add butter, Mascarpone or cream at the end. It makes this more indulgent and creamy. I also add a lot of freshly grated Parmesan or pecorino.

Recipe | serves 2

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black mushrooms stuffed with goats cheese butter and dill

May 6, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian, very easy - 5 ingredients or less

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Tags: black mushrooms, butter, dill, goats cheese

I couldn’t resist these mushrooms when I saw them a the Hope Street market recently. The gills were dry and perfectly separated, indicating utter freshness.

I had dill and goats cheese (obviously) – so thought to make a sort of goats cheese butter with them. It needs a bit of fat.

While baking, the mushrooms generate a lovely sauce which is basically pure umami.

These would be fabulous as a side dish served with steak. Slapped between a toasted bun they would make a sensational vegetarian burger. Or just eat them straight up and on their own, making sure you have some bread to soak up the juices.

It really is this simple.

Recipe for 2 stuffed black mushrooms (serving 1 or 2 depending how greedy you are)

on Drizzle and Dip

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pear and pickled butternut salad with goats cheese and honey pumpkin seeds

April 22, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian

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Tags: goats cheese, pear, pickled butternut, salad

I was given a box of beautiful Abate Fetel pears from Tru-Cape recently along with a card with this intriguing recipe. I had never tasted nor considered pickling butternut before so immediately wanted to give it a go.

Lately I’ve been getting into more complex salad recipes with multiple ingredients, and I liked a lot of what was going on with this one. The pears were at their perfect ripeness, but still firm and very succulent.

I also happened to have all the ingredients to make this salad apart from the goats cheese feta in the recipe. I substituted this with goats cheese, which if you have been around here before you will know I love.

I’m not generally a fan of fruit in salads, but when they are paired with salty cheese and other contrasting flavour elements, they seem to work. My pear, blue cheese and walnut salad with a maple vinaigrette remains one of the most popular recipes on this site for some strange reason. Either people love pears in salad, or its a classic combination that never goes out of fashion.

So here is the recipe I tried out. * I may have made a bit more dressing and used more pumpkin seeds

Recipe: on Drizzle and Dip

I arrange everything separately because I am a food stylist and this is how we roll.

Two highlights of this salad were the pickled butternut which tastes so different to cooked butternut, but has the raw edge taken off, and the honey pumpkin seeds. These add a fabulous sweet and salty textural element to the dish and something I would make and use in other salads.

I didn’t like the red onion, I found it aggressive for this salad and would leave it out in the future, but this is a personal reference thing.

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red wine caramelised onions & goats cheese tartlets

April 12, 2013 in baking, vegetarian

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Tags: goats cheese, onion tartlet, red wine

I was inspired to make these onion tartlets after seeing a fabulous recipe on What Katie Ate (one of my favourite food blogs). I wanted to add red wine to the onions as I had done with my onion marmalade recipe in my book. The liquid cooks off and the flavour stays behind adding so much depth.

The sweet onions, earthy thyme and the goats cheese on crispy flaky pastry are an all round winning combination. These tarts are so versatile and perfect to serve on their own as a starter.

When using puff pastry, I have found that its best to pre-bake it for 10 minutes before. I find that if you add a filling (especially one with a lot of liquid), the middle part of the tart doesn’t crisp up as it should. It stays dense and a little soggy. So I score the rim, bake it, and then press the inner bit which also puffs up in the initial bake down and then add the filling. It works a bit like a vol-au-vent.

I like to use Woolworths all butter puff pastry sheets. Each pack has two 23cm x 23cm square sheets.

This is the final recipe in my short series where onions are the hero of the dish.

Recipe | makes 8 medium tartlets |

on Drizzle and Dip

Tip* This recipe could also make one larger tart, or be made into smaller canape sizes for a party

To see my other onion recipes – take a look at these links:

Crispy oven roasted onion rings with a jalapeno dip

Creamed onion gratin with blue cheese

A cheats pissaladiere with baguette

Easy roasted onions with thyme

A friend of mine posted a delicious sounding recipe on her blog this week for an onion tart tatin which just sounds so tasty. Check out Tandy’s recipe here.

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I can also be found enthusiastically pinning beautiful food images on Pinterest.

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crispy oven roasted onion rings with a jalepeno dip

April 10, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian

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Half the reason I made these onion rings was because I love eating crispy warm food with a cold flavour-packed dip, so any excuse. Its a texture party in your mouth, and quite frankly up there amongst my favourite naughty snacks.

The other reason I made these was because I have had them on the back of my mind and on my recipe to-do pile since I first saw them on the exquisite blog - Not Without Salt quite some time ago. You can see the original recipe here.

I landed up using 3 onions as I like the larger outer rings better for this vs. the smaller inner one. These crispy oven roasted onion rings have no grease and are equally as delicious as their fried relatives. Dare I say even better. I loved how the panko crumbs make them even more crunchy, and for me crunch is everything. The Not Without Salt recipe uses crushed potato crisps which I think is very clever.

They do need a little dip, so I whipped up one with spicy jalapeno dip which went really well with them.

Recipe:

on Drizzle and Dip

Mix all of the above together and dip away. This can also be made in advance.

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Visit my Drizzle and Dip Facebook page to get updates of all my posts.

I can also be found enthusiastically pinning beautiful food images on Pinterest.

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creamed onion gratin with blue cheese

April 8, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian

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Tags: bake, blue cheese, creamy, onion gratin

This was a recipe I fell in love with the moment I saw it on Pinterest. A quick read through and I knew it would be completely delicious.

I love how onions become so soft, gooey and sweet when roasted, and in this recipe the Gorgonzola (or blue cheese) adds a tasty salty dimension. The white sauce makes it unctuous and indulgent, and I cant wait to make it again.

This is my third recipe in my ‘onion series’ and I must warn you that this is not for the health conscious or calorie conservative. Its perfect to serve as a side dish to a roast, or simply smear it onto crusty bread.

The initial roasting time might seem long but I have learned with onions that the longer they cook the better they are. Its how they break down and become caramelised and delicious. I have used milk instead of cream, with all the oil and cheese in the recipe I felt it was decadent enough, but decide for yourself, or use half cream and half milk.

Recipe – on Drizzle and Dip

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Visit my Drizzle and Dip Facebook page to get updates of all my posts.

I can also be found enthusiastically pinning beautiful food images on Pinterest.

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easy roasted onions with thyme

April 2, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian, very easy - 5 ingredients or less

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Tags: roasted red onions

The inspiration behind this recipe came from, as is often the case with me, when I have a glut of a particular vegetable or ingredient after a shoot.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that I love to do fairly fuss free recipes and I adore vegetables. They are so inexpensive and nourishing, if you cook them in new and interesting ways they can take centre stage on your table and have so much potential. You only have to read Ottolenghi’s ‘Plenty’ to know what I mean.

A while ago I tested the most amazing onion gratin, and last week I made a fabulous cheats ‘pissaladiere’. So born out of those and these roasted onions, here is the start of a short series of recipes where onion is at the forefront of the dish.

Recipe on Drizzle and Dip

I love roasted onions anyway you do them and here are a few ideas to serve these with:

as an accompaniment to any roast (beef, chicken or pork)
peeled and stirred through pasta with loads of grated Parmesan
as a cheese course with goats cheese which goes so well with onions
added to your macaroni and cheese or any other appropriate pasta dish with sauce
scattered over a salad
added to a sandwich, pita or wrap
served at a braai / BBQ

How do you like your onions?

I look forward to connecting with you again in the future.

Visit my Drizzle and Dip Facebook page to get updates of all my posts.

I can also be found enthusiastically pinning beautiful food images on Pinterest.

by drizzleanddip

dukkah baked pears with goats cheese and honey

March 18, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian, very easy - 5 ingredients or less

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Tags: baked, dukkah, goats cheese, honey, pears

With this recipe I simply combine a few of my favourite things and pile them onto a cracker. I also like the cracker because as a textural eater, it provides me with the necessary crunch.

Buried deep in the archives of this blog, I posted a recipe for baked pear wedges coated in dukkah which I enjoyed at a friends party years ago. Since I’m rather partial to a good pear, I decided to bring this idea back and combine these fabulous flavours with goats cheese, which is another thing I’m very partial too.

Oh and don’t get me started on dukkah. I love the stuff.

The pear is a tricky fruit and I often agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said: ‘There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat’. The window of delicious-eating opportunity is small, but if a pear is not perfect it is indeed improved when baked.

This is what you do:

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These baked pears are a perfect addition to a cheese board and lovely with honey drizzled over them.

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Visit my Drizzle and Dip Facebook page to get updates of all my posts.

I can also be found enthusiastically pinning beautiful food images on Pinterest.

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lemon and rocket risotto

March 4, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian

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Tags: lemon, risotto, rocket

One of my favourite dishes of last year was my lemony spinach carbonara. Packed with flavour, it makes a perfect vegetarian supper.

I adore the flavour of lemon with pasta so decided to knock up this quick risotto. I used rocket because I had two packets on hand that needed to be used up urgently, but spinach would work just as well.

The pepperyness of the rocket somehow mellows as it wilts into this dish so I could have used a bit more.

I don’t have much else to say about this delicious meal other than it needs a fair bit of grated Parmesan which gives it a lovely oozy cheesy texture. It also needs a fabulous glass of chilled white wine on the side.

I loved it with the Glen Carlou unwooded Chardonnay which is such a superb food wine. A few local wine gurus raved about it here and here.

Recipe | serves 2 | 25 minutes

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a panzanella caprese salad for summer

February 25, 2013 in recipes, vegetarian

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Tags: caprese, mozzarella, panzanella, red onion, salad

Trying to choose a name for this salad I did some online research in an attempt to discover what a ‘classic’ Panzanella salad consists of. Some included mozzarella, some not. Some had cucumber and some had olives. I don’t have complete clarity on the issue, but with all things in cooking, just trust your instincts and just make what you like.

My version is a chopped up Caprese salad mixed up with golden chunks of fried bread and finely sliced red onion and its utterly delicious.

This sort of salad is my ultimate kind of lunch. I could probably eat it every day never get bored. The flavours are bold and marry so perfectly together. Its summer on a plate and party in your mouth.

There are a few things I do that I think make a difference to the success of such a salad:

1. I always ripen my tomatoes out of the fridge. I sometimes put them in the sun or a sunny spot in my kitchen and I don’t mind one bit if they start to wrinkle. This tells me that they are at their peak in terms of ripening, and it is only at this point that I may put them in my fridge to stop this process and preserve them a little longer. The result is a very juicy and sweeter tomato that is perfect for this salad.

2. I love to use a good artisan loaf of bread. My preference would be sourdough or in this case a sourdough rye. I want the bread for this salad to have some bite and texture to it. A pre-sliced and processed loaf would be completely out the question. I like to cut the bread rind off and only use the inner part.

3. The dressing is so simple and only consists of two ingredients, so I choose a really good quality red wine vinegar and the best extra virgin olive oil I can find in my cupboard.

3. I love the crunchy taste of a natural sea salt flakes and this is a crucial element to the dish. Don’t be shy with it.

4. As for mozzarella, do I need to even mention that a proper fior di latte is the only way forward here. Soft and silky, it balances out the sharpness of the tomatoes and onions.

5. Garlic. I do love it but there are times when I simply don’t feel like its intense presence or having garlic breath. I think 1/4 or 1/2 a clove would be wonderful in this salad, but on this occasion I left it out.

I don’t have accurate measurements for this salad, just make however much you want.

for the salad:

Recipe on Drizzle and Dip

look forward to connecting with you again

Visit my Drizzle and Dip Facebook page to get updates of all my posts.

I can also be found enthusiastically pinning beautiful food images on Pinterest.