Ottolenghi Recipe Sharing

[diablita]

that's lovely!

[caribougrrl]

He's a chef.

'bou and I both made this one to great reviews.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Black-Pepper-Tofu-365129

It was quite a process. Chopping 8 peppers, and 12 shallots, and crushing 12 garlic cloves, and chopping 3tbs of ginger, and griding 5 tbs of peppercorns-- phew! that's alotta prep work!

Next time I'd toss the ginger and garlic in the food processor. Then pulse in the peppers and shallots. Everything cooked down, so I don't think you really gained anything by sticking to precise knifework in this case.

It's scary-- but it all comes out nice & balanced! Yum!

I'd like to mix in some sichuna peppercorns to the mix next time. They have kind of a "numbing" heat.

I confess to making good use of my mandolin for the peppers and shallots!

[teetime]

We've had plenty for a couple years and so far the biggest hit has been the cover recipe (eggplant with pomegranate seeds). We've had some misses too. And sometimes I think he's effing with me with the esoteric instructions.

[caribougrrl]

We've had plenty for a couple years and so far the biggest hit has been the cover recipe (eggplant with pomegranate seeds). We've had some misses too. And sometimes I think he's effing with me with the esoteric instructions.

I have a suspicion we might be having that for dinner tonight!  There's buttermilk from recent butter making and we have eggplant... there's an email from my GF asking me to pick up a pomegranate on the way home...

of course, there are a million other possibilities too.

[Run Amok]

We've had plenty for a couple years and so far the biggest hit has been the cover recipe (eggplant with pomegranate seeds). We've had some misses too. And sometimes I think he's effing with me with the esoteric instructions.

Yes, I have noticed his recipes don't seem well tested. Or he writes them assuming you have a prep kitchen, or something.

[srsly]

Yes, I have noticed his recipes don't seem well tested. Or he writes them assuming you have a prep kitchen, or something.

This is what I am finding out while making my first Ottolenghi dish tonight. I made his Eggplant with Black Garlic (though I used roasted garlic instead of black garlic). The instructions wrote to preheat the oven to 475 F to roast the eggplant for 30 mins. I had a hint that this was too hot and could scorch my eggplant slices so I heated the oven to 450F. Well halfway through the roasting, they started to look very dark already. So I took the temp a bit lower and completed the roasting for less than 15 mins to keep the eggplants from burning. It came out delicious. But if I weren't vigilant with the oven temp, I think we would have ordered a pizza for dinner tonight instead. Here's the recipe anyway:

Eggplant with Black Garlic
3 medium eggplants sliced in ⅔ inch thick (about 2 lbs) (I used 5 small baby eggplants about 3" in diam x 7 in long each)
scant 1 cup olive oil
8 large cloves black garlic (I used roasted)
1 cup greek yogurt
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice (I used more)
7 large cloves garlic thinly sliced
3 red chilies cut on the diagonal into slices ⅛ inch thick
⅓ cup fresh dill leaves
2 ½ tbsp fresh basil leaves (I used more)
2 ½ tbs fresh tarragon leaves
salt and black pepper

Recipe instructions:
Preheat the oven to 475f
Place the eggplant in a large bowl with ¼ cup of the olive oil, ½ tsp salt, and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well and spread out on a 2 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Roast in the oven for about 30 mins until golden brown and completely soft. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Place the black garlic cloves in the bowl of a small food processor with scant ½ tsp salt, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp of the yogurt, and the lemon juice. Blitz for 1 minute to form a rough paste and then transfer to a bowl. Stir in the remaining yogurt and keep in the fridge until needed.

Heat the remaining scant ½ cup olive oil in a small saucepan over high heat. Add the garlic and the chilie slices, turn down the heat to medium, and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the garlic is golden brown and the chilie is crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic and chilie to a paper towel lined plate.

Arrange the eggplant slices, overlapping on a platter. Take a large slotted spoon, spoon out some yogurt sauce and holding it over the eggplant, bash the handle onto the palm of your free hand to seriously shake the spoon and cause the sauce to escape through the holes and onto the eggplant. Sprinkle the chile and garlic over the top and finish with the herbs.

What I did:
I spread out the eggplant slices on two cookie sheets, sprinkled sea salt and pepper on each side then drizzled the olive oil on top. because stirring large slices of eggplants in a bowl is too unwieldily. Turned them over, then repeated the process for the other side and the other cookie sheets. I then roasted them at 450F. But had to turn the temp down to 375F 15 mins into baking time. Then baked about 7 mins longer when they turned golden brown and crisp on the edges. They looked really nice and golden with crisp edges at this point. I resisted eating them before the rest of the meal was ready.

I processed the garlic and the other ingredients longer than 1 minute but the garlic pieces remained in large pieces, so then I added the rest of the yogurt and processed them longer to make the rough paste. Much better.

We had it with broiled skinless and boneless chicken thighs marinated in lemon juice and garlic. It was very good. Dh really appreciated that we had a low carb dinner tonight since his blood sugar had been elevated lately. I will definitely make this again as soon as I find black garlic. I think the yogurt sauce would taste a lot different than the one I made with roasted ones.

[caribougrrl]

made the cover recipe from Plenty: roasted eggplant with buttermilk sauce; subbed rosemary for thyme but otherwise pretty much followed the recipe exactly... very tasty, definitely a do-again recipe.

recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Eggplant-with-Buttermilk-Sauce-365110  EXCEPT it should read 200C (400F) for the oven temp

silly collage of the process:

[diablita]

lovely collage!!


I'm planning to make shakshuka this week (and pita if I'm feeling ambitious) but may opt for something simpler than Ottolenghi's recipe

[Run Amok]

This sounds fantastic
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/spicy-chickpea-and-bulgur-soup-recipe.html

[Run Amok]

This looks good. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Onion-Salad-with-Arugula-and-Walnut-Salsa-51261680

I'm making the cauliflower cake & the soup I posted above this week. Will report back!

[diablita]

please do!

[Run Amok]

This sounds fantastic
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/spicy-chickpea-and-bulgur-soup-recipe.html

I made this for dinner last night and... it was a solid addition to the soup rotation.

Though, while I liked it, I'm not sure it'll be so memorable as to cause me to think--mmmm, remember that amazing chickpea/bulgur thing we had? let's do that again.

The feta/herb paste is tasty. But, adds to the price of the meal, requires an extra piece of equipment, etc. So, it makes it feel like a bit more of a production than I'd normally make for soup.

Worth making though!

[Run Amok]

Update: the two people I served the soup to both have told me a couple of times since that they really liked it. So, maybe it was just me that didn't think it was all that special.

[diablita]

It's good that your guests enjoyed it.  Sorry it didn't wow you.

[Run Amok]

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/10/cauliflower-cake-from-plenty-more.html



A more serious review than I left last night:

So, my policy with Ottolenghi recipes (and this is particular to him) is to make the recipe "as is" at least once. He doesn't seem to do things by accident. I'm glad I did. I never boil veggies. But, here, it gives the cauliflower a soft/subtle flavor/texture that really plays well with the rest of the recipe. It's easy to think you could sub out cauliflower for another veg. The cauliflower isn't the star of the show here. But, on the other hand, why NOT let cauliflower bask in the lime light a bit?

The onion technique was another thing I wasn't sure about. 10 minutes over medium heat with lots of oil-- start to brown. But not totally. Softish. But, it really worked!

And no garlic? hmmm. But, I didn't miss it.

I hunted down nigella seeds because I recipe I read made it seem like they were necessary. Meh. I don't think they added anything particularly earth shattering.

I made this in a pie plate, which worked just fine. I'm sure an 8x8 pan would be fine as well.

This was a great/easy weekday supper kind of meal. But would also be fun to serve to dinner guests (it's BEAUTIFUL! a bit different. features the humblest of vegetables, etc). It would also be a hit as a savory brunch item. Would travel well. Can be made a day ahead. I'm sure it freezes well. SO many things to love about this.

Seems kind of quiche like with its 7 eggs and lots of cheese, but really is more cake-like. A nice break from quiche, actually (which I love, but is everywhere).

As usual, lots of chopping involved. I wouldn't hesitate to put my food processor to excellent use on this one. Chop the onions. Then finely chop the parm. I think you could add in the eggs & herbs & pulse to combine. Then a few more pulses when the onion is added. A few more when you add the flower. Then fold in the cauliflower.

But, as is-- using a knife & grater, I was able to assemble the whole thing in under 30 minutes. (I started the cauliflower, then the onions, then prepped the batter, which was done pretty much right about the time the cauliflower was ready) Then a quick bake & some time to rest. Which I used to poor wine, clean up, and make a salad.

I think this one would be yummy with green onion, dill, & mint mixed in. Or with gruyere or sharp white cheddar instead of parm. Whatever you have on hand would work great!

[Natasha]

That looks interesting! I'll try it.

I made his shakshuka last week and thought it was too oily and sweet. But I've never had shakshuka before, so I don't know how it's supposed to taste.

[diablita]

That looks delicious!

[Run Amok]

Finally made this one tonight... and I'm torn:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/11/mejadra-from-jerusalem.html



It was delicious. Like, lick the bowl & gimme seconds, good.

But, it was also a lot of work with lots of finicky steps. None of which can really be cut out. I ended up using two pans, two sheet pans, and various measuring tools. It has nearly 15 ingredients! And, takes quite a long time.

So, that's the rub for me.

Mujadra is usually a simple affair. I like to carmelize the onions so it's not exactly quick, but neither is it slaving over the stove.

I would be delighted to eat this at someone's home. But, I'm not sure I'll go through the bother of making this overly complex version again.

Ok, that and, I don't really like allspice or cinnamon and their are copious amounts of both in here, and who coriander and cumin seeds. So, the whole time I'm going yyuuuuummm but, oh, I can taste the spice that i don't like... so do I like it? I'm not sure! But, yuummmm. (hard to explain I guess)

[caribougrrl]

Finally made this one tonight... and I'm torn

that is a LOT of allspice...

I have no problems using every pot and pan in the house for a dish (just ask my lovely GF!)... so I suspect given your bowl-licking good review, I might make this sooner than later...

[Run Amok]

And, a LOT of cinnamon. I'd say make it his way once and see if you like it, then adjust as needed. All of his recipes have something that makes me go  but usually it works out. In this case, maybe not.

Also, makes a TON. I halved the recipe and it still made 4+ servings.