Archive for the ‘Accompaniments’ Category.
Summertime means that Greek food should be tried on a regular basis. This version of garlic sauce is basically (very) garlicky mayonnaise with ground almonds added for body and texture. It makes a good dip, along with the usual suspects, for pitta bread. It is also supposed to work well as an accompaniment for fish and vegetables.
Planning
| serves: |
~ ½ pint
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| preparation time: |
10 mins
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| cooking time: |
n/a
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Ingredients
- Yolks of 2 v. large eggs
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tbs white wine vinegar
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- 8 fl oz olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- 3 ozs ground almonds
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Method
Put everything except the olive oil and ground almonds into a food processor and blend for 30 seconds. With the food processor running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. The sauce will thicken. If it seems too thick, slacken it off with a little water.
Transfer the sauce into a storage container or serving dish and stir in the ground almonds. It tastes quite lemony at this stage but read on. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving. The almonds will thicken the sauce/dip a little more and the lemony flavour will soften.
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There are various recipes flying around for so-called Red Onion Marmalade or Caramelized Onion. The thing that seems to vary most is the sweetness or otherwise of the recipes. This version was my smashing together of a couple of recipes for a tapas meal. It is slightly sweet and goes very well with chicken or duck livers, either whole or made into a paté.
Planning
| serves: |
lots |
| preparation time: |
10 mins |
| cooking time: |
45 mins |
Ingredients
- 1 tbs butter
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 2 large red onions, halved and finely sliced
- 150ml red wine
- 50ml sherry or balsamic vinegar
- ~8 tsp golden caster sugar
- Salt
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Method
Melt the butter and olive oil together in a heavy-based pan. Add the finely sliced onions and fry for minutes, stirring occasionally, to soften but not colour. Add the red wine, vinegar and a little salt. Set this mixture simmering gently until all the liquid has evaporated (it will take about 30 minutes).
While it is cooking, add the sugar a spoonful at a time to adjust the sweetness to your liking. As the evaporation progresses, watch the heat so that it doesn’t catch and burn.
Put the caramelized onion in a bowl and allow to cool.
This is a wonderful topping for live ras part of a tapas meal but it also works with some cheeses and cold meats.
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One triggered by Paul and Liz’s trip to New Zealand in 2009. It made such an impression that Paul had to write about it so there’s clearly a need to make a note of it. The idea is to dip bread in olive oil, then into this Dukkah mixture.
This version comes from Claudia Roden’s, A New Book of Middle Eastern Food .
Planning
| serves: |
An army |
| preparation time: |
15 mins |
| cooking time: |
n/a |
Ingredients
- 500g sesame seeds
- 250g coriander seeds
- 125g hazelnuts
- 125g ground cumin
- Salt & pepper
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Method
Dry roast the ingredients separately, so as not to overcook any). Pound them together until they are finely crushed but not pulverized to a powder. A short blast in an electric blender woudl seem to save a lot of effort. Too long will release oil from the seeds and nuts forming a paste which we don’t want.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
This mixture can apparently be stored for many weeks in covered jars.
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Roasted red peppers and tomatoes are natural companions. This accompanies plain grilled or pan-fried fish fillets very well.
Planning
| serves: |
2 |
| preparation time: |
10 mins |
| cooking time: |
20 mins |
Ingredients
- 1 large red pepper
- 2 plum tomatoes
- 1 mild red chilli
- 10-12 leaves basil
- 1 clove garlic
- olive oil
- salt
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Method
Remove the pith and seeds from the red pepper, split it in half and flatten it. Grill under highest possible heat until the skin blisters and blackens. Put it in a bowl covered with cling film and let it steam for a few minutes. (This helps release the skin.) Skin it and cut into fine dice.
Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute and skin them. Deseed the tomatoes and cut these into fine dice also.
Top, tail and deseed the red chilli and chop it finely.
Add these three ingredients to a bowl and tear in the basil leaves. Skin the garlic clove and grate it into the mixture.
To use it cold, add the olive oil and salt to taste at this stage and mix all to combine the flavours. Chill until required.
Alternatively, you can use it warmed: add the olive oil to a small skillet and warm it over gentle heat. Add the salsa ingredients and stir constantly to warm it through. Be careful not to cook it.
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One of those little accompaniments with a bizarre name that became trendy in the early part of the new millennium. Still, just because a thing is trendy it doesn’t mean that it isn’t worthy of some attention, does it? I think the name is fun and it works well with baked or grilled cheeses, particularly goat’s cheeses.
Planning
| serves: |
4 |
| preparation time: |
10 mins |
| cooking time: |
1 hr |
Ingredients
- 350g red onions, peeled, halved & finely sliced
- 25g butter
- 1 tbs thyme leaves, picked
- 225ml dry red wine
- 50ml red wine vinegar
- salt & pepper
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Method
Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan, stir in the onions and the thyme and let them soften for about 10 minutes. Now add the wine and vinegar, bring it to a gentle simmer and add a little salt and black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and let it cook gently, uncovered, for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until the liquid has evaporated. You are aiming for a jam-like consistency.
This works warm or cold, depending upon what it is accompanying.
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A wonderful little je ne sais quoi for adding some extra interest to plain grilled fish – Gilthead Bream or Red Snapper, for example. It’s also excellent with a grilled steak such as sirloin or rib-eye.
Planning
| serves: |
4 |
| preparation time: |
10 mins |
| cooking time: |
n/a |
Ingredients
- 1 small clove of garlic, crushed
- 6 anchovy fillets
- 2 tbs capers
- ~ 30g fresh parsley, leaves picked
- ~10g fresh basil, leaves picked
- ~ 10g fresh mint, leaves picked
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 6-8 tbs olive oil
- juice of ½ lemon
- salt & pepper
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Method
Chop all the solid ingredients together until they reach your preferred consistency. (I like it quite well chopped but still with a little texture, some people prefer a coarser texture.) Transfer this mixture to a bowl and stir in the mustard and some olive oil. Season to taste with the lemon juice, salt and pepper. (You shouldn’t need much salt because of the anchovies.) Adjust the consistency to something like unwhipped double cream by adding olive oil.
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