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| Monday Munchie 1 - I'm a harissa-holic! Well I was wandering round 'Sainsbury's' thinking about what particular recipe to send in for Monday munchies when I saw that at last, after 6 weeks of waiting, they had finally got some more Rose Harissa in. Then I realised that actually what I most want to tell the henna page folk about is an ingredient that just makes all the difference whether you are cold and tired or hot and happy! You are probably familiar with harissa paste in Tunisian and North African cooking but rose harissa is quite different. As well as chillis and over 40 spices loads of rose petals are added to give a really unique taste and to balance out the heat of the chillis. I am pretty much a 'harissa-holic' - just the smell of it is enough to put a smile on my face! When I couldn't find any in Shrewsbury over Christmas I ended up buying it on the internet from the manufacturers website! (http://www.belazu.com/details/rose-harissa.html). I always get a kick out of eating it - my belly gets warm and I get suffused with a warm glow of satisfaction! So how to use it? It is amazingly versatile but here are some of my favourite ways of using it!
(But I have to say that really
the ultimate for me is just spread on a vegetarian sausage sandwich!)
Enjoy! Monday Munchie 2 - Hot Spiced Cider This is a wonderful drink for those colder nights when you've been outside all day and need warming from the inside out! Great for camping and caravanning as well! I have given my favourite recipe based on 1.5 litres of cider but you can scale the ingredients up or down!
Method
Please be careful - this recipe
contains scaldingly hot sticky alcohol.
Pour the cider and the apple juice into a large saucepan and heat gently. When warm, add about a tablespoon of soft brown sugar and stir until it dissolves. Cut the oranges into slices or quarters and stud with the cloves and add to the pan. Then add the lemon (sliced), the ginger, cinnamon sticks, bay leaf and black pepper to the pan. Continue to heat gently (Don't boil - you'll evaporate the alcohol!) and after about 10 minutes taste the cider and add extra sugar, juice or any of the other ingredients to taste. You can then leave the mix to infuse for a few hours and then reheat it or you can serve it immediately. To serve, make sure that you use heat resistant cups or glasses. Ladle out the mixture, carefully, and make sure that each glass has a chunk of orange and a share of the other spices and ingredients. Monday Munchie 3 - Green Pizza This is a really simple alternative to a tomato-based pizza. I have not really mentioned specific quantities because it is up to your taste buds! Now I know that a genuine Italian pizza only has 5 ingredients but I just love this. I came up with the recipe during a vegetarian phase that also included avoiding tomatoes and potatoes. It makes great 'finger food' for parties or a simple supper dish served with a green salad.
Method
Prepare your pizza base by either
getting it out of the packet or stretching it over a baking tray.
Spread the pesto on the pizza base, thinly and evenly. Then add the
sliced mozzarella cheese and cubes of feta or ricotta. On top of the
cheese add the toppings - onion, fresh spinach and black olives.
Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and add salt and pepper to
taste.
Place in the oven, gas mark 7 for approximately 15 minutes - or until the cheese has started to turn golden. (alternatively follow the cooking instructions for your pizza dough) When cooked and ready to serve, slice and serve garnished with lots of freshly torn basil leaves. Monday Munchie 4 - The ultimate potato salad, well two ultimate potato salads! Summer holidays for me always mean potato salad, especially when served to accompany a BBQ! I have two versions of potato salad, both completely delicious. In both cases you boil up new potatoes and then mix with either of the two following sauces: Version
1
Mix the Mayonnaise with the
chopped chives, salt and pepper. Stir this sauce into the new potatoes.
Sprinkle the red onion on the potato mix and then garnish with a fine
sprinkling of paprika or cayenne pepper and a sprig of parsley.
Version 2 This is a new invention of mine.
The flavours are a little brighter than version one which is real
comfort food.
Into the crème fraiche fold in 1 to 3 tablespoons of wholegrain mustard (depending on your taste) and the coriander leaves. Season with a little salt and lots of black pepper. Stir into the cooked potatoes (make sure they are cool) and then garnish with a couple of sprigs of coriander. Monday Munchie 5 -Pan Bagna This is a great sandwich firstly to use up baguette, frech stick or bread rolls that are a couple of days old and secondly to take anywhere it is likely to get squashed as this improves it! It is a French alternative to pizza and you will probably come across lots of variations of it. This recipe, however contains all the basic classic ingredients which you can add to. Where possible use the best quality ingredients you can find as their flavours come through loud and strong! Serves 4
Method
Cut the bread rolls in half, or
cut the baguette down the middle, and then into four chunks. Drizzle
the extra virgin olive oil on the cut sides of the bread and season
with salt (if desired) and freshly ground black pepper. Slice the
tomato thinly and layer on one side of the bread, then sprinkle the
onions, olives and anchovies on the tomato. If using double the
quantity of tomato you can then add another layer of tomatoes. Then
close the bread roll or baguettes and squash together and wrap in foil.
Leave the sandwich for at least 3 hours before you eat it - by this
time the flavours will have infused together and melted into the bread
to give you a mouth full of sunshine!
You can turn this vegetarian by omitting the anchovies and using Parmesan cheese instead |
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