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Posts Tagged ‘Sirocco’

Harissa Mussels

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 14 July 2023| Leave a Comment »

There’s no better holiday dish than a big bowl of mussels. Serve with crusty bread to mop up all the juice.

Wine Suggestion: A fruity, fresh and vibrant white is what we wanted here so we opened the Katxina Txakoli from the Basque country. We know it might be harder to find something made from Hondarribi Zuri but this grape is a great accompaniment to the local tapas, shellfish and pimenton.

Harissa Mussels – serves 2 to 4

  • olive oil, for frying
  • 50g salted butter
  • 1 large onion, halved and sliced
  • 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 heaped tsp rose harissa
  • 1 kg mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
  • 300ml white wine
  • 1 heaped tsp clear honey
  • ½  tbsp sea salt flakes
  • about 15g dill, fronds finely chopped

Heat a large saucepan over a high heat.

Add enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan, then add the butter and onion and cook until just starting to colour. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.

Add the mussels to the pan and stir in the harissa to coat the mussels. Add the wine, honey and salt and mix well. Cover the pan with a lid and allow the mussels to cook until all the shells have opened – about 4 minutes.

Remove the lid, stir the mussels and mix in the chopped dill.

Serve in a large warm bowl.

(Original recipe from Sirocco by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2016.)

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Lamb, Carrot & Cumin Rice

Posted in Food, Lamb, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 16 December 2022| Leave a Comment »

This dish takes hours and it’s kind of hard to know if it’s all going to plan. We kept the faith and had delicious fluffy rice with tender lamb and carrots and a delicious crust on the buttom. Serve with some Greek yoghurt and pickles.

Wine Suggestion: This works well with an earthier red, either lighter and gentle, or an older richer style with a few years in the bottle. If you can fine Domaine Bargylus from Syria then you are in for a treat. The current vintage we have is 2014 (in 2022) and has beautiful rich core with layers of tertiary, warm spices.

Lamb, carrot & cumin rice – serves 6

  • vegetable oil for frying
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 700g lamb neck fillet, sliced 1cm thick
  • 2 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 3 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into batons
  • 500g basmati rice

Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat and pour in enough oil to cover the base. Sauté the onion until starting to brown at the edges. Stir in the sliced lamb, then add the cumin seeds and other dried spices. Stir to coat the meat in the mixture. Pour in enough boiling water to just cover the meat, then cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 hours. Remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes or until cooking. You will need to stir occasionally and add a little more water if needed to stop the meat sticking. Remove from the heat, stir in the carrots and set aside.

Heat a large saucepan over a high heat, fill with boiling water and add lots of salt. Add the rice and parboil for 6 minutes. Empty the rice into a sieve and wash it with cold water until rinsed of starch and cold. Drain well and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Tip into a large bowl.

Rinse and dry the rice pan. Scrunch a large piece of baking paper into a ball, then open it out and use to line the sides and base of the clean pan. Drizzle in enough vegetable oil to generously coat the base of the pan and season the oil with salt.

Add the meat and carrot mixture to the rice, season generously with about 1 tbsp of sea salt flakes and black pepper, then fold together to combine. Gently pile the mixture into the lined pan in a mountain shape. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to to stab a series of holes that go right down to the base of the pan. Wrap the lid in a tea towel, then cover the pan and cook over the lowest possible temperature if using gas and medium-low for electric, for 45-60 minutes. If you have a diffuser for your gas hob you should use it and double the cooking time.

(Original recipe from Sirocco by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2016.)

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Butternut Rösti with poached eggs

Posted in Brunch, Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 8 December 2022| Leave a Comment »

We’re big fans of a rösti and these spicy butternut versions are great for Sunday brunch with some poached eggs.

Butternut röstis with poached eggs – serves 4

  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled and coarsley grated
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 3 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 1 heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 bunch of scallions, finely sliced
  • 15g dill, finely chopped
  • 5 large eggs
  • vegetable oil, for frying

Put the grated squash and the onion into a mixing bowl and add the salt. Mix well with your hand and leave to stand for about half an hour. Tip the mixture into a clean cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then return to the bowl.

Heat the oven to 160C/Gas 3.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil to poach the eggs in.

Line a baking tray with paper and heat a large frying pan over a medium heat.

Add the flour, spices, scallions and most of the dill to the squash mixture and mix well with your hands (gloves recommended). Crack in 1 egg and mix again, adding lots of black pepper. Shape the mixture into 12 small röstis, about 1cm thick.

Heat a good amount of oil in the hot frying pan, then fry the röstis for 5-6 minute on each side until browned and crispy. Keep warm in the oven on the lined baking tray while you fry the rest.

Carefully crack the eggs into the boiling water and poach for 3 minutes.

Put 3 röstis onto each plate, top with a poached egg, a sprinkle of dill and some black pepper.

(Original recipe from Sirocco by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2016.)

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Pan-fried Figs in Parma Ham

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 22 September 2020| 1 Comment »

Pan-fried Figs in Parma Ham

Jono bought a ridiculous amount of figs this week. He got a “good deal” and so we’ve spent all weekend trying to use them. There is lots of fig jam and chutney but we also loved this little starter by Sabrina Ghayour.

Wine Suggestion: this is such a good tapas dish with the play of salty ham, sweet fruitiness and a layer of rich fat. To match we went with a Sanchez Romate Fino someone had given us and were very happy indeed.

Pan-fried figs in Parma ham – makes 16

  • 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying
  • finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 4 large figs, quartered
  • 1 heaped tbsp za’atar
  • 8 slices of Parma ham (or Serrano ham), halved lengthways into long strips
  • top quality balsamic vinegar

Put the oil in a small bowl and stir in the lemon zest and heaps of freshly ground black pepper. Rub this oil on the cut sides of each piece of fig. Sprinkle the za’atar over the figs, then wrap a pieces of ham around each one, overlap so that the pieces are almost covered by the ham.

Heat a large frying pan over a high heat. Drizzle in a little olive oil and fry the figs on both cut sides for about a minute or until the ham crisps up and browns. Serve on plates with some aged balsamic vinegar drizzled over.

(Original recipe from Sirocco by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2016.)

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